Stop Being Churchy

Life at times feels so cluttered. I have a difficult time organizing stuff. It takes work, focus, and consistency to stay organized. Fortunately, I have a caring wife who will set a model of how something is to be organized and it is up to me to stick with it. Learning to compartmentalize our earthly possessions is wonderful; however, we need to be very careful NOT to compartmentalize our faith in God. As context, some people behave or act churchy — my description for people who behave like Christians when they are around people they know from church and behave like their true selves around other who may not be their church friends or acquaintances. Behaving churchy is actually a wall or compartment if you will, to your faith. Some people do this out of fear or deep concern that if their non-believing friends or acquaintances knew they were a Christian they may miss out on invitations to events, promotions at work, or become ostracized from other activities. This is one of the perspectives that God shared on this behavior: In Matthew 10:33 in the Bible, it states, “But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father who is in Heaven.” Despite the argument that you did not “deny” your faith in Jesus Christ, churchy behaviors do not honor our Lord and Savior. Frankly, if we desire to compartmentalize our faith and try to toe the line between worldliness and faithfulness to Jesus Christ, you have already sinned against God and He will not be mocked, hoodwinked, or deceived; God knows our hearts and our motives. He wants all of us, 100%. Yes, Our Heavenly Father is patient but He is not a patsy nor a deity to be lightly. He loves us but He is also a Holy God who cannot and will not tolerate being dishonored and disrespected by lukewarm disciples. We are reminded in Galatians 6:7-10, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” My prayer is that every true believing, God-fearing Christian live fully, faithfully, thoroughly, and completely for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ so Our Heavenly Father who desires to bless us, can provide us with the full measure of His grace, mercy, and blessings as described in Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Amen!