June 22, 2012
And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God's promise to Abraham belongs to you. -- Galatians 3: 29 (NLT)
Everyone loves a good salad bar. Plenty of fresh vegetables. A myriad of dressings to choose from. Low calorie dressings, fat free dressings, extra fat dressings -- you name it. Amidst the five different kinds of lettuce and the stations of things that probably shouldn't be in a salad to begin with, the best thing about the salad bar is the customization. You can walk up with and empty plate and design your own salad. You want extra tomatoes? No problem! You don't want any onions? Leave em out! Not a fan of the croutons? You don't have to take them. You get to decide what you want to accept and what you don't want to accept.
Theology is not supposed to be like a salad bar. We see it and expect it from the world who continues to recreate God in mans own image every day. People living in sin lifestyles claiming to follow God. Dismissing the portions of the Bible that clearly state their sin condition, as if those passages were tomatoes and they just don't like tomatoes. Statistics show that as high as 94% of this country believes in God yet only 34% identify as being born again. While I expect the remaining 66% to make up their own theology as they go, this phenomenon is also seen far too much within born again circles as well.
We see it everyday within the bless me theology that so permeates American Christianity. God is relegated to the role of a cosmic ATM, here to dispense blessings to us as His followers. Some modern day worship music reinforces this poor theology that takes our focus off of who God is and onto what He can do for us. Far too many of professing Christians essentially engage in "quid pro quo" Christianity but they have it backwards. That is a Latin expression for "this for that." Churchgoers seem to think that their attendance at church is somehow a favor to God and that they then expect something (blessings) in return. What we need to never forget is God already provided first:
When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. -- Romans 5: 6-8 (NLT)
There is supposed to be an exchange. He gave us eternal life so we give Him our life now. This message is not preached enough in the modern selfish theologies that focus on the material blessings of this world over the eternal blessings of God. When we were living in complete and utter rebellion to God and deserving of eternal punishment -- God sacrificed His only Son so that we could be reconciled to Him and live forever with Him in glory. But regardless, we still seem to enjoy a good salad bar"
The key verse highlights to what I am speaking. If most were to read this one simple verse they would be focusing in like a lightning rod on the blessings of Abraham. We are his heirs and the promise belongs to us! Hallelujah"wait a minute -- what about that opening portion of this verse? Doesn't that count too? Or is that like the croutons we simply choose to not put on our plate? You see, there is a condition before you get to the blessing. There is a requirement before you get to the reward. There is a quid before you get to the quo. Wait a minute preacher -- it says that I am an heir. It says that I get the promise and we sing songs like that every Sunday don't we? Where we scream demands at God about the blessings and inheritance He owes us? Don't go muddying the picture there with any conditions"
Except I didn't muddy anything and neither did God. He is merely making a statement about how we become heirs and how we obtain the inheritance. The "tomato" portion of this Scripture that most salad bar theologians would prefer to ignore is -- now that you belong to Christ. The NIV actually says IF you belong to Christ. There is a real problem in the church when people are more concerned about receiving the blessings of Christ than they are about belonging to Him. Belonging implies ownership. Ownership? Wait a minute -- what am I a slave?
This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News. -- Romans 1: 1 (NLT)
I know this grates against a lot of modern theology which seeks to transform Christ into our next door neighbor or our high school sweetheart. The reality is that in the spirit of salad bar theology we skip over why Abraham was considered a friend of God and want to get right to thinking we are too. We want to skip over the part where we are slaves to Christ and get right down to the inheritance part. The reality is that if we would just focus on perfecting the slave requirement, we would not need to look for the blessings. Because the sad reality is that the prosperity, seeker friendly and bless me theologies have confused people into think that blessings are something God give us. The truth is that God Himself is the blessing. The blessing is in the relationship with God not the temporal things we think we want. We go to church so we can be with other believers and draw closer to Him. That is the blessing. Jesus taught us this:
"So don't worry about these things, saying, "What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?' These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. -- Matthew 6: 31-33 (NLT)
I want a new car. I want that promotion. I
want a profitable business. I want. I want. I want. Jesus is teaching us here
that we need to seek Him first above all else knowing that whatever we truly need, He will provide. We need to seek
His kingdom and righteousness first. We must seek the enslavement before the
inheritance. Don't skip the tomatoes; they just might be the best part of the
salad.
Rev. Anthony
