Stewards and Consumerists

Last night, I had the privilege of personally listening to mission-centered testimonies shared by a wonderful couple. The interesting thing is, this brother is neither a full-time Christian worker nor a pastor or a preacher, not even a bi-vocational worker leading a church. He, along with his wife, is a simple believer but devoted to God’s mission.

This young brother is working in a Muslim populated and prosperous country. He works for an automobile company and is living in this rich nation for a couple of years. Multitudes of people, including Christians, particularly from the Asian countries, leave their hometown and go to this country. Do you know why? To earn wealth, acquire material possessions, buy good property in their hometown and then return back to their native place at their convenient time to settle comfortably with their family.

But this brother is quite different. He is not material-centered, earthly-minded and comfort-oriented. His passion is, as he works, he wants to support his family and get engaged in the spread of the kingdom of God. He seeks to win the lost. He is burdened to make disciples. He loves to build the body of Christ. And to do all these in a hostile nation, he is utterly dependent on God, has given himself to prayer and uses God given opportunities to share his faith and to make disciples. He does this out of personal burden in the Lord without support and motivation from any church or organization.

As I listened to him and learned how God is using him to be a tremendous blessing to many, I saw how he is overflowing with the joy of God as he is engaged in God’s mission. Despite holding a job which keeps him quite busy, he still takes time, particularly using his weekly off, to actively minister to people. How many I find trying to give excuses for not being active in ministry! But we learn from this brother - where there is passion, there is a way. Candidly speaking, I don’t witness such passion to live for the glory of God even among many Christian leaders and full-time Christian workers.

Coming to this brother’s wife, she is just a housewife. Unlike many housewives who enjoy cooking, television and shopping, she is more passionate to involve in God’s mission. So, besides fulfilling her household chores, she spends more time in praying for the lost, does prayer walk and loves to use opportunities to share the gospel with neighbors and strangers. She is zealous to impact lives for Christ Jesus.

As I listened to their testimonies, I am impressed to see how this grassroots Christian couple is burning for the Lord to carry on His mission and to accomplish His will on this earth. Their lives distinctly exemplify stewardship. Such people consider their lives as a gift from God and want to use all that they are and have for the glory of God and for the expansion of His kingdom. Although they earn money and enjoy every earthly blessing from God, their heart is predominantly set on God’s kingdom and His righteousness, not on earthly kingdom and worldly amusements.

I take great delight and extract inspiration in watching such committed lives to the cause of Christ. However, I am also saddened to look at so many people who claim of being believers and followers of Christ Jesus, but as Paul said, they look out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ (Phi. 2:21). It seems many Christians are passionate to fulfill their own will and to build their own kingdom, unlike Jesus who taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come and thy will be done.” They have given themselves over to consumerism Christianity, pursing earthly prosperity and seeking to attain material things to live a comfortable life. Regretfully, in all their carnal pursuits and worldly passions, they seek God to richly bless them, as if God is existing to serve them to fulfill their every whim.

Moreover, to satisfy their conscience and to feel religious, they practice little spirituality [pray little, study little, worship little] and give little offering to church or ministry. But their lives are not evidently marked with a passion to follow Christ by denying self and carrying their cross, to spread the gospel of Christ, to make disciples, to help the needy & missions, and to build the flock of Christ which He bought by His own blood.

Paul, in writing to the believers at Rome, exhorts, “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord” (Rom. 12:11). Don’t you think many of our believers lack this godly zeal, spiritual fervor and passion to serve the Lord? The devil seemingly has become successful in making many of Christ’s followers sluggish in spiritual disciplines and distracted from God’s mission, but alert and zealous for worldly things. Is this not confirmed by looking at so many Christians whose lives are being enslaved by consumerism, materialism and hedonism? I am convinced there is a desperate need for revival, the great spiritual awakening, in our Christianity today.

I urge you, dear believers of Christ, to think about the wonderful couple I have shared and examine ourselves with these questions - How am I living my life for Christ? What am I doing for God's kingdom? Is my life impacting those around me? Am I am a good steward of God's blessings in my life? Am I Christ-centered, kingdom-minded, gospel-oriented, people-builder and self-disciplined in God's ways?

Let's commit our brief life on earth to live for the glory of God, walking with God by constant communion with Him and impacting lives around us by exemplifying God’s standards, by sharing the gospel, by making disciples, by helping the needy and missions, by encouraging the weak believers and by praying for the lost and for revival in Christian community. Such is a life lived worthily for the glory of God as faithful stewards in contrast to wayward consumerists.

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Radical

Last month, a wonderful brother in the Lord gifted me a book Radical by David Platt. It is one of the few books in my life that I read in its entirety with great earnestness, even planning to read again. 

