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Monday, May 11, 2009

The Cosmic Vending Machine

The scene opens on our three characters as they stand, with gaping mouths, before a massive vending machine. Kant Meshurup, Bib Lickly-Blind, and Trapt N. Tradition can hardly believe their bulging eyes. Everything they could possibly need or want in order to be good Churchians is right there, just behind the glass.

Bib is the first to speak. "Oh look, the vast items on display in that machine are incredible! The product labels are so clear and descriptive! There's Healing For All Diseases."

"The one next to it is Joy Unspeakable," blurts Kant. "And just two up and to the right is Marital Bliss!"

"Wow!" says Trapt, "My church really needs to buy the one in the bottom left corner: New & Improved Pastor."

"My gosh, look at the one at the very top!" screams Bib, as she points wildly. "The one with the big red letters. It's World Evangelization! Let's pool together the right change and buy it!"

"Wait a minute", cautions Trapt, "the price for each item is different, and none of them are cheap. Let's see, that one requires Thirty Days of Fasting. That's a bit pricey just for Know God's Will, don't you think? And look at World Evangelization. The price for that is Give Up Your High-Paying Job, Four Years of Seminary, and Move to Africa as a Missionary."

As reality begins to settle in, Kant locks onto one particular item: "Holy Moly, that one takes No TV for a Month, Read the Gospels 3 Times, and Forgive My Spouse! Oh well, God's Approval probably wouldn't last very long anyway, and he'd just make me pay more next time. I think I'll pass on that one."

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Several years ago a good friend gave me the secret to great wealth. He quipped that I need only to write a passable “how-to” book on anything having to do with the Christian life. Even though it was a tongue-in-cheek comment, it was partially true.

Titles such as “Seven Steps to Lasting Joy”, or “How to Unlock God’s Door of Blessing”, or “How To Raise Kids That Never Rebel”, would surely attract believers who are depressed, broke, or fighting with their teenagers.

Self-generated formulas designed to get what we want from God, or produce what we think he wants from us, are pandemic throughout the Body of Christ. Somewhere along the line we’ve slipped into the misconception that frenetic Christian service will win some brownie points with our Creator.

Not only are our formulas ineffective, they actually create an environment of religious legalism, which results in the “yoke of bondage” that Paul addressed in his letter to the Galatians.

Our carefully crafted theology of self-effort forces us away from the very truth that sets us free. Instead of basking in the wonder of Jesus’ indescribable love, and resting in him as our very life, some of us manifest an addictive proclivity to “work for Jesus”, living under the flawed notion that the God of the Universe actually "needs" us to do something for him.

Accompanying that deception is the faulty idea that by saving us through Christ, God set the stage for us to live lives that are holy and acceptable to him. Now he expects us to finish the job. All we have to do is uncover or manufacture the right formulas, and feed them into the Cosmic Vending Machine.

After all, God will give us anything we ask for as long as we do it in the right way.

Right?


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