Convenient Store Theology and Easy-Serve Gospel

A friend of mine (and co-worker at the time) once said to me, after I had just finished lamenting how hard my job was, “did you think it was going to be easy?” It was a poignant question. Of course on the spot, I said, “no, of course I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.” The more I thought about the situation however, the more I realized that in my heart of hearts that is exactly what I thought. My thinking was, however subtle, all I have to do is show up, teach, disciple, and invest in the people and all will be well. That may be the experience for some in ministry, but for the most part, that is simply not how it works. Many times since that day when I have lamented to myself or to God how hard my job is, I always go back to that conversation and realize that there is still much of that type of thinking in my approach to ministry. I still think often that because I am called, gifted, and actively doing the work of the gospel, it should be easy. I don’t think I am alone in this line of thinking however, as I look at the church in America, I see a Christianity that follows much of that same philosophy.

As thankful as I am to have grown up in the age of technological expansion, I must confess that I think it has clouded the thinking of my generation, including those after it and even those beyond it. Most everything is set up to be convenient these days. You don’t want to walk all the way into the gas station to pay for your gas? Simple, pay at the pump. You don’t want to get out of your car to go all the way into the hamburger place? Simple, go through the fast-n-easy (and we all know that it is typically neither fast nor easy) drive thru. Don’t feel like fighting the crowds for shopping? Shop online. Don’t feel like getting out to get groceries? Shop online and have them delivered. Don’t want to leave your home for college? Go to college online. Of course we could go on and on, but you get the point. I am not saying that these are necessarily bad things. In fact I personally have greatly benefited from many of these advances. The real issue here is not the advances themselves, but rather how we have responded to them, and how we have let them shape the rest of our thinking. Let me explain...

Much of the Christian life and/or gospel ministry is not convenient, and not much of it is fast-n-easy. In fact, I would say that the great majority of the Christian life and/or gospel ministry is inconvenient to us personally, and meticulously slow and hard. Often times we pray for strength, renewal, revival, etc...and we assume that it is supposed to appear right when we ask. When it doesn’t however, we become frustrated with God or we become discouraged that perhaps God is not hearing us. Despair will often times set in, and we lose sight all together and we become blinded by disappointment or disillusionment, or both. It seems to me, we have forgotten to consider much of what the Bible has to say to this very issue. Pick anyone of the Old Testament saints; lets pick Joseph. God gave Joseph dreams of being a great leader. The only problem was, Joseph was the 11th of 12 brothers. He was hated by his brothers. We know the story, he was sold as a slave, falsely accused and imprisoned, and made to live a life in absolute servitude and slavery for almost 15 years. It was neither convenient for Joseph nor fast-n-easy, but God not only made Joseph a great leader, God also saved 2 nations through His servant.

Certainly, we could mention Abraham, Moses, and David. None of those men had an ‘easy’ or convenient call or walk, yet God persevered through them to do something great. Love is often not convenient or easy, yet God set His love upon His people and even cursed Himself under the penalty of sin and pain of death to make us His beloved. Paul describes the transformation that takes place as a metamorphosis i.e. it takes a while for the change that Christ has wrought in us to be worked out. The gospel is not a “have it your way” gospel. It is not built around the mentality that “we are good so you don’t have to be.” The gospel is the hope of redemption and transformation, but it is redemption and transformation on God’s terms. If we let convenience and ease drive our theology, we will eventually turn away from Christ. Do a search in your Bible and see how many times we are told to wait on the Lord, or to be patient. So as we pray for transformation, or even revival itself, I think we must be careful not to assume that because it is taking a long time, or it is seemingly impossible, our cries have fallen on deaf ears. Paul reminds us that when we have done everything to stand, we must stand some more. Transformation is taking place, the question is, are we willing to wait through all the hardships and inconveniences to see its fruit?