August 30 Devotion - PEA-SIZED CHRISTIANITY

 

He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

فَهُوَ كَفَّارَةٌ لِخَطَايَانَا، لاَ لِخَطَايَانَا فَقَطْ، بَلْ لِخَطَايَا الْعَالَمِ كُلِّهِ.

1 John 2:2

 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

فَتَقَدَّمَ يَسُوعُ وَكَلَّمَهُمْ قَائِلاً: «دُفِعَ إِليَّ كُلُّ سُلْطَانٍ فِي السَّمَاءِ وَعَلَى الأَرْضِ.

 ¹⁹ فَاذْهَبُوا إِذَنْ، وَتَلْمِذُوا جَمِيعَ الأُمَمِ، وَعَمِّدُوهُمْ بِاسْمِ الآبِ وَالاِبْنِ وَالرُّوحِ الْقُدُسِ؛
 ²⁰ وَعَلِّمُوهُمْ أَنْ يَعْمَلُوا بِكُلِّ مَا أَوْصَيْتُكُمْ بِهِ. وَهَا أَنَا مَعَكُمْ كُلَّ الأَيَّامِ إِلَى انْتِهَاءِ الزَّمَانِ! ».

Matthew 28:18–20

 

In his book “In the Gap”, David Bryant coins a term to identify the Christian’s reluctance for missionary involvement:

Underneath disinterest in world outreach, underneath small missions budgets or limited personnel and the scandal of billions yet unreached, hides a culprit I call “pea–sized Christianity.”

 

There is a pea–sized box called convert Christianity—life in Christ gets no bigger than making it safely inside the kingdom.

 

Or there’s character Christianity—life in Christ gets no bigger than pulling one’s own spiritual act together.

 

When life in Christ is no bigger than the warm, secure fellowship I have each week with my good Christian buddies, I’m in a box of cloister Christianity.

 

Or when life in Christ is no bigger for me than getting nicely settled in a good paying job after graduation, then I’m trapped in career Christianity.

 

Many of us are groping around the box of church Christianity—the Sunday school picnic, the choir’s Christmas pageant.

 

In summary, when my Christian experience expands no further than my salvation or small group or church or future, it’s pea–sized. When my activities don’t link me to the reaching of the earth’s unreached people, I’ve succumbed to pea–sized Christianity.

 I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your abundant blessings and love. Dear Lord, deliver me from pea–sized Christianity. Expand my focus, and bring me into harmony with Your divine purpose of reaching the world with the good news of the gospel. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

O my soul, you have said to the Lord, “You are my Lord, My goodness is nothing apart from You.” Psalm 16:2
قُلْتُ لِلرَّبِّ: «أَنْتَ سَيِّدِي. خَيْرِي لاَ شَيْءَ غَيْرُكَ».

Jesus loves you

In Him,
Wagdi Henein