By: Elder Bill McCarthy
One day awhile back my thoughts seemed to be stuck on a single word, “incidental”, a word meaning “minor, casual or subordinate.” I found myself praying, “Oh God, please do not let me make you incidental (minor, casual) in my life.” I know that there have been times and occasions in which I have made God a minor consideration – sometimes an afterthought – in the affairs of my life, and I recall those times were largely unproductive and often remorseful.
As I reflected on the word, I called to mind Paul’s admonition to the church at Corinth, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.” 2Cor 13:5. And to the Colossians, “whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” Col 3:17.
Examining oneself is a serious matter, not to be lightly regarded, as God’s word makes abundantly clear that he will not occupy second place in our scheme of priorities. “He that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.” Matt 10:38. “He that is not with me is against me.” Matt 12:30.
Thinking back on the times when I, in effect, treated God as incidental to my life, I realize the fulfillment of that which Peter taught, that the Lord “is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2Peter 3:9. Had God executed his wrath, instead of his grace, in times when we have made him incidental, none of us would have survived our many follies.
In my reflections I came across an article written by a pastor (J.S. Park, Tampa, FL) on the very subject on my mind, observing,
“Most people give up on church because they’ve graded God by the church. Preachers preach a tiny God that fits into our lives between the lines of felt needs and due entitlements, so whether subconsciously or outlandishly, we feel God is a water boy who works for us.”
“Sermons about holiness and God’s wrath and the crucifixion are glazed over and endured; really we want to hear Preacher Man talk about dating, sex, the Eight Ways to a Happy Day, and how to feel good about the addictions that we call mistakes. … The moment we hear something we don’t like, God is suddenly not okay anymore. As if God needed our stamp of approval.”
“If our made-up God is only an accessory to our lifestyle, then we don’t need the victory of His power over death. We’ve already chosen our life over His. … [it is perplexing] that the couple of billion people who claim to be Christians in surveys have probably never even grasped the meaning of grace. … Many of us continue sitting in pews hearing about how to improve our lives, then not doing it anyway.”
That, I thought, is what we do not want: God being only an ACCESSORY (nonessential but desirable companion) in our lives. But how do we overcome our nature and make God the very principal of our lives, or in the words of the wit, how do we make the main thing the main thing?
The words of an old hymn nagged at me:
Of mortals here below;
May I its great importance learn,
Its sovereign virtue know. (by John Fawcett, circa 1800)
I read recently of a non-Christian religious body that worshiped at a particular temple. It struck me that we so commonly say as Christians that we attend, not that we worship, at a certain place. We congregate to worship our Lord in obedience to, “Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” Heb 10:23-25
Knowing our infirmities, the Lord directed that we meet together as his church to worship and strengthen each other, bestowing on the Lord’s people our love for him. Matt 25:40. If life teaches anything, it teaches us that we cannot find our way through this world alone, that we need the fellowship of our Lord’s brethren.
Those who forsake “the assembling of ourselves together,” or regard God lightly, soon find the affairs of life pushing God aside, making him a mere accessory placed on a shelf with the expectation that he will be there when needed. Disappointed, ruined lives are so sad but predictable.
How many times must we learn that the closer we walk together in obedience to our Lord’s instructions the richer and more productive are our lives?
Published: 2012-08-19 by BDM