Word Weld

I’m sure the few people who read my blog have noticed, but I don’t publish vast quantities of content. Perhaps that means I will never have a large following. Having a large following would be nice, but it’s not my aim. I don’t like to write articles about everything I see trending on Facebook or on the internet at large. There are plenty of other people doing that, though I have occasionally felt the need to speak out about certain issues, depending on how I am led. Also, if I don’t speak out about an issue (such as the SCOTUS’ unconstitutional ruling about homosexual marriage or the ongoing persecution of Christian businesses by the homosexual lobby), that doesn’t mean I don’t believe those issues are important. It just means I haven’t felt led to write something meaningful about them myself.

What I’m writing about today is something that struck me on a personal level when I was at church yesterday, and thus I was moved to share the experience and talk to the mirror as I am wont to do sometimes. I cannot, nor would I wish to, determine where anyone else is in their “walk with God.” I put that in quotes because it is Christian cliché, and I don’t think many times we really understand what it means. Because the reality of God is something that is between each Christian and their Lord, it’s hard to quantify it. Essentially, I define one’s “walk with God” (which we Christians measure in terms of “nearness”) as the extent to which we believe in God to the point that it forces us to modify the way we live our lives.

Examples are fun, so let’s do one to illustrate. Marriage is something I am well acquainted with, having been married for over 7 years to the same woman. When I was single, I behaved a certain way, both in my spending habits, in how I used my time, and even in how I ate, slept, talked, and even thought. However, when I got married, there was a very real individual in my life whose needs I was responsible to meet as best I could. I could no longer spend money as I had before, because my wife impacted that area of my life. I couldn’t spend my time in the ways I did before, because she needed my time.

We could continue the illustration with children if we wanted to, but most people understand how much a child can “disrupt” our former lifestyle if we plan to have anything to do with his upbringing. The point is, if something is real to us, it changes how we live. A hole in the roof is a real thing that should impact how you live your life. Ignoring it would be considered poor judgment. Some things in life are real but not present, yet we still live like they exist in the present because we know how they will affect us later. A man might service his car or change the oil in anticipation of a problem which he knows is real, yet not actually visible. A woman might refuse to eat certain foods because she knows that they have a tendency to make her gain weight, which is a real thing, yet not present. A family might save money for college, or tax day, or before a baby is delivered, because they believe those things are real, even if at the moment they can’t see them. They have an impact upon those people’s lives, because those people believe them to be real (and in fact they are real).

God is literally, exactly the same way, but because we don’t see Him, it’s easy to behave as if He doesn’t exist. A man might not go to a strip club because he knows his wife will be angry with him, but he will go anyway if he thinks she won’t know. He doesn’t believe in the reality of getting caught. A father might beat his wife and children because he doesn’t believe in the negative consequences that will impact his life as a result. He trusts that nothing adverse will happen to him.

But Christians are different. We claim to believe that God exists. We claim it from the rooftops, write about it on our blogs, post spiritual memes on Facebook, even tithe heavily, go on visitation, or knock on doors, or work at VBS summer after summer. And yet, while all of those things speak of someone who actually has a walk with God–someone who believes God exists–there may be a contrariety at work in that person’s life. I see this in my own life and it bothers me, and it came to a head yesterday in church, when a guest speaker came and spoke about revival in the church. Ultimately, revival can be defined as Christians suddenly behaving as if God is so real to them it’s as if He’s a physical person right there beside us, like a spouse or a boss. In a revival, God becomes so real to Christians that they suddenly understand that there is no area of our lives about which God has no opinion. Wow. Did I hear what I just wrote? (You know what I mean) Let me write it a little bolder so I can get it.

There is no area of our lives about which God has no opinion.

What about brushing my teeth? God doesn’t have an opinion about that, right? What about eating a potato chip? Or eating a bit too much candy? What about which shoes I wear or which clothes I wear? What about watching TV?

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
-1 Corinthians 10:31

God has an opinion of literally every area of our lives. He cares about what I do at work, what I do in the bathroom, how I talk to my children, what I write in comments on Facebook, how much I watch television and what I watch on it, what I do on my computer, the games that I play on my Wii U, what I wear (even as a man), what I wear to church, how much time I spend with my wife, how I respect or disrespect my parents, etc. I mean, I could go on, but suffice it to say that God cares. Just as we care what our children do from one moment to the next, and every choice they make, God cares about our choices, and our actions. He wants to have a relationship with us. He wants to be as real to us as anything.

Well, then, why doesn’t He just appear, right? That’s the logical question, isn’t it? It would be a lot easier to act like God was real if I could see Him, right?

Is that so? Isn’t it true, even from what I’ve already written, that we often behave as if real, live, tangible, visible people in our lives aren’t real? People ignore laws, even though they’re real, because we don’t think we’ll get caught. Some men cheat on their wives, even though their wives are real, visible beings. God knows He could get everyone to believe He exists by being visible, but as Jesus said to Thomas,

Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
-John 20:29

The most committed people will act as if something is real even when it is not immediately apparent. Committed men will not cheat on their wives, even when they’re wives aren’t there, or won’t find out. Committed children will obey their parents even when they could get away with it. Committed parents deny themselves spending, saving for college because college is real to them. And a girl or woman decides not to have an abortion, even against pressure from her boyfriend/husband, friends, doctor, or parents, because she understands that what is inside of her is a real person, no matter how it came to be there, no matter if it’s wanted or not. God wants no less than fully committed Christians, and I believe that’s one of the best reasons why He requires us to believe in faith.

