Casserole Faith
John 5:24 reads, ". . . whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. . . " Salvation. A free gift from God. When we hear the Truth and believe it, we receive the gift of salvation. While this in itself is awesome, there is so much more.
I have often heard of the Christian walk being compared to that of a developing child. When someone first comes to the Lord we call him a "baby Christian". He has much to learn about Christ. But the more a person hears teaching on the Bible, reads the Word of God on his own, and enjoys fellowship with other believers, the more he matures in his walk. As his knowledge grows, his relationship with God grows and he develops into a mature believer. This is the goal anyway.
But every so often a person who is born again may only remain in the infant stage of his development, or as Dennis heard it called - he is like a stillborn baby - accepting Christ as Savior, and maybe even attending church regularly and perhaps listening to or even participating in studies here and there, but missing the idea of applying what he is hearing to his life. James 1:22 says, " do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."
I often think of it as a microwave dinner (or a TV dinner as we used to call them). Each individual food is separated into its own compartment so none of it touches. Sometimes a person lives his life like this, keeping each part separate from the other. His faith is in one compartment all by itself. This person says he is Christian and goes to church, but his faith doesn't touch any other part of his life. This is not what God wants from us. Paul wrote in Colossians 1:10, "And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God."
Our faith is to be like a casserole. In a casserole dish, each individual ingredient is mixed in with all the others. That is how our faith should be. Our faith should touch every part of our lives: God's principles should be evident in our marriages, in how we parent, it should carry over into the workplace, it should govern the entertainment choices we make and serve as a filter for the type of speech we use, people should know us by the fruit we bear in our life. We are to "be imitators of God." Ephesians 5:1
Jesus said in Matthew 7:24-27, "everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. . . it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. . . it fell with a great crash." Another reminder not to keep what we are learning in a separate compartment.
A good summation of this idea is found in Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost for His Highest", "But so many people do tell what they saw on the Mount of Transfiguration - their mountaintop experience. They have seen a vision and they testify to it, but there is no connection between what they say and how they live. Their lives don't add up because the Son of Man has not yet risen in them. How long will it be before his resurrection life is formed and evident in you and in me?"
Hopefully not long.
I have often heard of the Christian walk being compared to that of a developing child. When someone first comes to the Lord we call him a "baby Christian". He has much to learn about Christ. But the more a person hears teaching on the Bible, reads the Word of God on his own, and enjoys fellowship with other believers, the more he matures in his walk. As his knowledge grows, his relationship with God grows and he develops into a mature believer. This is the goal anyway.
But every so often a person who is born again may only remain in the infant stage of his development, or as Dennis heard it called - he is like a stillborn baby - accepting Christ as Savior, and maybe even attending church regularly and perhaps listening to or even participating in studies here and there, but missing the idea of applying what he is hearing to his life. James 1:22 says, " do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."
I often think of it as a microwave dinner (or a TV dinner as we used to call them). Each individual food is separated into its own compartment so none of it touches. Sometimes a person lives his life like this, keeping each part separate from the other. His faith is in one compartment all by itself. This person says he is Christian and goes to church, but his faith doesn't touch any other part of his life. This is not what God wants from us. Paul wrote in Colossians 1:10, "And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God."
Our faith is to be like a casserole. In a casserole dish, each individual ingredient is mixed in with all the others. That is how our faith should be. Our faith should touch every part of our lives: God's principles should be evident in our marriages, in how we parent, it should carry over into the workplace, it should govern the entertainment choices we make and serve as a filter for the type of speech we use, people should know us by the fruit we bear in our life. We are to "be imitators of God." Ephesians 5:1
Jesus said in Matthew 7:24-27, "everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. . . it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. . . it fell with a great crash." Another reminder not to keep what we are learning in a separate compartment.
A good summation of this idea is found in Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost for His Highest", "But so many people do tell what they saw on the Mount of Transfiguration - their mountaintop experience. They have seen a vision and they testify to it, but there is no connection between what they say and how they live. Their lives don't add up because the Son of Man has not yet risen in them. How long will it be before his resurrection life is formed and evident in you and in me?"
Hopefully not long.
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