The elephant in the auditorium

We are a nation of convenience. If we want dinner in less than five minutes, we go to a drive through. If we want clean drinking water, we turn on the faucet.

If we’re too hot, we punch a few buttons on the air- conditioner. If we’re too cold, we crank up the heat.
If we want new clothes, phones, cars, gadgets, even a divorce or a new spouse, we get it and we do it quickly.

Seldom do we venture into an inconvenient place and when we do, it’s usually by no fault of our own.

I’m afraid that we’re treating our Christianity like I do my weekly trip to Wal-Mart. Shuffling through unimpressed with what is going on around us and trying to get in and out in record time.

We punch that Christian time card, listen to a sermon, and nod at everyone around us. However, Jesus never called us to a life of assembling once a week. Nowhere in Scripture does it say that the church’s main mission is to fill a manicured parking lot with our nice vehicles on Sunday mornings.

Let’s be honest, warming a pew is easy. Christianity isn’t easy and too many of us just aren’t committed.

We go because that’s what our parents and grandparents did. That’s what good people do. We get our feet wet, but our hearts are so wrapped up in our own kingdoms to spend much time on his.

We’re great at telling others how right we are.
However, what good is our doctrine if we fail to put it into action? Why do we refuse to go into the world (Matthew 28:19)? Is it because it’s messy, time consuming, awkward, and stressful? Not to mention inconvenient.

Convenient Christianity is shouting to the world how lost they are while standing within the safe beautiful doors of our nice buildings. It’s existing on the premises, not standing on the promises. It’s wonderful, exciting programs directed inwardly at the saved while the lost are dying on the curb.

It’s being more fearful of earthly labels such as conservative or liberal than we are of the day when we’ll stand before our God. I doubt he’ll ask us how many programs our congregation had, what events our youth did or didn’t participate in, or which brotherhood preacher we were certain was a false teacher.

He might ask how well we loved though. He might tell us how we were viewed by those people on that curb.

Convenient Christianity is being so decent and orderly in our assemblies that we don’t even notice we’re dead.

It’s refusing to acknowledge the visitor in our midst.
You know, the one who came in hoping to find love, acceptance, and a family, but left without even being spoken to.

Convenient Christianity is forfeiting our responsibility to our Savior by letting the paid preacher be the only proclaimer of God’s goodness in our community.

Christ’s love calls us to action. It beckons us out of our comfortable lives and into the lives of those in our neighborhoods. It motivates us to get out of the auditorium and into that Samaritan city with great love and mercy.

In order for more souls to be added to this family, we must be more kingdom and mission minded than we are convenience minded.

The cross isn’t convenient. It wasn’t for Jesus, and it won’t be for us. It’s time to rise up, accept our assignment, and change this world. It’s time to get serious.

–by Paula Harrington