It is extremely difficult to be a Christian in America.
You say, "Why?" Christians in other countries are persecuted- we have religious freedom. We aren't arrested, tortured, denied jobs, doubly taxed, ostracized, or anything else for being believers in Christ. So why would I make such an erroneous statement?
Answer: Because American Christians have to actively seek out ways to depend on God.
First-century Christians devoted themselves to prayer, because the mission they had been given was far too big for them to handle. They were a ragtag bunch of misfits, whose leader had just been killed, and were given the task of converting the entire world. They HAD to pray. They had no other option. They had to depend on God- it was right in front of their faces.
Christians in Nigeria, where churches have been bombed and numbers of Christians killed, don't make Sunday afternoon plans. They don't know if they are coming home from church- so they pray for God's protection. Unless God protects them, they die. They have to depend on God- it is right in front of their faces.
I have never had to depend on God for my safety on a Sunday morning. On one level I am thankful, but on another level I see how that moves me further away from a living breathing relationship with Him. I can go to church with or without God's help or protection. Therefore, I don't depend on Him.
I have never had to depend on God to "give me this day my daily bread." I have more food in my refrigerator and pantry than 90% of the world's population sees in a week. Therefore, I don't depend on Him.
Because American Christians don't HAVE to depend on God for things, the conscious need for God diminishes more and more. We have all of our needs supplied by the supermarket, the power plant, and the paycheck. The average American doesn't need God for anything pressing. Before you disagree, how many of you lead lives that if God doesn't provide food for you today, you starve? How many of you lead lives that if God doesn't provide shelter, you sleep on the street? This is the story of believers all over the world and all throughout history, but it is not the story of the American Christian.
Therefore, the American Christian is in a unique place. I believe we are the first people to have to make a conscious decision to NEED God. We have to seek out areas where we will be lost without Him. Instead of finding ourselves in circumstances where we have no other option other than to depend on God, we have to actively seek out ways to trust Him and depend on Him because it is possible, in America, to go through life with all our needs taken care of, never needing a supernatural provision by God.
The consequences of NOT seeking out ways to trust God and to need God are being seen in our churches. Church attendance is declining in every state. Why? The answer is clear- why do we need God? We have food, shelter, cars, internet, phones- everything. We have all we need, and we also have most of what we want. So church attendance, and the entire Christian faith, becomes something that is an option as opposed to a necessity.
Christians need to stop structuring their lives in such a manner that faith is not necessary. Most of us could get rid of all faith that we have and life wouldn't be all that different except for being able to sleep in on Sunday mornings. We wouldn't be missing any major blessings from God, because we haven't been depending on His blessings anyway. We wouldn't be missing any major supernatural provisions, we probably wouldn't be going hungry, we probably wouldn't be out on the street . . . because we haven't needed God to provide those things.
I am thankful for the blessings of living in America. I truly am. I love A/C in the summertime and heat in the winter. I love being able to eat what I want when I want, I love the internet and I love electricity. I love knowing that if I get sick that I have health insurance to pay for a doctors' visit. I truly love all those things.
But what has all that done to my faith in God? Have those things moved me closer to God or drawn me away? Is God essential to me? Do I realize my human weakness and my absolute dependence on Him as my Lord, Savior, and Provider? Or have I relegated Him to a sideshow on Sunday morning and the guy who can only handle the forgiveness of my sins? Do I even have a concept of what the Bible says, that "the righteous will LIVE by faith?"
That is why I am calling all Christians to actively seek out ways to depend on God. Try these on for size: Tithe 80% of your income, so that you can't pay your bills unless God provides. Get rid of health insurance and trust in God's healing power. Leave your job and go serve in a third-world country with nothing but faith in God to provide.
See what I mean? Who in their right mind would do those kinds of things? See, in America, those are choices. We can CHOOSE to give 80% of our income and not pay bills unless God provides, whereas believers in other countries don't have that luxury. God provides or they are out on the street. We can CHOOSE to cancel health insurance and trust that God will heal. Believers in other countries don't have that option- God heals them or they die. Dependence on God is not an option for those believers, and therefore their relationship with God is so much stronger, so much more powerful, so much more . . . . . . REAL.
So, the inevitable question is- is having that kind of relationship with God worth getting rid of all the things that make my life comfortable? What am I willing to sacrifice in order to live a life of faith and total dependence on God?
