Nominal Christianity...

Sitting in the pews looking around at all the stained glass, there became a sense to me that this is all the church has become. The speaker then droned on and on about goodness and I was instantly reminded about Christ's response when called "good".

"Why are you calling me good? No one is good except for the Father," says Jesus.

Yet the minister droned on and on as though the concept of good could be attained. So, after the message and many affirming nods we - the congregation - plodded off to be "good".

My first stop was lunch. I ate much as usual for Sunday dining. I required many refills and, frankly, wore out the legs of my waitress. Nothing at the restaurant was quite right. The food was cool, the food was bland, the food simply was not to my liking. And being the good steward I am I demanded the kitchen staff redo the meal because I aim to get what I pay for. This seemed to perturb the waitress and I felt a bit snubbed for the remainder of the meal. So, upon my leaving I decided to teach her a good lesson, so instead of a tip I left her this good little tract about hell, damnation and fire for those who aren't good. I was sure that would keep her up at night pining over how rude she had been to me. I knew this was a good thing to do and the Word of God now in her hand would go much further for this waitress than my money. "She now is surely saved," I said to myself with a skip in my step.

My next stop where I would put the ministers message of goodness to work would be Tuesday at the voting booth. This is our good duty and in so doing I was sure to pick the candidate who would guarantee that the poor and helpless would be taken care of. Right? Isn't this a good thing to do? So I voted for the candidate with the greatest sense of helping the working man. At that precise moment, however, there was this slight tug and reminder that this candidate was openly for abortion and voted consistently on making it easier for teens to get abortions without notifying their parents, etc. "But, what about the economy?" I thought. It's in the tank after all and it would be good if our economy rebounded so the rich would pay their fair share and the poor wouldn't be so poor anymore. So my good vote was cast and my civil duty served.

"Good Master, what must I do...?"

The question posed to Christ was in an attempt to secure eternal life in one, resounding action that would echo his soul into eternity. But, what resulted was a decried attempt to circumvent Christ. And, if you look at Christ's response he actually told the young man what to do. "Go sell all that you have and give it to the poor and follow me."

Was this not the good deed that the seeker sought? What we humans want is to have our cake and eat it too. We want to live and thrive in this world and by it's systems, yet when we check out of this Temporary Plane we want to live and thrive in that Eternal Plane as well. Here we are wanting our cake...

Christianity has modernly become nominal - meaning in appearance only. Another term I've heard is stained glass Christianity. These both communicate the idea that people want to be Christian so as long as they can do whatever it is that they still want to do. This is no Christianity at all. The right to become Christian is only given to us by Christ and He has set the parameters. We - in coming to Christ - are not free to do whatever it is we like, it is actually the freedom to follow Christ. We freely forfeit our rights as fallen humans and then become defined in existence by His will- not ours.

In our feeble attempts to attain the "good" we miss the perfect. The Greek phrasing Christ used for "follow me" is the same phrasing He used to call the twelve disciples to Him. The phrasing is more than just a "here, boy... come on, here, boy," as one might call a dog to follow. It was a recognizable Hebrew call to come and be a disciple. It was a call to come and learn from the Master Rabbi. The young man might have been remembered for millenia to come as the thirteenth apostle, or the one who replaced Judas after his betrayal. But, in seeking the good... he missed the perfect... Christ. The ancient text says that the young man went away sorrowfully because many goods possessed him. And, yes, I said that correctly.

It is one thing to be involved in politics and to assert our political persuasions, but it is an altogether different thing to place those persuasions and policies above the founded truths of God's word. To pull for a politician, or any person for that matter, because he or she promises to fatten our pockets with money is chosing again to miss the perfect for the seemingly good. The temporary has replaced the eternal and there's no justifying this no matter the argument that is made.

We as Christians are first and foremost citizens of that Heavenly Plane. Those guidlines set forth by God's Word cannot be disregarded for culture's sake. When this is done we move from ipso facto Christianity to nominal Christianity. Which one do you suppose will stand? The stained glass we've painted or the stained cross from which he was hanged?