As I read through the pages, I was deeply convicted and challenged to live a different life as a disciple of Christ Jesus. O, how I wished in my heart to buy as many copies of this book and give to as many Christians as possible, so that they would read and learn to live a crucified Christian life in this self-indulgent world!

Well, when we look at the contemporary Christianity, don’t you suppose many of us who claim to be disciples of Christ seem to live a self-elevated rather than self-denial life, comfort zone rather than crucified life, earthly-minded rather than heavenly-focused life, world-like rather than Christ-like life and religious rather than radical Christian life?

The aim of many who claim to believe in Christ appears to be this—earn a nice educational degree, find a great job or business, get married, have children and settle on earth with family by acquiring material things and possessions and dream to live with all the comforts of life. And to help us fulfill our ambitions, we seek God as if He exists to serve us as our guardian.

Besides, because of what Christ had done on the cross and the eternal life He earned for us, we think of doing little favors to God by going to church once in a week, give little time for prayer and study of God’s word, donate small amount of money to church and occasionally worship Him for the blessings He has bestowed upon us.

Is this what Christian life is all about?

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, makes it quite obvious—“And He [Christ] died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again” [2Cor. 5:15].

Honestly, do you suppose many of us are living for Christ? Are we studying, working and living our life on earth for Christ and for His kingdom? If we think we are, then, are we passionate to know Christ more and more? Do we hunger and thirst for His holiness and love? Do we long for Christ’s second coming? Are we living our brief earthly life in light of eternity?

Further, are we burdened to spread the gospel of our Lord Jesus? Are we compassionate towards poor and needy? Are we concerned for God's revival in the churches? Do we possess the consuming desire to spread the glory of God among all nations? Are we living a sacrificial life, giving up our comforts in order to bless others? Are our prayers marked with this cry, “Your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”?

I am afraid we lack the above qualities, not in iota but in tons. O, how much joy we miss in living a life for ourselves rather than for Christ and for the glory of God! Therefore, shall we ask God, believingly and persistently, to bring revival in our lives, so that we would live a Christ-centered and kingdom-minded life on earth and impact the lives around us for God's glory?

Let me leave you with this following excerpt from the last paragraph of the book Radical:

You and I have an average of about seventy or eighty years on this earth. During these years we are bombarded with the temporary. Make money. Get stuff. Be comfortable. Live well. Have fun. In the middle of it all, we get blinded to the eternal. But it’s there. You and I stand on the porch of eternity. Both of us will soon stand before God to give an account for our stewardship of the time, the resources, the gifts, and ultimately the gospel he has entrusted to us. When that day comes, we are convinced we will not wish we had given more of ourselves to living the American Dream. We will not wish we had made more money, acquired more stuff, lived more comfortably, taken more vacations, watched more television, pursued greater retirement, or been more successful in the eyes of this world. Instead we will wish we had given more of ourselves to living for the day when every nation, tribe, people, and language will bow around the throne and sing the praises of the Savior who delights in radical obedience and the God who deserves eternal worship.

Are you ready to live for that dream? Let’s not waver any longer.

Click here to order Radical from Flipkart [India].

Click here to order Radical from Amazon [International].

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Three Tragic Signs of Complacency

"Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth," said A.W. Tozer.

These days I have been meditating on the book of Amos. What wealth of insights the Lord has in store for His children to learn about His ways! When I came to chapter 6, I was moved in my heart to self-examination, for it reveals three tragic signs of complacency.

One of the terrible diseases of Christianity today is complacency [a feeling of self-satisfaction]. A.W. Tozer says, "Religious complacency is encountered almost everywhere among Christians these days." He also observed, "Among the many who profess the Christian faith, scarcely one in a thousand reveals any passionate thirst for God." I cannot resist agreeing with Tozer. If the world is shattered because of its callousness towards the truth, Christianity is miserable due to its complacency in the truth it has believed.

Let us reflect upon the following brief message with a prayerful heart and allow God to redeem us from this evil of complacency.

Self-Sufficiency

The Lord spoke to the backslidden Israel through His prophet Amos, "Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come!" (6:1)

The Lord was addressing to the people who were self-satisfied in their comfortable zone, who thought secure in their affluence and who felt safe in their strength. These people wallowed in their cozy lifestyle with no desire for God, with no hunger for His righteousness and with no reverence to live according to His Word. They were self-confident and self-sufficient. Thus the Lord warned them about the impending judgment upon them.

How often do we fall into this mire of complacency wherein we live a self-satisfied life and give up our humble dependence upon God for our sustenance! Remember, complacency makes us to feel secure in our job, safe in our strength, good about our knowledge, protected in our money and possessions, eventually leading us to build an ivory tower of egotism.

