Inconvenient church

I’ve got a friend that’s a famous celebrity type pastor. He’s on television and the radio every day and if I told you his name you would probably know who he is. My friend is thinking about writing a book entitled The Inconvenient Church. I get it. His theory is that we have made church too convenient. We make attendance convenient, community convenient, prayer convenient, giving convenient and serving convenient.

We do this because we want to serve people, promote discipleship and show hospitality. We have to wonder, however, in the process are we stunting people’s growth or even rubber stamping a false faith? Are we making it easy to follow Jesus when following Jesus is the hardest thing we’ll ever do?

I’m reading a book entitled Death of a Weekend Warrior: A Surfing Journey.

The author has been surfing for decades but he poses the question, “Am I a surfer?” And what he’s asking is what really makes you a surfer? I like to surf, I have a great surfboard, it’s one of my prized possessions. (Come over and I will show it to you, but are you a surfer just because you surf?) The writer theorizes surfing is more than that; surfing is not something you just do on a weekend, it’s really a lifestyle. Following Jesus is the same thing. Being a Christian is about way more than doing something when it’s convenient.

Things like prayer, serving, attendance, giving, community (being embedded into a local church), those things come at a cost don’t they? Have we enabled people to be “weekend warriors”? Come to a conference, attend a concert, serve if it does not interfere with your schedule, make it if you can and we will be glad you are here. That’s not how the Bible describes following Jesus.

I spend Wednesday afternoons looking at God’s Word and drinking coffee with a young guy who is on fire for Jesus. And what we just read today in First Peter is about suffering, being insulted, bringing God glory in hard circumstances, serving and loving others, not being like the world or controlled by the flesh, we are told to watch out for Satan because he is roaming around waiting to get us. That does not look like reading a bulletin and then deciding if the topic of the next church Bible Study interests me enough to give up a night on the big brown couch.

Am I a surfer? That’s really not the question. The question, “Am I a Christian?” Am I in it for the long haul? Is endurance my jam? Is worship a lifestyle? When I feel the social pressure do I give in? Is my way the way of the cross as described in Scripture?

If I was going through the motions, I would just go home or I would surrender and commit my life to the one who died in my place. Be who you say you are. Let the Lord dictate where you go, where you live, what you do and submit to His leadership. Be engaged in His mission and His purpose (Matthew 28:19 & 20). The Apostle Paul put it like this, “I have been crucified with Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me (Galatians 2:20).” Let’s go.

He told me to tell you that.