Comfortable Christianity
By Mike Hein
Aug 24, 2006, 09:17
A few days ago, we received an email here in the League office. It was from a married couple, evangelical Christians who lead a small congregation in rural Maine. It read in part, “I am here to preach the gospel and not to get involved in politics. I truly do not believe that slot machines are good for Maine…but I still have to say I cannot do what you asked of me.”
And what exactly was it that was asked of this sincere, committed Christian couple? Were they asked to move mountains, extract water from stone, or feed five thousand men with five loaves of bread and two fish? No, no miracles were asked of them. Instead, they were asked to help stop slot machine gambling in our state.
They were asked to volunteer and assist the No Slots for ME! signature collection effort to get the issue on the ballot for 2007. It was a simple proposition: donate of your time and talents, and we may be able to stop the vice of slot machine gambling in our state, period. And yet, these good people refused. Why?
Well, their stated reason was that they “could” not help. There is no law stating that they legally could not help. There is no mention in their email of any physical infirmity that would prevent them from helping. Neither is the Scripture a moral barrier. In fact, the Bible is clear that Christians should not only reject evil themselves, but also warn others to depart from it.
What they actually meant is that they ‘would’ not help. Not that they ‘could’ not, but that they ‘would’ not.
That distinction is important. Our sinful human nature causes us to rationalize our actions. We think to ourselves ‘it’s not that I do not want to help out, but that I cannot help out. If I could help, I certainly would, but I cannot for (blank) reason.’ That justification makes us feel better about not doing what we can to make our state a better place to live. It quiets our God-given conscience a bit. It makes us feel less guilty about not doing what we actually can do to help a just and worthy cause.
It is our “comfortable Christianity.” We Americans are blessed to live at this time and in this place. We have such incredible luxuries and wealth, and we often take for granted all that we have. We are largely selfish and greedy. We covet not only treasure, but also the time and talents our Lord has provided us.
Christians who tithe and do charitable works want even more time to ourselves and to our families. And so we say we do not have the time, or the ability, to do what needs to be done. We’re far too comfortable in our Christianity.
Even some of us hard-working Mainers do not want to get our hands dirty by becoming involved in civic affairs. Better to let others collect the signatures to stop vice and promote virtue. They’ll provide moral support (sign the petition and vote their traditional Christian values), but will not volunteer. If they did, their congregation might label them an ‘activist.’ And besides, they say, they're too busy to be able to help.
Our “comfortable Christianity” is killing Maine. We currently have abortion mills and gambling dens in our great state, and are well on the way to legalizing homosexual marriage. This is NOT the way life should be.
We are commanded not only to evangelize, but also to give of our treasure, time, and talents to the Lord. The support, or lack of support, of the Maine Christian community will decide whether or not we have an opportunity to vote on slot machine gambling next year. Some have already committed to help this effort succeed, but many have not. Many more volunteers are needed to be successful.
If you actually cannot give of your time and effort in this worthy, moral, Christian effort, then your generous financial donation would be greatly appreciated. More information can be found at the No Slots for ME! and Christian Civic League of Maine websites.
We need to break out of our “comfortable Christianity”. We must realize that the essence of being a follower of Christ is to ‘get our hands dirty’ and to become involved. There are few greater testimonies than this.
God has given us a conscience for this very reason. We should listen to it, and act.
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