SERIOUS CHRISTIANITY

Urgghh!  There's so much to life.  Communications come at us and go from us at the speed of can't-keep-up.  Debt pesters so many.  Aches and pains, others.  Concerns are in constant pursuit of our awake time.

And, then there's God.

What does He have to offer?  Where does He fit in with our maze of hurried boredom and worried waiting?  Is this faith stuff legit?  Or, is it a convenient cover-up which merely communicates that believers don't know how to do life either?

For certain, those who observe us from a distance don't seem to be buying our bark. Why is that?  And, is there anything we can do about it?

The answer is an absolute yes.

There is a trait of Jesus which profoundly advantaged his reach.  He was humble.  He humbled himself on the cross.  He learned to be obedient by the training of the things where he suffered.  He uttered no threats during his torture.  Getting even was never in his heart.  Converting the enemy was.

This, dear one, is serious Christianity.

Humility is the focal point.  Churches, however, have taken on many facets other than this one.  Arrogance, competition, insensitivity; these would begin a staggering list of why our influence has diminished.

Serious Christianity, as did Jesus himself, will take the blame for others' sins.  We will not blame nor will we label.  We will absorb.

Churches are known for programs, for architecture, for doctrinal stances, and/or for evangelistic zeal.  We are not known for that trait of Jesus that is of utmost seriousness; our humility.

So what shall we do?

May we go to work by first admitting this is a glaring problem in Christian circles.  How could we reverse this negative perception which is quite strong up and down our streets; whether we choose to believe it?  It would seem the posture would be simple.

While we yearn to grow in the Spirit of Christ, may we have steady, perpetual awareness that we have neither arrived nor conquered all there is know about the Bible.  Neither have we mastered His call for our walk.  And, surely any attitudes of doctrinal superiority are, in themselves, glaring error.

Serious Christianity is humble in both belief and in practice.

Yes, this system takes stands and carries weighty conviction.  But none of these have a road to walk on until we soberly see the need to begin the trek by humbling ourselves as least in the kingdom.  From this mode, we begin a healthy venture of seriously reaching to our neighbors.