Friday, October 15, 2010

All or Nothing

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. Matthew 7:24

Let’s talk food. Do you remember your first cafeteria experience? Craig Groeschel, in his excellent book entitled Christian Atheist coined an interesting term: Cafeteria Christian.

My first memorable cafeteria experience came when visiting my older brother while he was in college at Cal Poly. I was only 9 and we were headed to the cafeteria for dinner. I couldn’t believe the amount and variety of food. (Not to mention all the soda a 9-year-old could possibly consume!) We walked through the line, trays on the counter and picked what we wanted, leaving what we didn’t feel like on display behind the “sneeze protectors” for someone else to consume. If my memory serves me correctly, my meal that night consisted of mashed potatoes, gravy, tater tots and ice cream with a chaser of root beer!

Groeschel writes that many followers of Jesus approach the teachings of Jesus just like a cafeteria. We consume what we think is most palatable and leave the “hard to digest” teachings on display in the Bible. It may be good and necessary for others, but I don’t need that teaching. (By the way, this is not a new phenomenon. Read John 6:53-70.)

Want to engage in a potentially life changing experience? Why not make time to sit down and take the 20 minutes it will take to read Matthew 5-7 slowly. As you read, approach Jesus’ teaching as if none of it was optional, as if all of it is essential to your life and relationships and eternity. Ask God to reveal aspects of your life where you approach the Bible and the liberating principles contained within with a cafeteria mindset and pray for wholesale obedience…period.

Something tells me that if we lived with an all or nothing kind of mindset, as opposed to a cafeteria mindset, a spiritual revolution would take place both within our lives and without to our community!