A Rant on Cheap Christianity

Over the past few days a number of factors have come together to forcefully hammer home to me the idea that Christianity is so much more than what we've made it. That the church has been pedaling lies and heresies, pretending that the point is to get as many people as possible to stand up in the front of a church.

A coworker of mine recently told me she was struggling with her faith. Her faith was at best nominal; she had stood up in a church service, but since has not really been living in the faith and certainly the fruit of the Spirit is not very visible in her life. She is going through some hard times and she told me she was struggling with her faith because of this. My first response was to say, "that is not how this works. God doesn't just make you happy or make life easy, He promises joy, but it is a joy in the midst of hardship and suffering." But then, as I thought about it I realized that that would probably go against any theology she had heard in her church or anywhere else.

We have prefected our sales pitch for Christ and the damn lie we are selling goes something like this, "Come to Jesus and your life will be good and God will solve all of your problems and you'll be happy all the time." We've sold out the joy of the Lord for a cheep imitation, a happiness that is temporal and unattainable and unlovely. God have mercy on us for making him into a cheep gimmick and lie, a happiness machine who's sole purpose is to make us contented. God forgive us for our despicable habit of forcing Him to meet our needs and pretending His sole purpose is our happiness. Let us reject the heresy that when Christ died He, "thought of me above all." He saved us, yes, and He loves us, yes, but as the Rev. Readhead said, "The chief end of all being is the glory of God." The reason for Christ's incarnation, death and Resurrection is the glory of God, the reason for our existence is the glory of God. We are His people for His glory, He is not our God for our glory.

I am tired...tired of a church that deals in heresies in the attempt to gain numbers. Give me five committed people, people who will follow Christ through hell itself for His honor and glory over five hundred who are simply looking for God to bless them and make them happy. Let us be done! Let us end the sham and the mockery, or do we think God will be mocked now when He was not so long ago? Do we think that He is not the same God who judged His people when they turned away and chased Idols in the land of Canaan? Could it be that we have made God into the alter for our idol of happiness? The abomination is now in our churches and fills our land, it is in the mouths of our TV preachers and in our books and movies, "God exist for your happiness! His whole point is to give you all the good things!"

Don't get me wrong, here. God gives Joy to His people, and every good and precious gift comes from above, but that is not His call to us. It is his promise but His call is vastly different. "Come" he says, "Come and deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me." Follow through the pain of this world through the comfortless nights and weeping days, and I will be your comforter and guide, your strength and help, for My glory!

Ad maiorem Dei gloriam!