Dan and Deb

Comfortable Christianity

 

Everyday throughout the world, Christians are being slaughtered for their faith in Christ. A state prosecutor in western Algeria demanded two-year jail sentences and large fines for six Muslim converts to Christianity in one of two trials against Christians that have caught the North African nation’s attention recently. The same court in Tiaret city delayed the verdict of a Christian woman facing three years in prison for “practicing non-Muslim religious rites without a license” on the same day. Assailants slit the throats of three employees of a publishing house that distributes Bibles, the latest in a series of attacks targeting Turkey’s small Christian minority. Five Afghan men who had converted to Christianity have been killed in separate incidents near the borders of eastern Afghanistan. All five men were stabbed or beaten to death in summary executions by Taliban adherents who accused them of abandoning Islam and then “spreading Christianity” in their communities.

            In the United States, Christians are blessed in the fact that we are not being persecuted in the same ways as the majority of the world. According to the US Census Bureau, 76.5% of Americans claim to be Bible-believing Christians. This means that 232,819,377 people are claiming to be followers of Christ. You would think that all is well with numbers like this. Unfortunately, the numbers show a terrible truth. Thirty-three million people residing in the United States including 13 million children live in households that experience hunger or the risk of hunger. Violence in America is at a staggering rate of approximately one suicide every 40 seconds, one murder every 60 seconds, and 1.3 rapes every minute. The average divorce rate is 40-50%. Almost half of every marriage partnership will end in divorce. According to Gallup, 92% of Americans own at least one Bible. The same poll shows that 37% of that number read their Bible on a weekly basis. WEEKLY. This means that 279,991,930 people own a Bible, and only 103,597,014 people actually read it. Do you remember how many Americans claim to be Christians? 232,819,377. These numbers show that 129,222,363 self-proclaimed Christians do not read their Bibles! This staggers my mind and causes me to ask, what has happened to Christians in America? Has the fact that we are not persecuted as others in the world made us a nation of “Comfortable Christians?” In order to answer this question we’re going to one, look at some model conversions, with our primary focus being on Saul’s conversion while he journeyed on the road to Damascus, two, we’re going to examine what takes place spiritually at the time of a true conversion, three, what we need to do in order to experience this conversion for ourselves, and fourth, we’re going to look at ways to avoid becoming a “Comfortable Christian.”

PRAY

CONVERSION 1: But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.) So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.” Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: “HE WAS LED AS A SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER; AND AS A LAMB BEFORE ITS SHEARER IS SILENT, SO HE DOES NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH. IN HUMILIATION HIS JUDGMENT WAS TAKEN AWAY, WHO WILL RELATE HIS GENERATION? FOR HIS LIFE IS REMOVED FROM THE EARTH. The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.

CONVERSION 2: One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? “And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

CONVERSION 3: When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.

FOCUS CONVERSION: Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank. Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.” Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.[1]

As we read about these conversion, I want to expand on what is actually occurring during a conversion. It’s not just a word we say to sound “religious”; there is an actual spiritual rebirth that is taking place inside of us. Our Lord taught that unless a person is born again, he is unable to ever see the Kingdom of God.[2] We must be born-again, or in other words, we must receive from a God a new spiritual life. As we examine Paul’s conversion, keep in mind your own rebirth and look for the similarities between yourself and Paul. The first thing we notice is that Paul was called by God. Verse 4 says, and then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”[3] Jesus tells us “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”[4] After Paul was called, he then submitted to God. “So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”[5] In order for us to be born again, we must submit to God. The same Paul that asked God, “what do You want me to do?” tells us in his epistle to the Romans, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”[6] The next step he took was a step of obedience. “Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.”[7] We too must be obedient. “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”[8] Paul’s final part in his conversion was to receive God’s grace and the Holy Spirit. “And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.”[9] We too must accept His loving gift of grace, and receive the Holy Spirit. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”[10]

The entire process of conversion is due to us being made cooperative through God’s grace and His act of imparting spiritual life to us, thus bring us under the authority of righteousness. By turning away from sin and turning towards God we become “converted.” In the Greek this word is “stephos” and means, to turn into something, turn in mind, become another kind of person. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”[11] Do you remember what we read earlier? “Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord…”[12] Then, Saul has this encounter with Jesus, and then we read, “Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.”[13] It is through the divine grace that Paul writes that it is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance.[14] This holy act of being born-again and coming to repentance is the beginning of our journey of being sanctified, conformed to the image of Christ Jesus.

Go back to our statistics. 76.5% of Americans claim to be born-again Christians. If this is the case, what has happened to Christianity in this country? Besides the fact that the majority of these people have probably never truly made Christ their Lord, I believe that the remaining number have simply gotten comfortable in their Christianity. We have become a people desensitized to the world conditions. Media has bombarded every second of our day with the worst of the worst in news reports. I remember when I worked for the Department of Corrections. After four years, I had become absolutely desensitized to crimes because of the people that I worked with on a daily basis. The absolute evil that I saw in some people caused me to become insensitive to the world I live in. It seems we’ve become stuck in this type of limbo, a space between where we were when we cried out to God for Him to save us and where we are going to be when He returns for us. Christians in America have become confused as to what our true identity is. At what point does the person with the drinking problem quit being an alcoholic? The person addicted to drugs calls themselves an addict. A gambler. An overeater. On and on the list can go. When do we stop identifying ourselves by our problems and recognize who we truly are?

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become sons of God, to those who believe in His name:”[15] Sons of God! This church, is who we are! “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”[16] Joint-heirs with Jesus! One day, when Christ returns for us, His bride, we will be glorified together! “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”[17] Because of this inheritance that we share in, we will see Jesus as He is because we shall be like Him! Glorified in eternity!

We have to ensure that we do not become “Comfortable Christians”. We do this by picking up the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God and reading it for ourselves. Studying it. Learning it. We do as it tells us. “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?-unless indeed you are disqualified.”[18] Examine yourselves daily! We should always strive to keep our priorities straight, with God taking first place over all. We need to examine our relationship with the world. “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”[19] “”If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.”[20] “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”[21]

We need to remember where our hope is. “If corpses can’t be raised, then Christ wasn’t, because he was indeed dead. And if Christ weren’t raised, then all you’re doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. It’s even worse for those who died hoping in Christ and resurrection, because they’re already in their graves. If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we’re a pretty sorry lot. But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries.” [22] Our hope in Christ is for eternity, not in this life only! We need not waste time dwelling on our past mistakes and that former creature, but be wise in remembering, as Paul did, who we were before the saving grace of our Lord. “Although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.” Always keeping in mind that we should strive to fight a good fight, striving to finish our course, and keeping our faith! Allowing God to finish the good work that He has begun in us so that on that glorious day when we must all stand before Him, we hear the blessed words of our King saying, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

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[1] Acts 9:1-18

[2] John 3:3

[3] Acts 9:4

[4] John 6:44

[5] Acts 9:6

[6] Romans 10:9-10

[7] Acts 9:8

[8] John 14:15

[9] Acts 9:17-18

[10] Acts 1:8

[11] II Corinthians 5:17

[12] Acts 9:1

[13] Acts 9:20

[14] Romans 2:4

[15] John 1:12

[16] Romans 8:16-17

[17] I John 3:2

[18] II Corinthians 13:5

[19] John 16:33

[20] John 15:18

[21] James 4:4

[22] 1 Corinthians 15:16-20