Normal Cultural Christianity

Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” --Hebrews 10:38

Are you normal or weird? Do you fit in, or are you just a little strange?

In the past a minority of people dressed in strange clothes and sported unique hairdos and persuaded an entire culture to copy them? Culturally, some societies have made uniformity a desirable quality, while in America many people applaud individualism which contradicts the norm.

Are you a normal Christian? Spiritually, we must look to the Bible to define normalcy. The scriptures paint the normal life of the believer as one which conforms to the way God designed a relationship with Him to work.

Jerry Bridges has said: “Many Christians have what we might call a ‘cultural holiness.’ They adapt to the character and behavior pattern of Christians around them. As the Christian culture around them is more or less holy, so these Christians are more or less holy. But God has not called us to be like those around us. He has called us to be like himself. Holiness is nothing less than conformity to the character of God.”

On the same issue, John Ortberg has said, “The decision to grow always involves a choice between risk and comfort. This means that to be a follower of Jesus you must renounce comfort as the ultimate value of your life.” I am so glad Jesus did not choose comfort over the cross

C. H. Mackintosh said, “(Faith) glorifies God exceedingly, because it proves that we have more confidence in His eyesight than in our own.”

Rate Yourself

On a scale of 1 to 10, where would you rate your commitment to Jesus? With “1” being no commitment or desire to have a relationship with Jesus and “10” being representative of a completely sold out believer, where would you rate yourself?

I remember being in a Youth Retreat a few years ago and the speaker asked a question similar to the previous one. A chaperone spoke for the group. He spoke with pride and said something like, “Well, I think the students in our group are right in the middle. They are committed to a point, but they are not too committed.”

In response, the speaker pointed everyone to Romans 3:16. In this passage, Jesus sent a message to one of the early churches. He said, “So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.” Average commitment or “Casual Christianity” that matches the cultural norm makes God sick.

Today, dedicate yourself to being holy and not just normal.