Ruth's Ramblings

What Kind of Christian Are You?

From Larry Crabb's Inside Out, pp. 65-66:

If we are to become people who know God, who taste Him with a richness that sustains us through hard times of rejection and loss, then we must take an inside look. In the minds of thousands of Christians, the route to abundant living and spiritual maturity requires only that we become disciplined students of God's Word, people who faithfully and fervently pray, eager witnesses of the gospel who seize opportunities to tell others about Christ, and tireless church members willing to give our time, talents, and tithes to the local church.

Many wish they were doing better in their Christian responsibilities. They live with a mixture of guilt for not measuring up and assume their problems could be resolved if they exerted more effort to live as they should.

Others have tried their hardest and failed. After giving their best efforts to doing all they think they should do, they sit numbly in church going through the motions of worship, while feeling cheated, pressured, disillusioned, and wondering what other hoops God requires them to jump through before He'll straighten out their lives and make them happy.

Still others - and I suspect they're the majority - regard zealous commitment to Bible study, prayer, witnessing, and service as appropriate for the specialty called. Jeremiah was chosen before he was born. Paul was called through a blinding encounter with a heavenly light. Pastors are set apart for unique service by ordination. But ordinary folks need only be friendly to people, faithful to their spouses, hard-working in their jobs, and balanced in their distribution of time between family, church, and personal leisure. Churches are filled with folks who, as long as they think about their lives only during commercial breaks on television and polite Bible studies, are really quite content, pleased with themselves, and perhaps a bit smug in their gratitude to God for His blessings.

Two categories of Christians emerge: those who have high standards of commitment and those who are content to live ordinary, respectable lives. The first group includes people who are frustrated with their inability to measure up to their lofty ideals and a few who are satisfied with their performance. The second group consists mostly of folks who live reasonably happy lives as long as money, health, and relatioships are doing well. If things fall apart, they scramble to restore a measure of order to their lives. If that proves impossible, then a search for alternative sources of comfort begins. When available comfort is exceeded by inescapable suffering, then bitterness, depression, and a commitment to escape develop.

There's more, but I'll leave it at that. I'm constantly guilty at trying to grow from the outside in, rather than the other way around. It takes complete surrender and submission of my heart to let Him change me from the inside out.

On another note: Road trip/vacation was good. It was great to get away, but it wasn't exactly relaxing either (we aren't the types of people who enjoy packing in our vacation days filled with sightseeing activities and such - we just like to hang out and relax instead). I'll post pictures soon, after we sort through our +200 pictures. I know, I know... ridiculous for only a one-week vacation... But we really DID do a million and one things packed in those short 7 days. =)

Posted by Ruth at 8/16/2005