So what does it mean for me to make God real in my life–to have a closer walk with Him? It means that everything I do has to be evaluated in the light of what God has said in the Bible. When I’m at the dinner table and my wife has made her ought-to-be-world-famous spaghetti, and I’ve already had two big helpings, I stop before continuing, knowing that God disapproves of gluttony (because it’s sin). It means when I’m about to yell at my children because they did something again, something very dangerous, destructive, or just plain stupid, I remember that God said I should be slow to anger. It means that when I’m with someone at work that is certainly an unbeliever, I make every effort to put my faith on display for them, including verbally, to be a faithful witness like God has commanded.

But it means much harder things too. It means I have to deny myself those roots of sin that I’ve tolerated so long that it becomes an addiction, and breaking away becomes painful and difficult, even physically. It means that when I’m lying awake at night, I choose not to let my thoughts wander into images that I ought not. It means I can’t dress any way I feel like, or listen to any kind of music I want, or watch any kind of show I want, or play any kind of video game I want. Making God real (having real revival) means changing things in our lives that will seriously impact us, like tithing more. My wife has a degree and could make excellent money teaching English, but we live off of just my income, because my wife and I believe that parents should put their children first and their lifestyle second. We don’t want other people, even grandparents, to have more of an impact upon our kids than we do. We want our kids to see how involved we try to be in their lives, even if it means having less income, because our kids are more important to us than personal ambition or a woman’s right to have a career. We believe that God would have my wife stay home, order our house, and rear our children. And so, we make real choices to that end. I’m not saying we’re better than anyone else, or that there aren’t times when both parents might have to work for the family to survive, but we do believe that if a mother can stay at home and take care of her children, she has an obligation to them and to God to do so, just as I have an obligation to them and to God to go to work and provide for them, and not neglect to teach them and spend time with them and discipline them as a father should.

We are not a strong witness (I am not a strong witness) not because we don’t believe in God enough, but because we don’t act like we believe in God enough. The world is full of homes where both parents work all the time because they have the right to do so. That’s nothing short of just fitting in. But it’s not full of homes where mothers and fathers are willing to do without their rights and luxuries because God expects more of parents than society does. And parents who put their children above themselves stand out, and produce better, more moral children that stand in stark contrast to those whose parents would rather work because it makes them happier, and leave the children to raised by people who are not their parents. Children want to be raised by their parents, by the way. I worked at a children’s home, and I can say without doubt that every one of the children who came through the home desperately wanted their parents to take care of them, even if they knew their parents were the lowest scum of the earth.

The world is full of people who will watch anything and everything, but lacking in Christians who will turn off the show because of its language or the presence of nudity or sexual content. It’s full of people who think any video game they play is ok because it’s just a game, and lacking in Christians who understand that games are no different to God than anything else we consume with our lusts, and deny themselves according to that conviction. It’s full of women who have gone to great lengths to redefine modesty to suit whatever fashion fancy they have, and largely barren of women who understand that regardless of how their dress negatively impacts men, that God cares how they dress. We need more people who apply God to their lives, who ask the Holy Spirit before they do something, “Should I be doing this?” and if there is any doubt, having the discipline to step back.

Wow, these are tough things to swallow. I know, because I’ve dealt with several. I deal with the fact that sometimes Kristina and I read the Bible for 5 minutes only so that we can feel like we’ve done our due diligence, and then proceed to watch shows and play video games for hours after the kids go to bed. I feel the tug of the Spirit to pray more and for more people, and to be a better witness in every way. I feel the conviction to be a better father to my children, not in general, but in real, specific ways like how I talk to them, how I sacrifice my time for them, or how much effort I put into playing with or teaching them. I feel sharply how inadequately I lead my home as a spiritual head, how I take responsibility for my family as a captain for his ship and crew, and how I could be less lazy and more diligent and disciplined.

Our country, and our world, needs Christians who are revived. And like the evangelist said yesterday, we don’t have a cruel God who is sitting in heaven holding back revival, listening to us plead for His help. No, He is in heaven watching, waiting for us to begin to want revival enough that we change our lives, and then He will send His spirit to work mightily among our churches.

These are hard things to hear, but until we start weighing everything we do in light of our belief in God, and stop making excuses for ourselves (for myself), we will continue to see individuals, families, churches, and our nation sink further and further into compromise and apostasy. Already Christians and churches look like the world, sound like the world, listen to the world’s music, watch the world’s shows, play the world’s games, and love the world’s goods. What is the church then, if not merely the same steak the world serves, but with “God seasoning” on top?

It’s time to look at our own lives, not as a church or even as a family. That’s too abstract and distant. We need to look not at our spouse or our kids, but at ourselves. What do I need to weigh against God’s scales? What is there in my life that I have not applied God’s opinion against. What in my life have I turned a blind eye to spiritually. What is there about me that I believe God has no opinion about. Because in the end, He does have an opinion. God cares about what we do, about everything we do.