WEAK AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY

What is the true test of a person's faith? Some say it's how they respond to persecution. Or it could be in what a person will refuse to let go of or give up for the purpose of being in God's Word with other believers.

Christians in the underground church in China will walk for hours to get to church and will sit for hours, sometimes on a hard floor, to listen to Scripture being taught, all at the risk of being arrested and sent to work camps or being thrown in prison. Some are never seen by their families ever again. These same Christians have outside connections that will risk arrest just to help smuggle in Bibles to them so they can read Scripture in their language. I tear up every time I see the video below. These are Chinese seminary students getting their very first Bible. It's very humbling to watch their reactions.

Christians in America get antsy if the sermon goes over 30 minutes because they want to be first at the buffet line at the local restaurant, or they don't want to miss the start of whatever game is on TV. And to think, they're blessed to be in a church with padded chairs/pews with air conditioning, a coffee bar, and nice clean bathrooms. And, of course, the church has to be within a reasonable distance from their home. No more than a 15-minute drive. How many of us react to our Bibles the way the Chinese students above did? I know I don't. We've been blessed here in America, and we are guilty of taking our Bibles for granted. Some of us probably have multiple Bibles of differing translations in our homes gathering dust. How about this: Hold a revival service or Bible study during a college rival football game, March Madness, or during the series finale of some popular TV program/reality show and see how many will show up for the church service. Can you imagine a pastor telling his congregation that he's planning a Bible study on the night of the Iron Bowl? I'm sure there'll be a few who would come because not everyone likes football, nor do they like Alabama and Auburn (like my husband), but then there are those who would tell the pastor he's insane for scheduling a Bible study on the night of the Iron Bowl and would even go so far as to suggest he be removed from his position for even coming up with the idea. I wonder how many pastors who love sports would purposefully schedule a weeklong Bible study during playoffs of their favorite sport. What if they are being moved by the Holy Spirit to hold a weeklong Bible study but think, "Oh, wow, God, I really would like to, but you know, March Madness is coming up and, well, I REALLY want to watch those games because my favorite team is the Top Seed." I guess you can figure out what takes priority over God.
Many who say they're Christians, the test of their devotion to Christ is if they will put aside worldly entertainment for being at church to hear the gospel preached. These days with streaming services and being able to record these shows, even that isn't enough to convince them to give up their show or game for the opportunity to gather with other believers to study the Word. There's going to come a day when our faith will be tested greater than what we're experiencing right now. What if your church has to go "underground" like the church in China? Is your faith such that you will risk being arrested just so you can continue to meet with your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ? Or will you let some form of worldly entertainment be your excuse to stay home? We're going to be tested, no doubt, and I believe many of us will fail.