Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Integrity Requires Choosing Courage Over Comfort

America has undoubtedly created the most affluent and powerful economy our world has ever known. Having travelled around the world, it is obvious that we are wealthy, even in the midst of a recession as looming as this one has become.

In fact, this affluence is so pervasive that it has become one of the most defining aspects of our culture. While our national affluence has positive benefits, it has also created an insidious assault on our moral character. In our world, we now value above all else - comfort. We seek rest, recreation, and experiences that make us happy. We seek to alleviate pain or discomfort by any and all means. We want things now, without fuss or wait. We are getting fat and lazy as a nation. We now even expect no pain and ease in our exercise routines - and expect them to train us in 15 minutes or less. Our desire to maintain our personal comfort knows no boundaries.

This desire has become so pervasive that it has affected our ability to see and chose what is right. This effect is described with great insight and clarity in The Seven Faith Tribes by George Barna. In this insightful book, worthy of its price and the time required to read it, Barna categorizes and describes the basic faith "tribes" in our culture today. The largest he describes as "Casual Christians." According to his statistical analysis, they make up 150 out of 225 million adults, the largest single category or tribe by a wide margin.

This group views themselves as "christians" but do not practice the disciplines prescribed by scripture. They claim to believe in the Bible, but have little understanding of it and do not profess a belief in it as without error. This affects their actual life practices. Barna makes these statements: "They claim to support "traditional family values" but are equally as prone to adopting nontraditional viewpoints in order to stay connected to people and to remain at peace with their world." "For the most part, they believe that other people see them as leaders, and they do what they can to promote their ideas and goals without stirring conflict or controversy:such friction makes them uncomfortable."

This indictment may be the worst of all: "Most Casuals (59 %) think of themselves as "deeply spiritual" and feel that God has accepted them as they are, for who they are. This contributes greatly to their sense of peace with the world. They have no particular passion about vocally representing God and His ways in the world. Casuals are more interested in living a simple, low-key life filled with happiness and fulfillment than pursuing faith-based truth and righteousness."

It is easy to see why our nation is culturally rotting away - deteriorating from the inside like some decaying corpse. When the major value in life becomes comfort, then what is right has lost its champion. People are more than willing to compromise in order to keep the peace or avoid any discomfort. This may seem like a small matter, but after a couple of generations we reap the crop of this insidious seed: rampant alcoholism as an escape, prescription drug abuse, the over use of "coping drugs", abortion on demand to avoid consequences of "unwanted pregnancies" and the list goes on. It is fed by politicians who blithely proffer promises of handouts and bailouts simply as a means of gaining power. Their offer is effective because of this personality in our culture. It is fed by pastors who only preach the emotional salve of positive thinking or a "name it claim it" view of faith.

This was not a surprise to our Lord. He told us that there are two roads: a narrow one and a wide one. He described the wide road as one of ease, or comfort, and explained that many would take it. He warned us that as time went on people would not want the truth, but teachers who would "tickle their ears" by telling hem what they want to hear instead of challenging them to make courageous choices of obedience and holiness.

It is time for people to learn to grow and emotional backbone and do the work necessary to develop real character. That means growing the intestinal fortitude to choose what is right regardless of the personal cost. But where do we begin to change a culture so driven by this passion for personal comfort? It must begin with christians. We must realize that we have lost our integrity and become a part of the problem instead of being a "light." We must develop the courage to stand for what the Bible says is right in our own personal lives before we will become strong enough to impact our culture.

The average church member attends 50% of the time, only gives and average of 3 hours to spiritual matters (less than television), only gives nominally but claims in surveys to tithe, and will never lead one single person to a salvation decision. Our behavior matches that of the world in every way: divorce rate, bankruptcy rate, Internet usage, television consumption, time spent with our children, etc. We will never impact the world in this fashion.

It takes courage to stand for what is right. It takes courage to say no to live a different way. It takes courage to tithe, turn down promotions, home school or pay for private tuition at a church school, remove your tv, limit video games from your kids and play with them every night, study enough to be an apologist for your faith, and witness to a lost person. It takes courage to minister to broken people and invest in their lives so they can experience the freedom of knowing what it means to grow in a relationship with Jesus Christ. We cannot really chastise the culture for being courageous when we are not. We need to take up the exhortation God gave to Joshua to be "strong and of good courage." Only then will integrity have a fighting chance to blossom in our culture.

2 comments:

  1. I am so convicted by your blog. Thank you for sharing it. - Randi Mackey

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  2. Well said. I've only read a few of your posts (and will keep reading - good stuff!), but I think this is by far the most important message you can proclaim to the church.

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