Not Taking the Easy Way Out

As I filter through the spam content in my blog comment collection, I see advertisements for acne medication and other physical ailment cures and bodily enhancements that I neither asked for nor wanted.  So what drives a psychopathic advertiser to abuse a Worship Arts Minister's blog for their personal gain in sales commission of drugs that are questionably legal?

Slackness.  Pure, unadulterated, last-minute, lazy, self-centered slackness.  Americans are undoubtedly the best professional slackers the world over.  We will take the easy way out every time.  But, I expect it from the business world...a quick buck, an easy sale, and a ludicrous commission.  That's the dog-eat-dog capitalistic mantra and the effects thereof.  But in the church...well, SURELY that doesn't happen in the church, right?

Let me encourage you with Paul's words, as paraphrased by Eugene Peterson in The Message:  (2 Timothy 4:6-8 _ emphasis mine)

But you—keep your eye on what you’re doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God’s servant. You take over. I’m about to die, my life an offering on God’s altar. This is the only race worth running. I’ve run hard right to the finish, believed all the way. All that’s left now is the shouting—God’s applause! Depend on it, he’s an honest judge. He’ll do right not only by me, but by everyone eager for his coming.

Perhaps it's simplistic to say that the Christian life is not easy.  But, honestly, if I am procrastinating and putting in minimal effort, is it really appropriate for me to assume the Spirit of God is responsible for the outcome?  God is always in control, but His Spirit is so very powerful when I surrender myself to His throne in sacrificial service...not when I surrender my feet to the recliner in blissful ecstasy.

I believe confidently that the Spirit always works despite our successes and failures, but the next time I'm tempted to say "Isn't it amazing the way the Spirit works," I'm going to first ask myself the tough questions: "Were the seeds of sacrifice sown for the Spirit to work?" "Was crediting the Spirit  just the easy way out?"  "Am I avoiding admitting that God could have done so much more if I had actually been faithful?"  "Have I run the race, fought the fight, and remained faithful to the end, or am I just praying that God will cover for me?"

It is for this reason that I won't give up; I won't settle for the easy way out; I won't imagine that God doesn't see me when I'm slacking and pray for Him to miraculously "fix" everything; and I won't blame the Spirit when I fail to give my all.  To the contrary, I choose surrender, regardless of whether or not I ever get to put my feet up... ;-)