I came across a section in the Bible study I have been reading lately (“Behold Your God: Rethinking God Biblically” by John Snyder) that stopped me in my tracks. As I was casually reading through paragraphs to finish before I needed to leave for work, I came across a section that made me stop and think. And it has continued to turn in my mind since. God has called us as His church to be holy, as He is holy (Leviticus 20:7-8). This is something I have known and read may times. Yet, practically what that does mean in my life and am I living that way? For real. This study goes on to state that Jesus is the bases of our holiness (yes okay). We have to keep our eyes on Him to keep moving forward, (yep got that). But, to look to Jesus and keep our eyes on Him we have to turn our eyes away from other things. (Ok, yes that makes sense). But we don’t just look to Jesus we have to have a determined focus on Him (yeah that seems more like real life). And we look away from sinful things (duh) but also distractions (oh).
Here’s the thing, we as Christian say we believe the Bible. It tells us that this Christian life is not a cake walk. Rather it is described as taking up our cross daily. The true Christian life is hard. We are told it is a sacrificial life that requires that we turn away from things that do not satisfy and turn to the only One who can satisfy us. I have found that I have gotten comfortable as a Christian in America. Especially these last 4 years where the new threats to my beliefs and my faith have been minimal. Now that I am no longer in residency and fellowship and I have all this “free” time the temptation to spend it watching TV, Netflix, etc is strong. For the past few months I have been trying to “figure out” what to do with all this time to not waste it, yet I still come home and turn on the TV because it’s so much easier. But here’s what I read this week from John Snyder’s study regarding dealing with distractions in our life. When John Wesley was at Oxford he too found himself with extra “Free time” and at first was spending it playing cards and going to the theater with friends. Yet, he struggled with the idea that using his time this way was not pleasing to God. Here is what his mother wrote to him after he told her of this struggle, “Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off the (desire for) spiritual things . . . that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may seem.”
Don’t get me wrong here, I am not trying to be legalistic. We are commanded to not judge others or let other judge us based on food, drink, festival or sabbath (Colossians 2:16). But the point is that yes in Christ you are free to do _______, yet if it causes you to be distracted from Christ, causes you to not desire Him as much or makes you less like Him then it IS sin for you. Someone else may be able to watch Netflix all day and it not hinder their love and desire for Christ, but I find that when I watch too much TV, I become lazy and I do not pursue Him as I should. What stopped me in my tracks this week was the still small voice that asked me this question, “Am I worth it to you? Are you willing to get rid of all these distractions to know Me deeper?”
I wish I could tell you that I immediately gave a wholehearted “yes!” But that was not the case. You see I knew that my heart was not there, not yet. Yes, I want to be there, but I need to count the cost. Jesus teaches us to do this in Luke 14:25-35. And so, the past few days I have had quite the internal struggle. What it comes down to is this. We all have a void in our lives made for God alone. We can try to fill that void with TV, friends, a spouse, children, alcohol, drugs, sex, whatever. But that only intensifies the need for something greater because those things can NEVER replace the One made to fill you. What I see happening in America and in the church in America is this very thing. We have become comfortable and are trying to fill ourselves up with things other than Christ. As John Snyder puts in in his Bible study, “We drink down sin as if it were water. It goes down easy. We are often unaware that we are sinning.” And when you think about it, he is so right. How often do we as Christians think that we are still living ‘holy” lives when we waste hours a day on social media, playing video games, or binge-watching Netflix? Satan doesn’t have to get us to blatantly sin, he distracts us with all the things around us and then creates such pride in us that we think we are “ok.” Don’t be fooled! Wake up Christian and look at yourself. Do you truly hunger for the Living God more than you do entertainment or pleasure?
Listen to this warning from James. “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? [4:1] . . . You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. [4:4] . . .But He gives a greater grace. Therefore [it] says, "GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE." [4:6]
Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. [4:7] Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. [4:8 ] Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. [4:9] Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. [4:10]” (emphasis added)
This is what I have been honestly asking myself this week. Am I willing to go deeper, to make practical steps to get rid of the distractions that make me think this world brings me pleasure instead of the God who made me for Himself?
(long dramatic pause . . . because this takes some honest thought)
Ok, so let’s say that we are willing to let go of all that distracts us, repent, mourn, and pursue Christ. How do we do that? Jesus warns us in Matthew 12:43-45 that if all we do is get rid of a temptation or sin and do not fill that void with Christ then the temptation returns with a vengeance. And so, as we turn from these things we must be determined to fill our minds and lives with Christ. “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” [2Co 3:18] John Berridge wrote about it like this, “The mind assimilates itself to what it thinks much upon; grows more worldly by thinking on worldly things, and more spiritual by thinking on spiritual things. The spiritual mind grows much by prayer, and meditation on God, his love, and his word; upon Christ, his grace, and free and full salvation; upon the Holy Spirit and his sweet and powerful influence; the need of humiliation, watchfulness, and self-examination perpetually.”
What am I filling my mind and time with? What image am I being made into? Here’s the thing, I believe in perseverance of the saints (topic for another day). Meaning that I fully believe that once God opens your eyes to His Gospel and you repent, believe and submit to Christ as Lord of your life that you are His for all of eternity and NOTHING can separate you from Him. So, if I am already His and my actions do not change that, why does it matter if I am living a so-so American ‘Christian’ life or if I give up all these things to run wholeheartedly after Christ? “So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth” Revelation 3:16. The Lord does not call us to a comfortable life, but to a life lived on the road to Cavalry. The “American Church” has been lukewarm for way to long and we see the effects of it now.
Church wake up! We have enjoyed religious freedom and become too comfortable. But persecution is coming. The events of this year remind us that the Lord will not strive with us forever (Ps 103:9) as He did not strive with the Israelites forever. The Lord is about to sift us like wheat. With the election of the most pro-choice president and vice-president in our nation’s history my job is about to get much much more difficult. There is already a motion to make physicians honor the wishes of children to undergo sex-changes regardless of their parent’s wishes down to age 8! The day is coming when Christian physicians will be fired for refusing to perform an abortion, refusing to be part of physician-assisted suicide, or refusing to allow an 8-year-old to undergo a sex-change. Are we going to stand for what the Word of the Lord says in the days to come, or are we going to be lulled to sleep by the distractions of our world today?
I can tell you that I cannot do this alone. I am not strong enough to resist all these temptations and distractions. That is why we have to draw near to God and ask for His grace and mercy. But we also need to keep each other accountable. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 reminds us that with each other and Christ we are a cord that is not easily broken. Who is willing to go deeper with me?
When the Lord sifts the wheat from the tares, where will you be? Where will I be? It may seem like this is a big jump from the beginning of this post, but I don’t think so. These are serious times, and I think the Lord is asking us as His church to wake up. “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. [James 4:7-10]”
