RUN LIKE A CHAMPION

While I was being interviewed on radio, a broadcaster asked, “What’s the difference between Christians in Eastern Europe and Christians in the West?” After a brief moment I said, “Christians in the East are a needy people and they know it. We in the West are a needy people. We just don’t know it.”
Signposts along the highway of life point us in the direction we need to travel. I’m convinced there’s one signpost today pointing to our need of revival. Written across the top of that sign is Comfortable Christianity.
We’ve often said, “Give me my comforts and I’ll surely follow Jesus.” But Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow me.” We’ve exchanged the crucified life for the comfortable pew. We’ve embraced a theology that says, “God wants you to be healthy, wealthy, and wise.” During the dark days of persecution of Christians in Romania, I was preaching in an obscure town in the northern part of the country. One evening after the services, we were having dinner with a pastor who had suffered for his faith. A dear friend asked the pastor, “Are Christians happy in Romania?”
The pastor looked puzzled and said, “Only an American could ask that question. The great issue for American Christians is, ‘Will this make me happy?’ But there’s a greater issue for Christians in Romania. It’s simply this question: ‘Am I doing the will of God?’ When we become Christians, many of us lose our jobs, our children are ridiculed, and we are harassed. When we decide to follow Christ, we choose the cross, not comfort.”
My friend and I were stunned by his words. Those of us in the West must understand that to follow Christ involves the cross. And the cross is a symbol of death, pain, and suffering. Christianity is much more than music that sends goosebumps up and down your spine. It’s much more than enjoying 11:00 a.m. Sunday morning worship. Following Christ means laying your life down — in exchange for His life. Yes, there’s great joy in the Christian life, but that doesn’t mean the absence of problems; it’s simply the presence of God in the midst of the difficulty.
God said in the Book of Revelation, “but because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold I will spit you out of my mouth.” Are you hot, cold, or just lukewarm in your walk with Christ?