Almost every time I am on one of my country's interstate highways I see someone texting on their cell phone while driving at 70 miles per hour (112.654 kilometers per hour). At that speed, the vehicle will travel the length of a football field in a few seconds WHILE THE DRIVER IS LOOKING AWAY FROM THE ROAD!
This makes as much sense as turning on a chainsaw while entering a room where a baby is sleeping and throwing the chainsaw into the air. It may end well. I may not.
Many Christians carelessly involve themselves in activities which are just as dangerous as a chainsaw. You may not agree with this list or may be able to add to it. Every item on this list has the potential to cause serious damage to your Christian life.
1. Practicing Cafeteria Christianity is when you take a little bit from here and little bit from there and reject things which make you uncomfortable, just like in an old-style cafeteria line. Everyone knows that there are some things about Christianity which are difficult. Paul had some strong things to say about accepting any changes to the Gospel.
2. Religious discrimination and actual persecution are real and severe for Christians in
many countries. Do not be foolish or naïve enough to believe that this does not
occur in the “culturally advanced” Western nations.
3. Complacency in your “goodness.” This is what Jesus meant about being like lukewarm water: “I will spew you out of my mouth.”
4. Idolatry, like celebrity worship, stepping over other people for success, pursuing worldly pleasures to the point of obsession, being obsessed by where you live, or the fine clothing and jewelry you can wear to church, or by the important people you know, and extending even to things rarely recognized as sinful, such as food snobbishness.
5. Getting involved in petty church squabbles. Really is self, pride and often reduces to factions led by two individuals.
6. Being too busy: becoming neglectful of church activities because of sports or busy business schedules.
7. Accepting secularist ideas such as “all roads lead to God” (this
minimizes Christianity and makes it just one religion among many), and believing
non-marital sexuality is acceptable if “love” is involved.
9. Dabbling in astrology, Tarot, Ouija boards, automatic writing, divination, the occult, and other practices: these are not harmless children's games.
10. Attempting an exorcism. Real demon possession is probably quite rare but Jesus acknowledged that it is real.
11. Ghost hunting. The Bible never teaches the existence of ghosts though some people in the Bible obviously did believe in them. The appearances of dead Old Testament saints may have been the saints actually being physically present. Ghost phenomena (hauntings, poltergeists, etc.) may be evidence of the other supernatural beings mentioned in the Bible. Do you really want to find out?
12. Practicing Hatha Yoga. The Sanskrit word "hatha" (हठ) in English translates as "force" or "will" and is a system of physical exercises. From a physical standpoint, this is probably excellent for your health, relaxation, stress reduction, and bodily flexibility. When you practice yoga, from a spiritual standpoint, you are dabbling with Hinduism, a totally different religion from Christianity.
The word "Yoga" (योग) is derived from yug, a Sanskrit word meaning "yoking" or "union." There are numerous types of yoga, all of which are focused on yoking or quieting the mind and achieving an inner stillness which contributes to a oneness with the universe, which is sometimes described as "cosmic consciousness."
13. Aligning oneself with extreme political views, whether conservative or progressive. Politics is not the answer; the Gospel is the answer. "Render unto Caesar" assumes that we should have civic and political involvement but our ultimate allegiance must be to Jesus. Secular political parties are ultimately not motivated by Christian principles but by a desire for political power. A real danger is equating national patriotism with Christianity. Real change can only come by reformed hearts, not by legislation.
14. Allowing hatred or resentment to exist in your heart toward anyone. Hatred is corrosive and is a cancer. This is not about what the other person may have done but is about who you are.
15. Reducing your Christianity to niceness, acceptance, social work, and a fight for social justice. These are important legitimate functions of the Church but they are absolutely not the essence of Christianity. The absolute, irreducible, core of the Christian message is returning each individual to a proper relationship with Jesus, one at a time, as if they were the only one. Each person on the Earth is of absolute worth because they are bought with the blood of Jesus.
15. These first 14 are merely a few of the dangers Christians face.
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