Thursday Tippity Tip: How to Be an Ineffective Christian in 7 Easy Steps
Whatever you do, don’t get discipled. It’s so much more interesting to go through all the hard knocks of life. Pair that up with years of confusion and you have yourself one juicy spiritual soap opera the demons will always find a best seller!
Say “Jesus loves me” but live like you don’t believe it’s true. After all if Jesus could really see your heart for what it is, He really couldn’t mean what He said right? (Pssst a PSA for you, Jesus sees every heart for what it is). But none the less, it’s a lot more attention grabbing to be a victim that looks like something the cat drug in than it is to be victorious. Being victorious means you might actually start to live like Jesus said you could and who wants to do that? Why stop the pity party when it allows you to stay comfortable in your familiar mess?
Say you know you have been made a new creature in Jesus Christ but live like your old self because ya know, Jesus didn’t REALLY set you free from bondage…did He? After all, since preschool church, didn’t you learn that all believers are just “sinners saved by grace”? Don’t you know that even though Jesus died for you that His perfect sacrifice really didn’t cleanse you from ALL unrighteousness? I mean, what does the word “all” encompass? All the sin of one year or all the sin for all time? I guess none of us will ever know since “all” isn’t that clear of a definition.
Say you can’t out give God but then refuse to give to someone in need because you aren’t sure if God will provide because even though He is prompting you, He really wouldn’t be asking you to skip a coffee a few times a month…would He? Besides God knows you need padded pockets, and lots of dollars in your bank account to be happy so He couldn’t possibly be asking you to give up what you feel to be your hard earned security and happiness!
Sit in church every time the doors are open so you can practice feeling good about yourself. Positive self care so to speak. The best way to practice that kind of self care is to organize what the Pastor says in two categories:
-Folder A “For Others”
-Folder B “N/A - Not Applicable to my life” (because it belongs in folder A)
This is a great brain exercise that leaves you feeling like you’ve done some soul searching but without all the hard, messy work that can actually come with real soul searching or life application. It’s a win-win!
Read commentaries, books and do studies ON the Bible and ABOUT the Bible but make sure your Bible stays nice and safe in it’s shelf slot or bag because it is too hard to understand on your own. After all, God was incapable of making His word to be understood by the common person or even a child and decided He needed the help of scholarly men and women and countless watered down translations to help Him and you should do the same.
Talk to Jesus only a few times a year. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder so what better way to make your heart grow closer to Jesus than by making sure you have your space and alone time and only show up when it is convenient for you? That way things can go slow (don’t want it to move too fast) and you get to remain in control of your relationship with Him! You also won’t find yourself growing too dependent on him and as you know independence and self sufficiency is a must to keep anyone in line in a relationship.
While this post is clearly meant to be humorous I hope it also brings to light things that many Christians do believe deep down in the core of their hearts (minus the humor). What we think and believe truly affects how we live! God knew this and says in the Bible many, many times to seek Him, to fill our heads with the truth, that His word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path that we are holy, righteous, set apart, made new, loved, forgiven and so much more!
The BOSS (Bible Only Scripture Study) was designed by my mom to equip people not only to know who they are in Christ and live that way, but also to disciple them through the Bible using only the Bible because we truly believe God when He said even a little child can understand it which means you are more than able to understand it too! Pick it up and start reading the words of eternal life or join us for a BOSS study!
Let’s start being effective Christians that cause Satan to shake in His boots. Let’s start being more than conquerors like God says we are! Let’s start living the Beautifully Original Lord Directed lives He has called us all to live.
