I recently added to my repertoire of Pixar flicks seen. Melody and I enjoyed a Daddy/daughter date and took in the newest movie, Wall-E. While it was probably my least favorite of their productions, I found myself reflecting on some parallels I saw in the movie with the Christian church in America. I won't belabor nor ruin the plot for you, but in the movie, earth civilization has evacuated the planet due to excessive waste and pollution. They all board an "ark" of sorts to escape sure demise, leaving robots behind, of whom Wall-E is the last, to clean up the mess while the eco-system returns to normal.
While in space, the humans, being the consumers that they are, are encouraged to relax, take it easy and let the ship and all automated services do everything for them, chores, all movement, spoon-feeding them among others. The result after 500+ years of inactivity, is hoards of massive people floating around in hovering lounge-chairs who, when they fall out of the chairs, need robots to help them back into their chairs!
One of my primary responsibilities as a minister, and a follower of Christ, is to make disciples. However, the church today has taken on such a consumer mind-set. Many people go to church to be fed, but they don't want to learn to feed themselves. The result is what I would call spiritual gluttony. We have at our finger tips a vast amount of resources, and yet we are probably one of the most spiritually illiterate cultures in history. It's like they want spiritual growth by osmosis. That is not what scripture teaches. Spiritual maturity comes at the price of exercise and suffering. "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil." (Hebrews 6:12-14)
Having been a believer, myself, for over 30 years, I am ashamed that I am still as immature as I am. God's patience and grace in my life has sustained me, even in those days, weeks, and years that I wasn't hotly pursuing Him. I think we all get into dry times in our lives where we don't sense growth happening; nevertheless, it is the constant practice of spiritual disciplines that yields growth and strength. John Ortberg, in The Life You've Always Wanted, likens this to the difference between trying to run a marathon verses training.
So, there they are, both of them on the coffee table. The remote and the Bible. Everyday we get to choose. We can either try or we can train. And don't forget... it ain't about the knowledge, it's about the transformation. If all our training does is make us more versatile at Bible trivia it is useless. We only truly believe, what we live. (cf. James 2:26)
While in space, the humans, being the consumers that they are, are encouraged to relax, take it easy and let the ship and all automated services do everything for them, chores, all movement, spoon-feeding them among others. The result after 500+ years of inactivity, is hoards of massive people floating around in hovering lounge-chairs who, when they fall out of the chairs, need robots to help them back into their chairs!
One of my primary responsibilities as a minister, and a follower of Christ, is to make disciples. However, the church today has taken on such a consumer mind-set. Many people go to church to be fed, but they don't want to learn to feed themselves. The result is what I would call spiritual gluttony. We have at our finger tips a vast amount of resources, and yet we are probably one of the most spiritually illiterate cultures in history. It's like they want spiritual growth by osmosis. That is not what scripture teaches. Spiritual maturity comes at the price of exercise and suffering. "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil." (Hebrews 6:12-14)
Having been a believer, myself, for over 30 years, I am ashamed that I am still as immature as I am. God's patience and grace in my life has sustained me, even in those days, weeks, and years that I wasn't hotly pursuing Him. I think we all get into dry times in our lives where we don't sense growth happening; nevertheless, it is the constant practice of spiritual disciplines that yields growth and strength. John Ortberg, in The Life You've Always Wanted, likens this to the difference between trying to run a marathon verses training.
So, there they are, both of them on the coffee table. The remote and the Bible. Everyday we get to choose. We can either try or we can train. And don't forget... it ain't about the knowledge, it's about the transformation. If all our training does is make us more versatile at Bible trivia it is useless. We only truly believe, what we live. (cf. James 2:26)
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