One Christian Difference - Part 2
Let me give you an example of the kind of power God puts in us. AA used to be Christian. When my dad ran Salvation Army rehabilitation centers, he did a lot of work with AA. Back then they talked about turning your life over to Jesus Christ. According to published reports, recovery rates ran around 90%.
Then AA got modern and substituted a self-defined “Higher Power” for Jesus. This much lauded change plunged recovery rates to the single digits, again according to published reports.
Getting out of the ditch we put ourselves into isn’t about verbiage. It’s about power. Our self-defined higher powers have no more power than we do. God has, literally, all the power in the world. Given that, which one–yourself or God–do you think can get you out of the ditch?
Well, you may say, fine, but if Christians have all this help, why are so many of them, like Debbie, still living with fear, and without peace?
Because God’s really big on free will. That’s why he gives us the option to follow Jesus or not to follow Jesus in the first place. Like all choices, our choice has consequences, but we’re free to go either way.
And we don’t lose our free will when we choose to follow Jesus–when God’s spirit and our spirit become one spirit. God doesn’t kick the door down and take over. He simply makes himself available.
Oh, he gives us new thoughts, but unless we expect thoughts from God, we might just fluff them off. We’ll feel uneasy about something, but unless we recognize our uneasiness as a warning from God, we might just barge ahead. And so it goes.
Picture an image of God yelling through a megaphone to get our attention while we wander around trying to accomplish great things in our own weak strength, wondering why it’s not working.
We have to learn to hear God’s voice. Or we’ll miss the best parts.
I guess I’ll have to continue my discussion of Debbie’s travails next time. Meantime, you might want to check out my book How to be a Christian Without Being Annoying. It’s right here on this site–and other places, too.