Complacency also ruins our passion for God. It takes us away from God-satisfied life to self-sufficiency. It makes us to think that we know God better, that we are thoroughly biblical and that we are spiritual enough. It ends the fresh streams of living water flowing through our lives which in fact results from our continuous growth in Christ and keeps only the rotten water in us by ceasing our growth. O, complacency kills our thirst for God, robbing us of the experience which the Psalmists expressed, "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God" (Ps. 42:1).

Moreover, complacency leads us to think that all is well with our heart and fails us to recognize our depraved nature. We do little good and think we are good enough. We feel satisfied in our own righteousness and so-called spiritual activities. We may pray, read the Bible, give offerings and participate in church activities, but all these may be done as rituals than out of passion for God and for His Kingdom. These devotional acts may be "like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears" (Hos. 6:4).

Indulgence

The Lord spoke to His people through His prophet Amos, "You lie on beds inlaid with ivory and lounge on your couches. You dine on choice lambs and fattened calves" (6:5).

When the lives of God’s people were far from their Creator and from His standards, instead of repenting and seeking the face of the Lord, they indulged in worldly pleasures. They didn’t care about their dire spiritual condition but were focused on enjoying the worldly things. They externally expressed their devotion to God in the form of following certain rituals but their hearts were indeed set on the world, on its things and pleasures. They lived for themselves, for their ambitions and for their pleasures. Thus the Lord cautioned them about the disaster that was about to come upon them.

When our hearts are lukewarm in God and far from His commands, rather than going through godly sorrow and turning to the Lord with a contrite spirit, how possible it is for us to give ourselves to more worldly amusements and pleasures! Complacency thrusts our heart to run after the pleasures of the world than after the pleasures of God, to pursue the comforts the world offers than the comfort of the Spirit of God, to seek our security in the things of the world than in the Maker of the heavens and the earth.

Complacency creates discontentment for worldly pleasures and makes us content with spiritual things. It leads us to vigorously pursue the earthly things, leaving us paralyzed in spiritual issues. It produces in us spiritual fatness and lethargy.

How tragic it is to think that we are rich in the spirit when Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit [realize their spiritual poverty] for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:3). How pathetic it is to amuse ourselves by material things when Christ said, "Blessed are those who mourn [weep over their spiritual dryness] for they will be comforted" (Matt. 5:4). How regretting it is to be passionate for worldly prosperity when Christ said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be satisfied" (Matt. 5:6).

If our prayers are examined, would they be found with more repentance, more cry for God and for His holiness or with more petition for earthly blessings?

Now, let us not suppose that indulgence means just going to clubs and pubs, brothels and orgies. We may be good enough not to get involved in such blatant activities. But one of the devil’s subtle temptations is to enslave God’s people, not by things that are considerably evil, but by the things that are seemingly good and let them take precedence over our passion for God.

When the good earthly pleasures become our priority and pursuit [food, fun, television, internet, hobbies…etc], when our mind is dominated by the nice things of the world [work, business, family, friends…etc], when our heart is filled with more delight for material things [money, possessions, electronics…etc]—what could it be if not complacency? Is the Living God, by whom and for whom we exist, loved and pursued above all things?

O, when we are taken captive by complacency, we can never say to God what the Psalmist sung, "Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You" (Ps. 73:25).

Desensitivity

The Lord spoke to His people through His prophet Amos, "You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph" (6:6).

When the kingdom lied in ruin, people were self-sufficient, indulged in earthly pleasures and did not grieve over the disaster that has come upon God’s children. They became desensitized to the miseries of the people around them. They lacked compassion for others. All that they were concerned was—personal security, personal comfort and person happiness. Thus the Lord pronounced His curse upon them.

Complacency makes us desensitized. It ruins our compassion for people. It hardens our heart from thinking about the welfare of those around us. It does not let us grieve over the pathetic condition of others. It causes us to stay focused on personal happiness and safety. It drives our thoughts, interests and pursuits to revolve around the globe of self.

When we are complacent, we ignore the pain of other people. Our heart is not moved by looking at the troubles and sins of others. We lack generosity, hospitality, care and empathy. We neglect the helpless and hopeless. We have no burden for the lost. We even care little about the spiritual decay in the body of Christ. Matthew Henry comments, "Those are commonly careless of the troubles of others who are set upon their own pleasures; and it is a great offence to God when His church is in affliction and we are not grieved for it, nor lay it to heart."

Final Words

If we honestly examine our hearts, don’t you think we have fallen into the abyss of complacency? Don’t you suppose we are self-sufficient in our life, indulgent in worldliness and lack compassion for others? Don’t you think we need revival, mighty revival, tremendous awakening that will lead us to become passionate for God, drive us to love our Lord with our whole heart and mind, and cause us to care for others out of God’s love in our hearts for them?

O, we need revival, that awakening of spiritual poverty for the glorious riches of God! Let us keep seeking the face of God, keep asking before the Mercy seat and keep knocking the door of the heaven for an awesome revival in our lives.

