Should Christianity Be Easy Living?

MESSAGE: One Life: Attitude (podcast)
SCRIPTURE: Luke 6.17-26



My life is changing. Every day I wake up, it seems that I am convicted about my life as a Jesus follower. God is pressing me and telling me that I can and should be doing more. He's given me so much - why should I give him anything less than all of me? I've been in this process now for probably the last five years. It's been interesting to think back and see how God has been moving, even in small and seemingly insignificant ways. I've been reading books that have convicted me, and studying the scriptures, and the conclusion that I keep coming to is that Christianity is more than just living the American dream and attending church on Sundays (this is an obvious conclusion, and one that I think most Christians would agree with in principle - agreement in practice, however, is a completely different thing).

Within this last year, I've read two books that have spurred me on in my conviction - the first of which is Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper. I've written in this blog before about some of the impact that DWYL has had on me, so I won't go into it here. But even more impacting than that book has been Let The Nations Be Glad! also by Piper. If I were to sum this book up in a sentence, I would say that it basically explains the purpose for the existence of the church (and Christians) on this earth - it's all about spreading the gospel for the sake of the glory of God. The details of how this task is accomplished, however, are quite intricate, and I don't have nearly the amount of space needed to explain it here. Just please believe me, and read this book - it is a life-changer.

I recently gave my copy of this book to my mom to read, and today I asked her how she liked it. She said, "I'm only about a third of the way through the book. I can't read very much of it at one time - I get too stressed out." I asked her why the book stressed her out and she replied that the book is so "radical" (a term that I interpret as "challenging") that she can only read a few pages before she is so convicted by what she is reading that she has to stop.

Even more important than my reading of Piper's books has been my study of scripture. In every case, discipleship and a life of service to Jesus demands self-sacrifice - giving up all to follow Jesus.

This week at SHOUT we looked at Luke 6.17-26, where Jesus encourages his disciples to take heart when they are poor, hungry, sorrowful, and persecuted. And then we saw how Paul was able to be "blessed" in all of his trials and difficulties in following Christ: knowing Jesus is of far more worth than anything this life can offer - even all of the things that we take as a normal part of life in the U.S. - relationships, a house, stuff, money, a good career, etc.

I made the point that Christian faith in the U.S., to some extent, is easy. And if the truth be told, probably easier than the Bible intends it to be. And my conviction over the past five years is that the living of my own personal faith has been too easy. I haven't had to sacrifice - I haven't had to be poor - I haven't had to be hungry - I haven't been persecuted. Believe me, I am thankful for God's mercy in all these things, but sometimes I think I get too comfortable in God's mercy, and that causes me to take it easy and coast through my Christian life...and I don't think that's what the Bible's talking about when it describes the lives of those who follow Jesus.

My sister posted a blog a few weeks ago that also got me thinking. She makes some great points. Maybe the Christian life has gotten too easy:

I've been struck lately about how American religion has tried to make the act of worship, following God, and religious faith something simple, efficient and effortless.

There's a church advertising on a Christian radio station I listen to that says "Can't make it to Sunday morning church because you're up at the cabin? Come to our 6 p.m. service."

Now, I don't have a problem with a 6 p.m. service. I just finished being part of one. I'm in favor of night services and I know people work and can't make it in on Sundays. But instead of scheduling our lives around church -- the sabbath -- we're scheduling church around our lives? Shouldn't the demands of your cabin, softball league or TV viewing habits be subject to rescheduling for the Sacred?

The Muslims criticize Christianity because of our many translations of the Bible, and I think they have a point. I'm not one of those "King James only" people, but I'm kind of sick of the translations that put the Bible in "your own words" or the "come as you are" mentality at some churches. Studying a sacred text should be seen as just that, studying something that is sacred, otherworldly, and powerful.

I say all these things with the finger pointed squarely back at myself. I'm the chief of sinners when it comes to this. I don't give God and religious practice enough of my time. I don't make room for the sacred in my life. And that's the issue. We have to make room for the sacred. Interacting with God requires time and work. And that's something that our churches don't tell us.

Shouldn't religion butt into our lives, grab our attention and require work of us?

My Baptist tradition, which I appreciate and don't intend to deviate from any time soon, shuns tradition and ornament, but loses something of the sacred. We have rejected physical symbols, altars and places as imbued with special spiritual power, but we don't reiterate now what our spiritual ancestors put in the place of those physical things -- the importance of individual time, study and prayer with God.

Religion should be hard, should be demanding. We shouldn't dismiss it because of the difficulty. We should rise to the challenge, and work hard at being worthy of it.

Suffice it to say, I'm sick of my faith being easy living. I want to be challenged - I want to (gulp) suffer. I want to be poor. I want to be hungry. I want to leave and forsake all else to follow Jesus. God give me the strength.