What a Faith!

Russian comedian Yakov Smirnoff said when he first came to the United States, he wasn’t prepared for the incredible variety of things in American grocery stores. Having been to several grocery stores in Ukraine, I can understand his amazement. But what really amazed him, he said, was the large variety of INSTANT products that you can buy.

On my first shopping trip, I saw powdered milk— you just add water, and you get milk. Then I saw powdered orange juice— you just add water, and you get orange juice. And then I saw baby powder, and I thought to my self, what a country!

We are indeed an instant culture. Joan Rivers says that Americans are the only people who stand in front of the microwave yelling, “Hurry!” We want everything right now; we don’t like to wait.

I fear that this is a barrier to our understanding and practice of the Christian faith. We want there to be a kind of instant Christianity. We learn a little about Jesus, add a little water (the water is very important, right?) and we become a Christian. We have a need in our life and add a little prayer—and then are confused when results are not instantaneous. It is almost as if we see God as a spiritual vending machine in which we pop in a prayer and out pops a blessing. We come to church and add a few worship and praise songs, and out is supposed to pop an instant intimacy with God.

Oh, we can have intimacy with God. Prayer works. We can learn of Jesus, be baptized and begin a life of discipleship. But the operative word here is “begin.” The Christian life is often one of struggle and difficulty. It is a life in which pat answers often do not work. Just when we think we have God all figured out, He breaks out of our box and leads us off in a totally different direction. Sometimes faith is quiet and calm; at other times is desperate. Jesus said that “the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it” (Matt 11:12). Whether this intriguing text means that the forceful must seize the kingdom or that the violent will attack it, the point is that the kingdom is no Sunday stroll with Jesus. True discipleship is not instant spirituality that fits easily within the existing framework of our lives. It is a continual and daily following of Jesus even when he leads us where we do not want to go. And He always leads us in the carrying of a cross.