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What Happened on July 8, Two Hundred and Seventy Years Back?

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)

On Wednesday, July 8, 1741, exactly two hundred and seventy years back, at Enfield, Connecticut, Jonathan Edwards preached a sermon which later came to be known as one of the most powerful sermons in the history of Christianity. He selected his text from Deuteronomy 32:35, “Their foot shall slide in due time.” And he titled his message “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”

Before going further, I am afraid our age of sensation may despise Jonathan Edwards and his sermon. Our generation is brimming with such superficial preachers, sugar-coated sermons and make-me-feel-comfortable listeners that many feel nauseated by hard and strong teachings. Our current Christianity is crowded with those who get enamored by messages on love, heaven, blessings, peace and success, but not righteousness, wrath, hell, warnings and curses. Nonetheless, the Holy Bible is a book of truth—not a book of sensation, teaching with balance both love and holiness, heaven and hell, blessings and curses, kindness and wrath, peace and suffering, grace and truth.

Although many emotionally suppose Edwards to be just a “fire and brimstone” preacher, he was in fact a broken and tenderhearted man, pleading with people to know God for whom they were created. Out of his more than 1000 sermons, only few messages were as fiery as “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” He spoke much on the sweetness, the pleasures and the glory of God which makes us to fall flat on our face before the Maker of the heavens and the earth. Just like the Holy Bible he diligently studied, he was a man of balance.

So, back to the grand day in history—July 8, 1741. It was said that when Edwards was about to preach the atmosphere was lousy. People came to the meeting as if they expected more of a fashion show than revival. One minister later wrote of the scene, “When they went into the meeting house, the appearance of the assembly was thoughtless and vain. The people hardly conducted themselves with common decency.”

Then came Jonathan Edwards, an unimpressive, tall, fragile and thin man, with a high forehead and a long narrow face. He wore thick glasses to read his sermons. His voice was not up to the standard of homiletics, for it was monotonous, not strong and not loud but yet distinct, precise and solemn. He stood like a pillar, motionless, making no gestures with his head or hands.

Now Edwards poured his heart in prayer for revival for a long period of time and prepared his sermons with great intensity and hope to see the mighty move of the Holy Spirit. The time came for the Spirit of God to honor His servant’s passion and labor. How many of us persistently pour out our hearts before God for revival and prepare messages with great anticipation for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit?

When Jonathan preached his message, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, before he could even finish his message, people fell down under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and began crying out. One minister reported, “There was a great moaning and crying out throughout the whole house. What shall I do to be saved? Oh I am going to Hell. Oh what shall I do for Christ.”

The atmosphere at the time was filled with such solemnity that they imagined the floor had opened and they were about to be swallowed up. There was such weeping, outcry and distress in the congregation that Edwards could not be heard. Although he asked them to be quiet, they could not and Edwards never finished the sermon. The revival continued for a long duration—converting souls, reviving the lukewarm, enlivening charity, increasing godliness and bringing untold glory to God.

If you ask me, “What do you think is the greatest need of our time?” I reply, “Not evangelism, not charity, not church planting…etc but REVIVAL.” Yes, we need revival. When revival comes, the former activities would be the outcome done with great zeal and love. Without revival, whatever we do may become shallow and dreary acts.

O, what the Lord had wrought through His servant, Jonathan Edwards, may He do that again in our time! May He raise servants—as bold and tender, as full of the Spirit and the word, as laborious and dependent on God, as bright and humble, as studious and prayerful, as God-soaked and passionate for the lost—as Edwards.

Lord, send your wind of revival upon us and sweep away lukewarmness and worldliness from our lives. Set our hearts on fire to love you passionately and to live for your glory and to accomplish your divine purpose on earth. Amen.

Here is a brief excerpt of the words Edwards spoke on July 8, 1741.

Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure toward hell…There are the black clouds of God’s wrath now hanging over your heads, full of the dreadful storm, and big with thunder…

The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect, over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked; his wrath towards you burns like a fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times so abominable in his eyes as the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his price; and yet ‘tis nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment: ‘tis to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to hell the last night…but that God’s hand has held you up: there is no other reason to be given why you haven’t gone to hell since you have sat here in the house of God, provoking his pure eyes by your sinful wicked manner of attending his solemn worship: yea, there is nothing else that is to be given as a reason why you don’t this very moment drop down into hell.

Oh sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in…

And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has flung the door of mercy wide open, and stands in the door calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners;…many that were very lately in the same miserable condition that you are in, are now in a happy state, with their hearts filled with love to him that has loved them and washed them from their sins in his own blood, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. How awful is it to be left behind at such a day!

Click here to read the entire sermon: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/edwards/sermons.sinners.html

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Source referred: Roberts Liardon, God's Generals: The Revivalists (New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House, 2008), pg. 157-159

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