Christian Workaholics

Are you a burned out workaholic, a slave to duty?

Are you addicted to success at any price?

Are you driven to be a good Christian, trying so hard but never feeling you are good enough?

Are you exhausted by striving?

A Japanese office worker was extremely hardworking. Whatever his assignments were he had to complete them all, whatever the cost.

After working hard for over 24 hours without a break, he dropped dead.

An admirable itinerant preacher in India lived with unlimited dedication. He wanted to live just like Jesus, at any cost. He once tried to fast for 40 days and almost died.

When the Holy Spirit calls you to fast, he gives grace, but if you try to fast because of holy striving, it can cause great harm. It can lead to neurosis and eating disorders.

A young American was a totally dedicated Christian. He attended church at least four times a week. He served as a leader in the youth group. He read a few chapters of the Bible every day and prayed dutifully every morning and every evening.

His whole life revolved around his Christian discipleship, but he still felt dry and weary in his soul.

Finally, he could no longer bear this religious treadmill. He still believed in God, but he gave up. He hardly prayed for a few days. He didn't read his Bible, only the newspaper.

One morning he was sitting at breakfast reading the newspaper. Suddenly the Holy Spirit fell upon him. In the midst of his religious activities, he had neglected the most important thing. He had never learnt to simply receive and enjoy the unconditional love of God.

When Jesus was an itinerant preacher, all kinds of Jews came to him. There were sinful apostate Jews and also very diligent religious Jews. Both were stressed and spiritually tired.

Jesus recognised their stress and their inner exhaustion. He also sees your stress. His words to the Jews still speak to us today.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Mt 11:28 NASB95

Social Justice and the Gospel

 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Ga 3:28 NIV

Why oh why do so many Christians ignore this revolutionary teaching of Paul, this message from God Himself?

In Christ there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all. Col 3:11 CSB

Why do so many Christians aggressively support white supremacy and Christian nationalism? Why is there so much political partisanship amongst Christians?

My brothers and sisters, do not show favouritism as you hold on to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.

For if someone comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and a poor person dressed in filthy clothes also comes in,

if you look with favour on the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here in a good place,” and yet you say to the poor person, “Stand over there,” or “Sit here on the floor by my footstool,”
haven’t you made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Jas 2:1–4 CSB

So many Christian churches have ignored God’s command to love each other as brothers and sisters. Instead, we have prioritised hierarchy and obedience to someone of higher rank.

The founding fathers of the American republic declared that all men are created equal, but President George Washington owned slaves.

The Southern Baptists separated from the American Baptists because they insisted that Southern Baptist pastors should own slaves.

They quoted bible verses to justify their injustice.

Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as you would Christ. Eph 6:5 CSB

Many conservative evangelicals still twist scripture in a similar way when they demand that wives always obey their husbands, no matter how unspiritual or domineering they might be.

Why do so many conservative Christians overspiritualise the Gospel? Loving your neighbour is reduced to nothing more than preaching at people to get them converted.

We are saved by faith and not works, as they accurately quote Paul.
But they conveniently ignore what James says, James the younger son of Mary and the brother of Jesus.

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him? 

If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food
and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it?

In the same way faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself. Jas 2:14–17 CSB