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Lackawanna

Most of Christian practice today in the West could be called complacent. Some traditions assure their adherents that they have met the requirements and can therefore allocate the bulk of their time to personal pursuits. Most Christians recognize the existence of some kind of opportunity to do what might be called “extra credit” Christianity, but seeing it as both ill-defined and optional seldom consider it as something worth investigating.

Lacking both the desire to do something that might be inconvenient as well as not knowing exactly what could be done creates a powerful inhibition towards exploring what is sometimes called the “deeper Christian life”.A few might exercise strength to do good works, restrain fleshly indulgences, or even give money However, as well intentioned these might be, they seldom contribute to making one more like Jesus.

Further crippling us Christians today are the almost endless availability of TV, movies, video games, music, and other entertainments that tempt us to spend what scarce time we have consumptively. Throughout most of human history we have been driven to use our time to get enough food for ourselves and our animals to get us through the winter or dry season. Leisure time was reserved for aristocrats. For the last 100 years we have had steadily advancing technology that has made life increasingly comfortable. Not being driven by the need to survive, we have tended to indulge ourselves with whatever comforts we can.

We have been subtly enticed from the natural world God created into the artifical world Satan has created. The primary enticement has been ease and comfort. Most who consider themselves Christian see themselves as having achieved a complete level of Christianity. They might consider the next “rung” on the spiritual ladder, that being to go to seminary and become a pastor. However, this misses completely what is expected of average Christians, that of maturing into Christ-likeness.

Seeing maturity as a result of schoolwork and study disinclines many. Sadly spiritual growth is not a result of achievement or ability, it is more a result of surrender and humility. It is more a result of allowing God to work in us. Should a Christian become motivated to investigate what might be possible for himself and his family, taking a class or reading a book might not be as helpful as seeing an older wiser Christian who clearly shows the light and love of Jesus in his life and asking him to help you learn to know Jesus as well as he does.

Satan has created the artificial world such that most desire to use what little free time they have to indulge in entertainment that can help reduce the accumulated stress their work life has accumulated. It is not surprising that few Christians can summon the ambition to mature spiritually even if they had an idea of how to do it. However, we should consider that having to tell Jesus that we allowed the world to seduce us into a situation where maturing in faith was too difficult might be ashamed.

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