faking it

how many of us pretend to be something we are not in order to please others around us?

christians often portray the mindset that only non-believers pretend to be something they're not to make themselves and others around them happy. it's as if this thought runs through a believers mind, "when will they ever stop pretending and start living?"

but i wonder..... do christians "fake it" more?

do we(christians) pretend to be fine when our life is in disarray?

do we stay comfortable when our soul is screaming to us that something is wrong?

do we keep our mouths tight and our heart's shackled because of our fear that what God is asking us to question might shake others around us as well?

is it so terrible to ask believers to question things?

now that we're all thinking, stroll with me down this road of contemplation.

i begin to wonder, what is it about "the churched" that causes them to want to please other believers so desperately?

from my experiences, as of late, i've seen countless numbers of believers who are afraid to move people to a deeper point in their journey with Christ. now there are believers that notice things about the body of Christ, about the way we seek God that needs to change. these believers don't wish to change the message of scripture, they simply want to change the way we present it and live it out in our daily lives.

the ways of presenting the Gospel as a message of only repentance and grace is not working for the lost or the redeemed seeker. people need and want a faith that looks messy and authentic, not firm, like a book on tax law.

the generations of today need more than God meeting them once a week on a sunday morning for an hour. they need more than a simple daily "quiet time".

what if walking with God isn't only about grace and having a daily routine with Him?

please don't hear me say that grace isn't essential. but if grace is the only thing we preach, do the ears of the listeners ever hear the rest of the Gospel? do they ever hear the practicality in the message of Jesus? do they ever see how it can be relevant in the first century as well as the twenty-first century?

what if the essential ingredients for a deeper walk with God aren't found at church on sunday morning?

what if those ingredients, the ingredients that flavor life, are found in the hands and hearts of the marginalized?

why don't we urge our brothers and sisters to make their faith a reality?

why do we stop at the foundational aspects of christianity? why don't we dive deeper?

what are we afraid of?

perhaps a church challenges it's congregation to pursue God beyond the foundational, building up and off of that foundation in order for growth to occur in a vertical direction, instead of just in the horizontal. if all we ever teach are the "easy on the ears" sermons that increase the number of butts in the seats (horizontal growth), but fails to push the listener to meditate on what was said and consider changing the way they live to resemble the example of Christ (vertical growth), are we building a weak flock?

what if we do teach the "hard to comprehend", the sermons with "something to chew on" for the week? wouldn't the listener be challenged to go to a new depth if they wanted to consider the teaching? wouldn't the listener be challenged to rethink the way he/she is living?

i wonder how many shepherds that we have teaching "easy christianity" that have actually become sheep themselves.

are we turning shepherds into sheep?

it seems we have handed the reigns over to the deceiver letting him instill a fear in us that causes us to not ask christians to change? the funny thing is, we don't mind at all to tell the lost that they must change, but once you prayed the prayer and said the words, you are free from being asked to change... and if you do change -- keep it private, you don't want to appear weak and vulnerable, because goodness forbid you show emotion.

where is this over-masculinated Christ in the scriptures that never breaks in front of people, the man that always had it together, the man that never points out the areas that need to change in believers lives, the man who was never stressed, a man who never felt grief or heartache? from what i see in scripture, the version of Christ that too many christians portray (the rock solid, never shaken Christ) doesn't exist.

Christ was broken for the lost often. He cried for the hurt constantly. He listen to the cry of the oppressed and He answered their call. He sat with the outcast. He kissed the leper. His sweat of stress ran off down his forehead, dripping off of his nose. His knees were calloused from hours of gut-wrenching prayer, pouring out His heart to the Father. all of this embodies a man willing to be vulnerable and transparent with those around Him.

i don't think this Christ, the broken/authentic Christ, would be afraid of empty seats in the sanctuary. i think His concern would be with the empty hearts that occupy those seats. the Heart of God isn't fueled by the ego boosting larger audience but rather the soul driving seeker.

the sad reality is that some churches justify their filling the seats philosophy by saying, "the more butts we have in the seats, the more ears can hear." do we really want a large number of people with faith that is two feet deep or would we rather have a smaller group of people devoted to going two feet deeper every day until they can't see the surface any longer?.... and when they reach that depth.... they want to go deeper.

all in all, what are we scared of?

what is driving our fears?

what fuels the speaker who never wants to shake the walls of the congregation?

the tragedy is there are far to many reasons a person could give to not speak beyond the "easy to digest" message. perhaps it is a fear that believers will dislike the speaker for voicing what scripture is asking of them?

it is a dreadfully frightening event when we quit asking for sanctification and encourage people to only be happy and joyful. often times sunday morning messages are used to tell people to not show your stress to others when your faith isn't strong enough to weather the storms by yourself and to keep the appearance that everything is going to be okay.

are we pretending to be "okay" to preserve our "unshakeable" faith? many of us act like our faith must be presented to the outside world in such a way that it appears concrete, immovable. too many christians in leadership are afraid to present themselves as broken and transparent -- on the same level as everyone else. we can't put our pastors on a higher pedistal expecting them to never sin, or be stressed or show weakness. we can't see them in a different light than we see the common christian. we must afford them the same grace God has given us. we have to understand that life with Christ is a journey down rocky, overgrown paths and we have to throw all of ourselves into seeking Him. this journey isn't a casual stroll through the meadow watching the deers prance beside us.

don't lose your grasp on the reality of the Kingdom of God because you see things through rose colored glasses.


peace be with you,

.:rustinklafka