As we have been looking at the book of Acts on Sunday mornings, we have seen a transformation happening in the lives of the followers of Jesus. The measure of the Spirit given to the twelve apostles can easily explain how different they are from the apostles we learned about in the gospels. For the newly converted Christians, the transformation seems to be directly related to what they spend their time doing. At the end of chapters 2 and 4, they are unified in worship and sharing life together. Their walk with God extends far beyond the first day of the week. Unfortunately this kind of daily practice of Christianity does not take root in many churchgoers in our world today.In his book, D2: Becoming a Devoted Follower of Christ, Phil McKinney believes this is a product of our consumer culture. He describes it as “Fast-Food Christianity.” It resembles the fast-food experience in a number of ways.
- Replacement of responsibility: Someone else can do the work while the fast-food Christian enjoys the benefits.
- Choices: The fast-food Christian can choose the church and the level of involvement.
- Cheap: It will only cost what the fast-food Christian is willing to pay.
- Service with no strings attached: The fast-food Christian doesn’t have to make long-term relationships and can frequently make complaints without helping with solutions.
- Quick: The fast-food Christian wants everything done quickly. Sermons need to be short. There shouldn’t be too many songs. If there’s a problem, it needs to be corrected quickly.
- Drive-through service: At its core, the fast-food experience is a transaction. Fast-food Christianity can be the same. Get in and out of the building as quickly as possible on a Sunday morning, and repeat the next week.
Just the brief contact with the word of God and good people would probably make the fast-food Christian’s life better than it would be otherwise, but that person is missing out on so much of what God has in mind for us. And believe it or not, the church is missing out on the transformed version of that same person. McKinney says that God’s call to discipleship is the opposite of Fast-Food Christianity.
- Responsibility – Galatians 2:20
- Costly – Luke 14:25-33
- Only one choice – John 14:6
- Service with strings attached – 1 John 3:16-19
- Slow and sometimes painful – Hebrews 11:32-40
- Commitment – Luke 9:23-26
Here at Southwest there are many opportunities to serve and get more involved as we grow as His disciples. Even beyond the ministries here, let’s never be content with less than the work God made us to do. We are His disciples all day, every day.
Brian
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. – Ephesians 2:9