A Commonsense Hope and the Need for Balance – Part 2

We do not need to think about God all the time, pray to Him, ask Him permission to do certain things and the like - it makes people really quite weird. In the Institutional Church, believers have trained themselves to inject Biblical statements and catchphrases into every other sentence. I recall listening to a Free Believers Network podcast in which one of the hosts, Kim Scott, who said that she literally had to wean herself off saying words like, “God, Jesus and church”, every other sentence. That might sound heretical to some people, but it is common-sense and practical. We can honour God, whilst at the same time, not being over-spiritual to the point of appearing fake and weird.

I listened to the The Free Believers Network podcast today entitled Spiritual Veal – 8^th October 2010. In this podcast, Darin and Aimee discussed the way in which Christians often wait for God to do things in their lives, often in supernatural ways, instead of just doing something for themselves. I think there really is a need to just get on with life like any other normal person, making decisions as necessary without complicating things by introducing layers of religious performance. Christians become rather weird when they impose all sorts of religious, seemingly Biblical concepts on their lives. Life becomes complicated when almost every single decision that you make must first be validated against the Bible, prayed about and discussed with a prominent member of the church you attend.

Charismatic preachers have given us the impression that a life in Christ will always be exciting, prosperous and full of miracles - but I don't get that impression at all. Surely, miracles by definition are rare? Revivals in the past, such as the Azusa Street Revival are often held-up as a standard to which all Christians are to attain through diligent spiritual practice. But I wonder to myself if such revivals are simply one-off experiences that occur from time-to-time, rather than something which is to be ushered in through our own efforts and experienced on a daily basis? All I know is that when I was praying for revival at Kensington Temple during the late nineties, it was really quite weird, obsessive and oppressive. Furthermore, nothing substantial and lasting happened.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t get the impression that God is desperately trying to move in the lives of Christians in order to make them perform miracles so they can stand out in the crowd. I don’t find many parents disappointed with their children because they aren’t prodigies, such as a maths genius or a music maestro. Most parents love their children even when they come out with naïve statements that make no sense, make mistakes or fall on the floor and hurt themselves. Neither do I find children who are devastated at performing a simple school play rather than appearing in a professional Hollywood production. I’m not opposed to miracles, they have their place, but I’m not going to get obsessive about them like I was encouraged to do in the past.

There really is a need to accept yourself as you are other people as they are and the circumstances of your life as they are. There is a great deal of peace and joy, even prosperity to an extent, to be found in contentment.