For someone who spends so much time in the local coffee hangout, it’s ironic that I don’t drink coffee. (Right now I’m savoring some hot apple-spice tea.)
I have a lot of friends who drink coffee, though. I have one friend who might as well be wearing a cologne called “Eau de Java.” The smell of coffee is all over him, all the time.
I have another friend, Dave, who looooves coffee. He perks up at the word “coffee” the same way my dog perks up at words like “treat” or “car ride.” I traveled with Dave years ago to Europe on a ministry trip. That’s when I learned how superior European coffee was, and how lame American coffee was. (This was B.S., of course–Before Starbucks.)
You see, Dave likes his coffee so thick and rich you can stand a spoon up in it. All through Europe he took Espresso breaks; he was totally in his element. Back then, anyhow, compared to European coffee, American coffee was like brown water. In some places, it still is, I guess. But I wouldn’t really know, because all coffee tastes awful to me. (I just know this kind of stuff by being friends with Dave.)
Anyhow…I was pondering this morning about something I heard David Kinnamon, president of the Barna Group, say during the Born Again Church Tour, which I met up with in Denver last month. (This is another “Dave”, not the one who loves coffee.) He was sharing some statistics about how many people claim to be Christians in America, compared with how few of those professing Christians actually live out of a Biblical worldview. I don’t remember exactly how he put this, but the gist was that the Christian faith as it is currently presented is far too easy, that we need a faith that requires more of its adherents.
This took some people back at first, because it almost sounded like a return to legalism and away from the message of grace. But The Wild One and I got it. He wasn’t talking about doctrine, but about commitment.
The early believers didn’t just believe by mental agreement with Christian doctrine (and by the way, the “sinner’s prayer” actually appears nowhere in the Bible). Their conversion was a life change, and a life commitment to follow Jesus–one that many paid for with their lives. They committed to it with every fiber of their being, challenging and encouraging one another to live out their faith in tangible ways. Holiness and social responsibility were serious to them, not as a means to earn salvation, but as an outflow of their commitment to Christ and His mission. It cost them something, and so it mattered.
This is something that is largely lost on western Christianity. Today, all most folks know is to pray the prayer, and they are in the club. With a few exceptions, our Christian culture requires little else of people but to go to church, volunteer here and there, follow some false spiritual benchmarks to measure their faith, and try to stay of trouble until the rapture happens (whenever your church thinks that’s going to happen). We have somehow lost that sense of deep commitment and passion.
It’s kind of like the difference between American coffee and European coffee. (See where the coffee analogy comes in?)
We understand (to some extent) that we cannot earn the free gift of God’s grace; but we have forgotten that the choice to be a true disciple is costly. And that’s why I think so much of our Christian culture is shallow–because we do not place any value on what does not cost us something.
We look back at the martyrs of our faith through history (past and present), and we honor them; but we do not realize that there is more to their martyrdom than just living in an environment that happens to be hostile to Christians….
These people have laid their lives down because theirs was a faith worth dying for.
I don’t know about you, but I am bored stiff with the mamby-pamby, watered-down versions of our faith. I want a faith that’s going to impact the world in some way. A faith that’s going to make other people stand up and take notice, for the right reasons, not the wrong ones. I don’t want a Christianity that amounts to warm, bitter black water. I want a faith rich enough and thick enough to stand a spoon up in it. I want a walk of faith that is strong enough to wake me up, and whose aroma will linger on me long after I’ve drunk.
I don’t dream of martyrdom, but I long for a faith that’s worth dying for. I want a faith that matters.
(Pardon me while I wipe the tears….)
Wayward Son
Musician. Composer. Recovering perfectionist. Minister-in-transition. Lover of puns. Hijacker of rock song references. Questioner of the status quo.
I'm not really a rebel. Just a sincere Christ-follower with a thirst for significance that gets me into trouble. My quest has taken me over the fence of institutional Christianity. Here are some of my random thoughts along the way. Read along, join in the conversation. Just be nice.
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This is a really insightful post. Me and your friend Dave would get along fine! I too perk up at the mention of coffee (and also exhibit tendencies toward coffee snobbery. I’m from Seattle – what can I say?) But seriously, beautiful post. Amen!
This is a thoughtfull post. The message that being a disciple invovles life change has been lost. That should not surprise us. Our churches try and act like the world around them to attract people. Why should anyone think radical life change is invovled in the Christian message.
Nice post Dave. Maybe the difference is living faith from the heart instead of the head?
