Christians Eating Saltless Pancakes

Bringing the plate of pancakes from the kitchen (cup of oats, 2 eggs, and one banana blended…with a dash of cinnamon and fried on a griddle…)  I set the plate down in anticipation of biting into one of my favorite, healthy post workout meals. I sat down, cut into it, and took my first bite. 

BLAND!!!

“What is wrong with these pancakes??” I think to myself. “Oh yes, I forgot the salt.” All of the anticipation was for nothing…saltless pancakes are far from enjoyable.

Saltless food for that matter leaves much to be desired. Occasionally we eat a saltless dish, yet for it to be regular is quite a problem for the tongue.

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The Godless Christian:

There are two spheres of life that I wish to address in this blog, one now and another next week. These spheres are common to all, as well as to the Christian. Areas that seem quite often to be godless, and yet are hardly corrected. Let’s consider the first:

Godless Conversation:

Godless conversation may at first seem to refer to crude joking, blasphemous talk, angry retorts, vile expletives, juicy gossip, arrogant boasting, divisive slander, or verbal harassment and abuse. These are certainly, and unfortunately heard among Christians, and should be addressed and corrected. However this is not the godless conversation I refer to.

By Godless I simply mean without God. Such conversation could be described as talk in which God or the things of God are absent. It is conversation void of biblical topics. Godless conversation in this vein of thought is the talk between brothers that is more often about the very same things that the unbelieving friends discuss as well. Things not necessarily crass or blasphemous, yet void of true fellowship surrounding the truths of our faith. It is godless conversation instead of God-centered.

Let’s take a minute to think back over our friendships with other long-time believers.

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Are there believers that you had little or no conversations with about the things of God. This may very likely be connected to family or church family, persons with whom the faith is assumed.  You know your uncle or your Sunday school teacher loves Jesus, so it may seem redundant to talk personally about your faith. 

It may be a fear of starting that awkward conversation about what you or they are reading in the Bible, because for years you have never had a real, heart-to-heart discussion over what God is doing in your life. Instead it is always surface level.

I understand the dilemma. There are dozens and dozens of faithful Christians in my life with whom I have had many a conversation over the course of years, yet they lacked spiritual depth. My visits with them have been void of God instead of God-centered.

Consider the result of a lack of effort to push in deeper:

• 1) No effort. No effective fellowship — If we maintain the status quo of small talk in between Sunday school and the worship service…if every visit with believing family is about recent sales and ball game results…if we never ask what another is reading and learning in the Bible…if we take no initiative to alter the current state of affairs what’s the worst that could happen?

On the ground level it may seem that no harm comes form continuous small talk and conversation focused on the here and now. No one is getting hurt, right? But let us think…

• No one seems to be hurt by a lack of God-centered conversation. We are laughing, sharing, musing. No one is hurt, no gossip, and no crass jokes. It seems harmless…at least immediately.
• The fact that there does not seem to be a negative effect from current activity is only part of the equation. We must ask: “Is it beneficial?” “How can conversion be productive?” When an effort is made to talk with your buddy after church about the sermon or for women to ask their sisters in Christ to meet for coffee to share their Bible reading; when you are out shopping and take a step to throw out the God-centered question to your sister in Christ, or when you are tinkering on a project with a brother, to ask how his prayer life is going…this is taking steps away from Godless, temporal, near-sighted talk, and beginning to talk as children of God.

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2) When we make an effort, we push in the direction of the Spirit’s work — The amazing and sobering benefit of taking a step toward frequent God-centered conversations with brethren is the work of the Spirit in and among us. Each of us is a member of THE body of Christ. The Spirit is about working in you and in us. He dwells in each one and works among us by the life of each one. To clarify what I mean, when you are in a small group Bible study, and you discuss and share the word together, that is an atmosphere you can’t get alone at home. When you meet together, not to neglect personal time, the Spirit may well use your observations of the text to aid a brother, and vice a versa. So also, when you are walking through the park or mall and pose the God-centered question about Bible reading, church life, prayer time, prayer needs, recent blessings, besetting sins, or anticipation of heaven, God just might be using you in another’s life. He also may be putting you in a place to be ministered to by your brother.

3) When we talk with Christians about Christ we go from toppling toddlers to comfortable walking adults in the life we are being created for — I admit, stepping out of the ease of small talk toward meaty conversation about God and godliness can be intimidating. But its worth it. Like a toddler we may face awkward trip ups of the tongue as we make an effort to talk about things that we hold deeply but do not know how to verbalize. But as time and…shall we say “practice” go on, you will be more comfortable, and I guarantee the benefits to your soul and church will show themselves.

Give this a try:

Ask a brother or sister how you can pray for them…

At another time ask someone what they read in the Bible…follow up by inquiring what they learned from it…

On a Sunday morning after church ask someone around you what they thought of the sermon…

When you read your Bible be intentional to write down a note or two about what you can share with others that day.

Disclaimer…

…its not bad or evil to talk football and shopping sales. However, it seems that we do have an imbalance that needs to be addressed for the benefit of our faith and the honor of our great God and Savior.

Check back next time for: Rated G for Godless