Over the last few years, I’ve heard some questions that have stopped me in my tracks and made me think really hard about myself and my Christianity. I’m not exactly sure where I heard these questions, so if it was from you, please forgive me for borrowing your question. Over the next few blogs I write, I want to discuss these questions and how they impacted me when I heard them.
The first question in this series is this:
“If Christianity ceased to exist tomorrow, would your daily life really change?”
If you’re anything like me, this question hurts. My heart sank to my stomach as I typed it. If Christianity and church and Jesus and God all just disappeared when you woke up tomorrow, would your life really be any different than it is now? This is a hard question to swallow.
When I first heard this, my first instinct was to say “of course it would be!” and I started listing things in my head. (1) I would have no where to go Sunday morning. (2) I would have no need to pray before a meal. (3) I would have no need to crack open my Bible to read at night. And then it hit me as I was making this internal list…thats about all that would change.
This was a pretty sobering realization for me. My daily life consisted primarily of worrying about bills, thinking about the next cool gadget I could buy, searching for my next vacation spot, researching the best snickerdoodle recipe, wondering why our floors are always so dirty, and the list could go on. My daily life actually had very little to do with Christianity when this question was posed to me…and that hurt me.
I want to ask you again, and be honest with yourself, “If Christianity ceased to exist tomorrow, would your daily life really change?”
Consider how much of your daily routine is actually given to being a Christian. Consider how many times per day you stop and pray about something. Consider how many times per day you open your Bible to read and have some self-reflection. Consider how many times per day you tell someone else how Jesus has changed your life. And when all of this is considered, ask yourself again, “If Christianity ceased to exist tomorrow, would your daily life really change?”
If you’re like me, this question makes you realize that 1 out of 7 days a week (or sometimes less than that) at church is not enough to make me comfortable answering this question. Even 2 out of 7 days hurts to answer. I want to be like the Christians I see in Acts 2:41-47 who were “continually devoting themselves” and doing it “day by day.” If you asked one of those Christians this question, I get the impression that their lives would be completely devastated. Is that how it would impact you?
“If Christianity ceased to exist tomorrow, would your daily life really change?”
I hope that you’ll ask yourself this question and let it sink into your heart. It may hurt a little (or a lot), but its reality. I hope that this question doesn’t just scare you and make you want to give up, but rather I hope that it encourages you do better and give more of yourself to being a better Christian every day.
Remember that I love you, and God loves you.
-KB
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