Make that.. nice post Jeff.. I must be getting old 🙂
A faith worth dying for is indeed something to strive for. That is what I am striving to live everyday. I wish all that call themselves Christians had that goal, because the faith taught in most Christian circles isn’t worth getting a paper cut for.
In the ancient Church, it took 3 years of training as a catechumen to be admitted to baptism. Only after baptism would they be admitted to Communion and considered a Christian.
Also, normative was daily public morning and evening prayers. Because of the culture and close community style of living at the time, regular attendance was expected.
When the Emperor Constantine and those following made it politically advantageous (rather than dangerous) to be a Christian it did not take long till it was a quick sprinkle and confirmation by a Bishop and bang u were a full member. This was the 4th Century’s version of the “sinner’s prayer”.
The “Consumerist” Church, in my mind, is a unfortunate side path. We are not to be catered to like we are going to a Mall, we are to lose our lives to find them.
As I recall, we are tasked to “make disciples”, not consumers and spectators.
Great discussion
Great post. I love coffee. My favorite t-shirt says instant human, just add coffee. I like the analogy. Authentic Christiantiy is harder to pinpoint than we think. I am tired of religious talk, especially here in my city. I long for authenticity.
Thanks, Sarah. Yeah, I think you and Davey would probably hit it off.
Mike,
I think we have, indeed, missed the point in trying too hard to be hip for the world. That might attract a few people interested in our shows, but I think these days the true attraction to our faith will be the depth of our walk, not the hip-ness of it.
Thanks, KB. Thanks, KB. 🙂
Mark,
You’re talking my language, bro.
M-I-T,
Thanks for bringing that perspective to the discussion. It’s good to have you here.
From my perspective…in the ancient-er church (i.e., the Book of Acts), it appears it was a little easier for folks to make it to the baptism stage. 🙂 But there can be no denying their level of commitment once they entered the faith. I think people understood what was at stake when they made the decision. I do not think we know that so much now.
Laurie,
I would venture a guess that your part of the world has some pretty rich coffee and some pretty mixed-up, watered-down forms of Christianity. 🙂
Dave here. I’m happy to say that since our travels in Europe I’ve found a spoon especially made for standing up in coffee. This activity (of standing spoons up in coffee) is growing rapidly across certain parts of Europe. There’s even talk of some leagues forming but its too early to say how that’s gonna turn out.
My first trip to Europe cured me of cream and sugar. I kept dumping them in my coffee and it didn’t seem to change a thing. The taste of the coffee was so strong it overpowered the taste of the cream and sugar. Now there’s a pretty good metaphor for faith. If its strong enough it will not be changed when other things are introduced.
No froo froo faith! Give us the strong stuff!!
First time visitor…found you through someone…well anyway you know how to blog world goes.
I love your insight here. I totally agree: we blow it big time when it comes to picking up a cross daily.
But please don’t miss the fact that there are many of us in organized churches where we DO preach, teach, talk and walk the gospel…daily. We can’t mimic the early church for a couple of really good reasons. We are not in that time period, and our culture is different. But there are many, many American churches who really do what Christians should do and what we as individuals should do to be Christ-like daily.
It’s refreshing, though, to hear (or see) someone speak about the thing that drives many people away from our American churches…our hypocrisy. Thanks for putting it in a fresh new way!
Davey, I have to say I’m a bit disappointed. It would seem to me if you had to make a special spoon to stand up in coffee, the coffee isn’t strong enough to support a regular spoon. More compromise. Tsk tsk. 🙂
Nice addition to the metaphor, bro. Thanks for chiming in.
Lori,
Thanks for visiting and for the comment. A little background might help here…I was raised in organized church, have a wide background in it (meaning not just one or two churches, and crossing diverse denominations), and have for many years been one of its strongest proponents. It was my comfort zone. So my questioning of the institutional church systems comes from years of embedded experience, and seeing the difference once I got outside of it.
I wholeheartedly agree with you that we live in a different culture and time than the early church did. I have no desire to return to the 1st century church; I want to be part of the 21st century church. However, this point also happens to be one of the very reasons that I question whether organized church remains the most effective way to reach our culture. Our culture has changed; we have not adapted.
I recognize and respect that God still works in institutional churches, and that there are exceptions to every trend. It is not the sincerity of the believers I question; it is the overall effectiveness of the model we’re using. At the same time…as this post suggests, the heart for Christ transcends whatever model we are using, and if that heart is bearing fruit in an institutional setting…good on you. 🙂
God bless.