My Heart Remains the Same

I firmly believe that God is, has been, and always will be a good God.  However, the line between "wants" and "needs" has been blurred in America.  When that blurred line causes unbelievers to begin questioning God's goodness, we have to take a stand.  No longer can we fearfully avoid the truth of following Jesus: that is, the fact that he asked us to "sell all we possess" and "give it to the poor" / to leave father and mother behind to follow Him / to (as Dietrich Bonhoeffer reminds us) "die every day" to ourselves and take up His cross.  But America is rapidly becoming too comfortable to give up what we don't need.

I've read the book, Radical, by David Platt, and once again, a modern author is begging the church to start re-thinking what really matters to us.  He has seen the "church buffet" mentality where believers go looking for what they like and leave when it gets boring to them.  He is convinced that Christ's church needs to be focused more on seeking and saving rather than on appeasing and entertaining.  He even goes so far as to challenge people in the final chapter of his book with an experiment to try and get us thinking differently, as Americans.

It reminded me of a newsletter article I wrote for Huntsville Christian Church in the first few months of my ministry there.  Nothing like resurrecting an old piece of writing, no?

Avoiding Heartburn


When I go to a fast food or drive-through restaurant, I RARELY reflect on all my past experiences in order to help me determine which foods I am about to request.  I don't think I ever consider my previous experiences, or "what foods induced what reactions," or "whether or not I should repeat a former mistake by requesting that same poison again."  Matter of fact, I usually don't decide what I'm going to order until the last possible moment as the attendant says, "Welcome to '(INSERT FAVORITE FAST-FOOD JOINT)!!!  May I take your order?"

It reminds me of the story of Solomon.  Rarely, do we read the back-story of how Solomon prepared himself in asking for wisdom (most people just like the part where he gets exactly what he asked God for).  But, in I Kings, the Scriptures show us Solomon considering the PAST ... BEFORE his request.

He acknowledges God's kindness to his father, citing his own birth as a blessing which gave King David an heir to his throne.  Solomon also remembers his past and acknowledges his youth and inexperience.  Then, after all that, Solomon realizes that governing the great nation of Israel required more discernment; not more wealth and pleasures. And after all of that THINKING about where he's been, and what God had done, he still asked, but it proved to be one of the greatest requests in history to be presented to (and answered by) the Living God.

Oh, to have such foresight and to live in a society that values it.  But, today, we live in a society which views church as a buffet line of options to "hunt and peck" through for their favorite parts, rarely regarding what God has done in the past.  So many ask God to "accommodate" them, make them comfortable, help them find a church that "meets their needs" (or perceived needs) and a church that delivers relief for self-inflicted guilt.  When, in reality, these are all trivial things, requested of a perfect, all-knowing God, whose heart is that we request His hand for the sake of others; specifically others who do not know the Savior at all.

Question: When you present your requests to God, do you think of how God has met your needs in the past?  Do you acknowledge the possible future God is crafting for you? Do you evaluate your personal, Spiritual conditions and your strengths and weaknesses?  Do you consider the impact your request would have on other people to be more important than what it does for you, personally?  Solomon did.  When you take your requests before God, so you see yourself more like rubbing a lamp or tossing a coin in the fountain, or like a chihuahua begging to have it's belly scratched?  (OK, maybe not)  Or, do you make discerning requests that allow a loving God to do something great through your humility and self-sacrifice; to bestow blessings on you and those around you…blessings that go beyond your comprehension, simply because you laid aside your personal wants and acknowledged that He knows so much more than you do?

Perhaps we should change what we ask for and the way in which we ask for it.  Perhaps we should make fewer selfish demands for personal comfort and, instead, request that which allows God to provide for our needs and advance His kingdom on earth, simultaneously?  ...Or perhaps, if we just thought about the last time we ordered that double-stuft bean and onion burrito from Taco Bell, we would avoid asking the attendant at the drive thru window to give us two doses of that heartburn all over again...makes sense to me.

Three years later, my heart still remains the same for the church of Jesus Christ.  We continue to want the church to do the same painful things over and over again in an attempt to keep everything "the way it's always been," even when we know that it is not reaching lost people, but simply shifting believers around from church buffet to church buffet.  What are we going to do to change it?  Any thoughts?