Somewhere we went wrong.
It is like sitting in traffic and having your GPS tell you that you are going the right way, but your flesh takes over (Romans 8) and you decide you want to get off, go and find another route that doesn’t have traffic and you end up getting lost or taking an even longer way home. This is all because we are not capable to sit through something that is not enjoyable.
We have taken this mentality and applied it in so many areas of our lives. Whether it is the hard conversations with friends, where we choose texting instead of face-to-face encounters. Whether it be never following up with that person we told we would get dinner with so many times. Whether it is not asking for forgiveness but instead letting time cover it up. But above all it is the spiritual aspects of our life we have let it stick to.
If it not enjoyable, if it requires us to put in work, if it requires us to give of ourselves, or even deeper to see the wrongful things of ourselves, we do not want it. If is not entertaining, we act as if there is a do not enter sign flashing and we walk the other way.
I think so many times people view life and the church like one of those Passage Malibu rehab commercials. I remember the first time I saw one of the commercials, and thinking if that is what rehab is like I want to go. The beach, the swimming pools, all the glitz and the glam, it was appealing to the eye. But if you know anything about rehab, it is not glitz and glam. Both of my brothers have been, and they would tell you that is the farthest thing from what it is, but they would also tell you it was still worth it.
I cannot think of better correlation than this. With the hopes to draw people in, Passage Malibu has beautified a place that should not need to be beautified. Rehab centers are a place for you to get help, for you to find yourself once again, and for you to break free from the sin that is entangling you. If you want what it has to offer, you have to make the choice to want to go. It is hard, it is painful, but you can find freedom.
That is the church these days, and by church I mean places we gather. We beautify it with the hopes of appealing to those on the outside. We beautify it to draw people in. Yes, the church has so much offer, but at some point people have to make the choice to want it. They have to make the choice to come.
We do not have to beautify the church. We do not have to advertise how we can entertain you if you come. What the church has to offer is already beautiful.
A.W Tozer says, “Some go to church looking for consolation. We are encouraged to go to church to find peace and consolation. But the church is not a place to find consolation; it is a place to hear the gospel preached so you can find salvation. A big difference exists between being consoled and being saved. A man can find consolation and end up finally in hell. A man can be under blistering, terrifying conviction, get converted, and go finally to heaven.”
I like to think Tozer is saying, “hey sometimes just because it’s enjoyable, easy, and looks good to everyone does not mean it is the most beneficial.”
Do not get me wrong, I believe fully in inviting people to church, and the importance of them finding Jesus, but I just think that we have moved to far on the spectrum to “feel good” messages and enjoyable moments, and because of it this mentality has manifested into our culture, into our friendships, into our work ethics, etc. etc.
Do we want to be people that are never willing to sit in the traffic?
Do we want to be people that only want to go to the places like Passages of Malibu because they look good?
Do we want consolation or salvation?
Or
Do we want to be people that just want to experience Jesus?
Life is full of hard moments, but do not ever think that Jesus is not in those hard moments. Sometimes it is in those hard moments that you experience him the most. I know I have.
Conviction is not the best feeling in the world but the after taste of grace that comes with it is.
Lets be people who are willing to sit in the traffic sometimes.
