Tag Archives: Obedience

Cruise Control Christianity

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I’m a part of a small group of a few women from my small group who meet twice a month to discuss a book that we’re reading together. I think we all cherish those hours we spend together sharing life and growing together.

Right now, we’re reading Jerry Bridges’s Discipline of Grace. I read it a few years back, but I’m still getting a lot out of it. You can never read a good book too many times. You may think I read a lot, but really, I have to read so much because I forget to so much. Reading a lot is the only way I can retain more.

One concept that really caught my attention this time around that I didn’t remember from the last time was Bridges’s metaphor of “Cruise Control Obedience” and “Race Car Obedience.”

The idea in “Cruise Control Obedience” is that you get to a certain level of obedience, and then just put on the cruise control, not seeking to pursue Christ any harder. You do the disciplines of the faith at a level that you’re comfortable with and then just remain there, content.

On the other hand, “Race Car Obedience” is characterized by a drive to always be going faster and farther. They are not content with going the speed of those around them, or the speed that they’ve were previously driving at. This person is consumed by his love of Christ and it influences every aspect of his life.

Well, I’m definitely one to take advantage of cruise control. Most of the time, I’m pretty happy with the time and energy I devote to Christ.

But is that pleasing to God? Is that really what it means to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30)?

No. I want to have a race car mentality, not settling for “fast enough.” Not that I have what it takes to follow Christ wholeheartedly in my own strength. But I know one who does.

Photo by MonkeyBoy69

Out of Oblivion: What God Was Teaching Me

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Sorry if this post appeared in your feed reader before it was published!  I think it’s worth it, though, as what I had to say 4 years ago encouraged me and convicted me today.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

This morning’s time with God was so intense. My emotional level was about a 9. I felt like I had just woken up from a dream, totally disoriented as to what was really going on. Things are changing in my life, but that’s okay. It is during times like these that I’m tempted to let my emotions get the best of me. Not that I should ignore my emotions either, but they certainly do not deserve the driver’s seat. The shakiness of everything else should point me to cling to The Rock who never changes and will always be a refuge for me. (Psalm 71:3)

A convicting word about how we participate in worship services:

The Lord speaks to His prophet, Ezekiel: “So My people come to you in crowds, sit in front of you, and hear your words, but they don’t obey them. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue unjust gain. Yes, to them you are like a singer of love songs who has a beautiful voice and plays skillfully on an instrument. They hear your words, but they don’t obey them.” – Ezekiel 33:31-32 HCSB

Monday April 17, 2006 – I’ve Heard This Already

“I’ve heard this already.” That’s what I heard come out of a particularly ornery 5-year-old’s mouth as we were sitting in Sunday School on Easter. The teacher was teaching from Matthew 28, about Jesus’s resurrection. The fact that this boy treated the lesson like storytime wasn’t surprising; a lot of kids do. But it made me think about how much we grown-ups do, too.

Are we happy when we hear a sermon on a familar passage? Do we think, “Here we go again, the same old story”? I have to admit that I do sometimes have this attitude when I approach Scripture. It’s hard not to, actually, when our first thought is entertainment or fresh revelation. God can, and will, provide “fresh” insights even from familiar texts, but that cannot be our aim. We read, study, and listen to the Bible because it is God’s Word as He revealed it to us. We know Him better because of it, and we grow in our relationship because we know Him better. We allow His Word to act as a mirror and reflect our true self and reveal our hidden desires. We change according to what we read, in order to gain greater fellowship with the Father and with fellow believers. (James 1, 2 Timothy 3:16)

I hope that this post has been an encouragement to you in some way. I want to take this lesson to heart!

Praying and Treasuring God

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This past Sunday, our church focused on prayer and repentance, so we taught our little kindergarteners about prayer.  While this age isn’t my favorite to work with (I prefer the older kids: 5th grade and up), this group is growing on me, just like they do every year.

This year’s Sunday school class is especially mature for their age, and fairly tight-knit as well, though they are a large class (we usually have between 15-20 kids each Sunday, though past groups have been in the 10-15 range).  Oh, and they’re mostly boys (we usually have 4 girls there each week).

We three teachers split them up into 3 groups and lead them in praying, and it was neat to see how well they handled taking turns praying in a small group, and the true sincerity in their prayers for their fellow students’ mommies (we have 4 students who will soon have new siblings…our church definitely takes “go forth and multiply” very seriously), missionaries that they personally know, their family and friends who don’t know Jesus, and themselves (specifically, to help them love and obey God).

After my group was done praying, I started asking about when they find it difficult to treasure God (our lesson was from Matthew 6), and the kids were really honest with me.  One girl mentioned that she has a hard time obeying her parents, while another boy mentioned he struggles with lying.  The fact that they understand following God isn’t easy speaks volume to their maturity, even if most of them haven’t yet reached the point of making the faith their own.

This is just a glimpse of why I love working with these children week in and week out.