Last week I started a fitness challenge at work. The person who improves their body fat percentage the most will win the competition (and a fair pot of money along with that).
So, in addition to increasing my exercise routine, I decided to reduce my carbohydrate intake. I’m a total carb addict - I LOVE cookies, cinnamon rolls, pasta, bread, etc.
Here’s the thing about carbs: the body can burn them to give you energy. But if you take in more carbs than you burn through exercise you become a little think I like to call ‘fat’.
Your carb intake and your physical activity level need to match in order for you to be in shape.
In church, we see a lot of biblical encouragement, solid biblical exposition, fellowship, etc…these are good things. If they are done in proper proportion to the overall outreach of the church. Without the outreach, the church will get fat and lazy off these things.
Jesus was a man of action.
After receiving the Holy Spirit, so were John, Peter, Phillip and others.
Paul, already a man of action was called by Jesus to take action for him rather than against him.
How did we get to the point where we think it’s okay to call yourself a follower of Christ if you sit on your butt in a pew for a couple hours each week?
I read a book called Heretics by Jonathan Wright last week, and among other things, it tangentially examined the differences between Christianity before it became a political movement and after that occurred.
Like all political movements, Christianity quickly became a vehicle for seeking power to many people (especially the leadership). It cost many brave women and men their lives to question the political disposition of the church. (Not to say all people who were killed as heretics were seeking the good of Christendom, but there were those that wanted to follow God rather than man.)
Putting effort into building up other Christians is a good thing, if it is a part of strengthening them to be a part of ‘Your Kingdom come, Your will be done’ in their families, communities and the world at large. But if it’s just done to make people comfortable, that’s wrong. It’s like gorging yourself on cake when the people outside the palace are starving.
Take it from Marie Antoinette (or whoever actually said ‘let them eat cake’), that kind of attitude isn’t going to get us very far.
Either the church needs to stop feeding itself in an effort to get happy, or it needs to get out and exercise a little more.