Skip to main content

You're not Committed enough Guilt Trip





I enjoied this post from Brian Jones:

Every time we turn around there’s a new book/pastor/church/sermon/bible study/seminar or conference telling us that we are wholly inadequate in our commitment to Christ.
The formula is always the same:
  1. Talk about how Jesus was this insanely committed guy who lived his life on the brink of starvation and death to help others.
  2. Highlight how we American Christians are fat, lazy, shallowly committed and innately self-centered.
  3. Heighten awareness by finding stories about Christians (usually in third world or persecuted countries) that are not fat, lazy and shallowly committed and who live insanely committed lives on 3 cents a day and risk death to help others.
  4. Round out your thoughts by implying that “If you were really committed to Christ you would…” __________ (give more money), ___________ (serve more), __________ (live more radically), _____________ (believe more fervently), and ___________ (visit dangerous places) just like Jesus and these other people around the world.
Who wouldn’t feel fat, lazy, shallowly committed and innately self-centered after being bludgeoned by that?
The problem is American Christians eat this stuff up, and it has nothing to do with Jesus; it’s all about the formula.
Imagine you became a little league baseball coach and were tasked with taking over a team of fourth-graders and turning them into MLB superstars. What would you say to them to motivate them?
My hunch is you’d be tempted to…
  1. Talk about how A-Rod and Derek Jeter are these insanely committed guys who live their lives totally devoted to baseball.
  2. Highlight how American fourth graders are fat, lazy, shallowly committed and innately self-centered.
  3. Heighten awareness by finding stories about fourth-graders (usually in Cuba) who eat, drink and breath baseball 24/7.
  4. Round out your thoughts by implying that “If you were really committed to baseball you would…” ______________ (throw the ball more), ______________ (go to the batting cage 3x’s as often), and ______________ (bug your parents to hire a personal trainer), just like A-Rod and Derek Jeter and all those kids in Cuba who would love to trade places with you.
And the fourth graders would eat it up.
But would they actually get any better because of it?
Of course not.
Why?

Because growth, any growth, is always incremental – the proverbial three steps forward, one step back.
The only thing the “You’re Not Committed Enough” Guilt-Trip does is, well, exactly that – produce guilt. Expose yourself to churches/pastors/books that give this speech too much and eventually you’ll discover that the only thing you’ve excelled at is the time-honored Christian art of feeling like crap.
And that’s about it.
Spiritual improvement comes in spite of speeches like these, not because of them.
The problem is whether you’re coaching baseball or coaching new believers, giving people the “You’re Not Committed Enough” guilt-trip as a way to motivate them to become better has the exact opposite effect.
Constantly exposed to such guilt-trip formulas, Christians (or fourth grade wanna-be all-stars) don’t become more radical, they become more defeated.
Looking for proof?
Look in the mirror.
How many formulaic guilt-trip sermons/pastors/churches/Bible studies/books have you been exposed to over the years? My guess is more than you’d care to admit?
Are you any more of an insanely committed Christ follower having been exposed to them?
Of course not.
The reality is the most radical thing you can do today is obey Jesus in the next five minutes. That’s it.
I’m not sure what that will be.
I’m not sure how that will feel.
But I am quite positive that it will be small and no-one will notice.
And I’m pretty sure that’s the way it’s supposed to be.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thoughts on The Widening of God's Mercy by Hays and Hays

When I heard about the book by Hays and Hays titled The Widening of God Mercy I was intrigued. I had read Richard Hays' book The Moral Vision of the New Testament in seminary, especially the chapter on homosexuality. I ended up adopting much, if not all, of Hays' position on homosexuality and often used his reasoning while serving as a church minister.  I have read other things that Richard Hays has written such as Reading Backwards: Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness and found it beneficial to my understanding of Jesus and what it means to be a follower of Jesus. When it was suggested that Richard Hays might have changed his mind about what he wrote in  The Moral Vision of the New Testament  on homosexuality, I wanted to find out for myself.  My Context I spent over ten years doing youth ministry in the local church. I now know many adults who used to be teenagers in my youth group. Some of those adults are gay or lesbian. That means unbeknownst ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Worshiping the executioner part 1 (Suffering and Faith)

The brother kept yelling "I did this" as I opened the door to one of the hospital family consultation rooms. Maybe you have sat in a room like this and received some not-so-good news. Rooms such as these tend to be basic. A few not-so-comfy chairs, a drab paint job, and odd abstract artwork on the walls.  I had asked the family members, who had been seated in the ER waiting area, to follow me to the family room. I told them that the doctor wanted to give them an update on how their loved one was doing. The family gathered up their belongings and nervously began to follow me. The family consisted of two adults, a baby, and two girls. One of the girls was the daughter of the patient that the doctor needed to give an update on.  She was a cute little girl. Probably about four or five years old. She had messy wavy short blond hair and green eyes. She was wearing a pale pink shirt with little white flower prints and a matching pair of pants. She had a pair of Crocs-style pink shoe...
Post a Comment
Read more

Worshiping the Executioner part 2 (Suffering and Faith)

The medical staff quietly and somberly removed all the medical lines and devices from the 48-hour-old baby. The baby's mother and father wanted to hold their child for the first time. Removing all the medical devices meant that their child would live only a few moments. Holding your child for the first time should be a joyful occasion. Instead of this moment being a kind of introduction between parent and child it was a goodbye. The baby's body was simply not set up to survive and thrive.  After removing all the medical equipment the little one was wrapped in a blanket and gently handed into the arms of the mother. The room went silent as the mother softly repeated "Mommy and Daddy love you" while she wept. The baby's father wept and kissed his newborn on the forehead. Other family members in the room started to cry as well. Once the little one had passed the family gathered together to pray. After composing himself, one of the older men in the family offered a pr...
Post a Comment
Read more