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(from the October 1978 issue of Youth Alive!
Magazine)
All
Temperature Christian
I
have been a Christian for as long as
I can remember. I grew up going to church. Yet, only until a few years ago
was I a committed Christian. Be fore that, I was a wishy-washy Christian.
Through high school, my life centered around
my church and my Christian friends. I never went to parties where there
was alcohol or drugs. I was regarded socially as being “straight.” No one
ever approached me with drugs because they knew it was useless. Yet, I’m
ashamed of that image. I’m ashamed because it was merely an “image” and
not a reality.
Even though outwardly I shunned “all
appearance of evil, inwardly, I felt I was missing out on all the fun.
But, in all honesty, I was by no means a saint. While I never really got
involved in anything considered heavy, I toyed with sin. And I was jealous
of those who were into drugs, who got drunk on weekends, who slept with
their dates, and did everything I knew was wrong. In a sense, I was awed
by their boldness.
On the other hand, I was ashamed at my
timidity. When ridiculed or teased for being a “goody-goody,” I cowered
into a corner. I was afraid to really take a bold stand for Christ, and to
witness, because I knew I was as sinful as those around me.
This, I have discovered, is a problem for
many teens. While they know of the joy and satisfaction of being a
Christian, the rewards are not always as immediately evident as the
pleasures of Satan. And so we are tempted and pressured to experience life
and its pleasures now. We cannot see heaven, and going there is somewhere
in the future; but sex, alcohol, drugs, cheating, lying, all these easy
thrills are here right now.
Yet, too, we know that “the wages of sin is
death.” And we know that the list above is a list of sins. So, we are
caught in the middle. While trying to retain our image of being a
Christian, we secretly nibble at the world’s candy.
Being wishy-washy is no fun. Just ask
Charlie Brown. It creates anxiety. And because we can’t keep our sins a
secret, it destroys our credibility.
We feel trapped. Because we’ve gone along a
little, those that know us assume we’ll go further. But that wasn’t our
intention! We try to stand on compromise. We start talking about white
lies as opposed to black lies. We try to hold to the middle of the road.
And that’s as deadly as going down the wrong side.
We might as well face it, we’ll never be
happy at all until we give in, one way or the other. I once heard an
evangelist say that if you felt called into the ministry, but you weren’t
sure about it, to go into anything else except the ministry. If the call
was genuine, he said, you’d never be anything but miserable until you
heeded it.
his is true in all of life. All humanity is
called to Christ, and all that accept His call are called further to
commitment. A person without Christ can never experience true peace and
joy. There will always be a void in his life. And the Christian will never
be happy or content until he is fully committed to the Lord. Besides,
Christ was committed to our salvation enough that He died on the cross.
How can we offer anything less than full commitment to Him?
It will mean giving up all of the pleasures
we coveted before. But so what? And is it really a sacrifice? John White,
in his book, The Cost of Commitment, states that the committed life “is
clearly not so much a picture of renunciation as it is of re-evaluation.”
In other words, those things that seem so desirable now won’t be desirable
at all when seen through the eyes of a committed life and vision.
Sex is beautiful— in the bonds of a
Christian marriage. Money is marvelous—when used for the benefit of His
kingdom. Drugs are wonderful— when used for their intended purpose of
healing and comforting. Cheating, popularity, lying, stealing, and all the
rest are worthless because they have nothing to do with serving our risen
Saviour. They are hindrances to our relationship with Him. And, as Paul
says, “If anyone is of Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed
away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17, NASV).
And not only is there a change in our
attitudes, but in others’ towards us. We will be respected and admired for
taking a clear-cut, definite, and firm stand on God’s Word, and for living
according to what we profess. Just think for a moment of someone you know
who is a wishy-washy person. They’re unwilling to commit themselves to
anything. They always answer with “Maybe” or “I’ll have to wait and see.”
Afraid to accept the responsibility of commitment, generally they are not
very well liked. And we are not called to be afraid or timid: “For God has
not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline”
(2 Timothy 1:7, NASV).
Yet, too, while we will be respected, there
are those who will ridicule and persecute us. But is this unique to
Christians? Not at all. Jews are ridiculed for being Jews. Catholics for
being Catholics, poets for being poets, carpenters for being carpenters,
teens for being teens, and ethnic groups are ridiculed for being ethnic!
It makes no difference what you are or who you are, someone will
eventually ridicule you for doing or being it
Sinners will ridicule sinners. And so-called
Christians, unfortunately, will ridicule Christians for believing and
doing exactly as themselves. There is no way to avoid ridicule. Commitment
is costly.
Yes, you will be ridiculed for being
wishy-washy, too! And I’d rather be ridiculed and persecuted because of my
commitment to Christ than for any other reason. It’s the only commitment
worth the cost.
So, wishy-washy is all washed up! No one can
accomplish anything being wishy-washy. God wants committed people. We are
called to take up our cross daily and follow Him. And by doing so, we not
only take upon us the responsibility for the cost but are offered special
privileges. He wants us committed to Him because it’s good for us. There
is no more anxiety or worry, no more guilt, no more timidity. Instead
there is strength, power, peace, and immeasurable joy. Even in the face of
hard ship and persecution.
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