My Pastor Has Failed Me

That was Sunday night.  And he just did it again.  I've prayed about this, I've been broken about it and I have stared incredulously.  I'm just completely at a loss for words and direction.  Maybe I should elaborate.  He served decaf coffee at Bible Study, and just now told Penny she had "too much caffeine."



I know.  I'm in shock too.  I cannot not even imagine why you would drink decaffeinated coffee.  Just drink water.  Or real coffee.  And one can never have too much caffeine.  That is just a ridiculous statement.  And it's possibly unBiblical.  I'm looking that up.
In the middle of this insanity, I started thinking about how many of us a settling for what I'm calling "decaf Christianity."  Many others that are much smarter than me have called it "Almost Christianity."  There are actually 2 very well known sermons by that title, look them up.
I should probably expand on this a little.  There are simply too many people who do not expect to hear from God on a daily, if not more often basis.  The idea of having a personal, vibrant relationship with Jesus in the same manner as with our dearest friends is foreign to so many.  We try to adhere to some list of rules we've created from some ancient book, and can't figure out why we are not satisfied.  Now, all of that is fairly straightforward, what is not is the why.  I think there are a few reasons:
1) We don't know any different.  This is a scary one.  We've been copying each other for so long, we don't realise we have lost the original.  Even worse, we think that everyone else is happy.  Since we aren't satisfied, we just figure the problem is with us or assume this is as good as it gets.
2)We know different, we just don't do different.  Another scary one.  We realise we aren't getting it right, we are aware that we don't have a relationship with Jesus.  We just don't do anything about it.  We are either too scare or too lazy to act.
3)We don't realise there is more.  Maybe we think this is enough.  Why be unsatisfied if there is no more to be had?  That desire in our deepest souls is just part of the human condition, it doesn't get better until we get to heaven.

In the same way decaf makes no sense, Christianity without the relationship makes no sense.  It's just another list of things we have to be responsible for.  And none of us have time or energy for that.  So let's quit drinking decaf, literally and spiritually. 

Another reason I can't be a member of a mega-church:
Can you imagine me in a place with enough caffeine to fuel that many people?  I would get there early, have enough coffee to power a small country, and twitch like crazy for the next week.  Then, I would have to rush back to get my next fix.  It would not be a pretty sight my friends!