I appreciate my local QuickChek™ store so much. It’s close by and I am able to get gas, a good cup of coffee, a bottle of ibuprofen, milk, a sandwich … and anytime of the day or night! The aptly named “convenience store” charges higher prices for the same things I could buy at a large supermarket, but I gladly pay the premium to save a longer trip. I am a true American consumer.

Even in this time of declining involvement with the local church, many who claim the Name of Christ Jesus are basically consumers who drop in when a crisis comes, who show up when life is tough and they feel the need for a little ‘inspiration’ or when they want the prayer. Missing the point of Christ’s Church, they have no desire to build any real relationship with other Christian or to serve in the larger Body in any way. Instead, they trade a donation for some ‘religious goods.’  

The result is an immature and undeveloped faith that is truly an ‘adventure in missing the point.’

The best and deepest Christianity requires a mix of several choices: 
receiving God’s grace by faith,
learning God’s ways through regular study and daily prayer,
becoming part of God’s family in a local church, and
serving God’s purposes as life’s highest priority.

Being a disciple is often inconvenient!

Jesus teaches us that His call is comprehensive, touching every facet of life, and seeking our full engagement. “Take up your cross and follow Me,” He said. Think about that. It is not a pretty metaphor.

A cross is an instrument of death, not a means of finding one’s personal path of pleasure. The invitation is to ‘follow,’ not to lead. His invitation is costly, not convenient, but it comes with great promise. “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?” (Luke 9:23-25, NLT)

Knowing how quickly human beings will abandon the pursuit of the Holy, Moses warned the ancient Israelis about wandering. God was going to give them blessings, provide abundantly for them. Would they be grateful, careful to remain devoted to Him? Read on. ““The Lord your God will soon bring you into the land he swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is a land filled with large, prosperous cities that you did not build. The houses will be richly stocked with goods you did not produce. You will draw water from cisterns you did not dig, and you will eat from vineyards and olive trees you did not plant. When you have eaten your fill in this land, be careful not to forget the Lord, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. You must fear the Lord your God and serve him. When you take an oath, you must use only his name.” (Deuteronomy 6:10-13 NLT)

Tragically, they did forget the Lord! Just a couple of generations after they entered the Promised Land, they wanted more, turned to worship of local fertility gods, and abandoned the LORD. Like true consumers when crisis came, they ran back to God Who faithfully loved them, though they suffered for their sin. Restored to wholeness, they prospered and wandered again. The pattern was repeated many times!

Here are some questions we who are trained as consumers should ask ourselves frequently.

Am I treating the things of the Lord as consumer items?
Are my prayers more fervent, my searching Scripture more intense, when some stormy season arrives, only to be laid aside when things level out?
Is my expectation that God will meet MY need or that I will seek His will and way?

True joy, deepest fulfillment, and the ultimate eternal reward will be found by those who take Paul’s inspired counsel to ‘keep step with the Spirit’ walking in the road of the humble servant.

I can tell you from experience, even as a “professional” Christian who has spent his life in the Church that seasons will come when you have not desire for worship, prayer, or service. You will find people in the Church who disappoint you. I am sure that in the thousands of sermons I preached there were some real duds that bored the socks off of those in the pews. But … we stay faithful, not because we are buying something new, exciting, or even appealing; but rather because we are called by God into His holy family.

Don’t let American consumerism turn you into a church shopper. Instead, pray to be guided by God to a place where you can commit, serve, and grow in grace through every season.

Here is a word from the Word. “So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. “For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. And my righteous ones will live by faith. But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.” But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.” (Hebrews 10:35-39, NLT)

Amen

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Video at https://www.youtube.com/@JerScott55