You say, "Why?" Christians in other countries are persecuted- we have religious freedom. We aren't arrested, tortured, denied jobs, doubly taxed, ostracized, or anything else for being believers in Christ. So why would I make such an erroneous statement?
Answer: Because American Christians have to actively seek out ways to depend on God.
First-century Christians devoted themselves to prayer, because the mission they had been given was far too big for them to handle. They were a ragtag bunch of misfits, whose leader had just been killed, and were given the task of converting the entire world. They HAD to pray. They had no other option. They had to depend on God- it was right in front of their faces.
Christians in Nigeria, where churches have been bombed and numbers of Christians killed, don't make Sunday afternoon plans. They don't know if they are coming home from church- so they pray for God's protection. Unless God protects them, they die. They have to depend on God- it is right in front of their faces.
I have never had to depend on God for my safety on a Sunday morning. On one level I am thankful, but on another level I see how that moves me further away from a living breathing relationship with Him. I can go to church with or without God's help or protection. Therefore, I don't depend on Him.
I have never had to depend on God to "give me this day my daily bread." I have more food in my refrigerator and pantry than 90% of the world's population sees in a week. Therefore, I don't depend on Him.
Because American Christians don't HAVE to depend on God for things, the conscious need for God diminishes more and more. We have all of our needs supplied by the supermarket, the power plant, and the paycheck. The average American doesn't need God for anything pressing. Before you disagree, how many of you lead lives that if God doesn't provide food for you today, you starve? How many of you lead lives that if God doesn't provide shelter, you sleep on the street? This is the story of believers all over the world and all throughout history, but it is not the story of the American Christian.
Therefore, the American Christian is in a unique place. I believe we are the first people to have to make a conscious decision to NEED God. We have to seek out areas where we will be lost without Him. Instead of finding ourselves in circumstances where we have no other option other than to depend on God, we have to actively seek out ways to trust Him and depend on Him because it is possible, in America, to go through life with all our needs taken care of, never needing a supernatural provision by God.
The consequences of NOT seeking out ways to trust God and to need God are being seen in our churches. Church attendance is declining in every state. Why? The answer is clear- why do we need God? We have food, shelter, cars, internet, phones- everything. We have all we need, and we also have most of what we want. So church attendance, and the entire Christian faith, becomes something that is an option as opposed to a necessity.
Christians need to stop structuring their lives in such a manner that faith is not necessary. Most of us could get rid of all faith that we have and life wouldn't be all that different except for being able to sleep in on Sunday mornings. We wouldn't be missing any major blessings from God, because we haven't been depending on His blessings anyway. We wouldn't be missing any major supernatural provisions, we probably wouldn't be going hungry, we probably wouldn't be out on the street . . . because we haven't needed God to provide those things.
I am thankful for the blessings of living in America. I truly am. I love A/C in the summertime and heat in the winter. I love being able to eat what I want when I want, I love the internet and I love electricity. I love knowing that if I get sick that I have health insurance to pay for a doctors' visit. I truly love all those things.
But what has all that done to my faith in God? Have those things moved me closer to God or drawn me away? Is God essential to me? Do I realize my human weakness and my absolute dependence on Him as my Lord, Savior, and Provider? Or have I relegated Him to a sideshow on Sunday morning and the guy who can only handle the forgiveness of my sins? Do I even have a concept of what the Bible says, that "the righteous will LIVE by faith?"
That is why I am calling all Christians to actively seek out ways to depend on God. Try these on for size: Tithe 80% of your income, so that you can't pay your bills unless God provides. Get rid of health insurance and trust in God's healing power. Leave your job and go serve in a third-world country with nothing but faith in God to provide.
See what I mean? Who in their right mind would do those kinds of things? See, in America, those are choices. We can CHOOSE to give 80% of our income and not pay bills unless God provides, whereas believers in other countries don't have that luxury. God provides or they are out on the street. We can CHOOSE to cancel health insurance and trust that God will heal. Believers in other countries don't have that option- God heals them or they die. Dependence on God is not an option for those believers, and therefore their relationship with God is so much stronger, so much more powerful, so much more . . . . . . REAL.
So, the inevitable question is- is having that kind of relationship with God worth getting rid of all the things that make my life comfortable? What am I willing to sacrifice in order to live a life of faith and total dependence on God?
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