Fortune Cookie Christianity

and the church's failure to impact the culture

Have you ever read a challenging fortune cookie? One that said something like; “Just give up,” or “You’re delusional,” or “The crap is about to hit the fan,” or in the words of the King James Version, “‘Thine ass’ is about to be kicked.” Maybe you have, but I’ve never received a negative or challenging fortune cookie from any dine-in or take-out order. That’s no surprise because fortune cookies are a feel-good gimmick, and for that reason, no one takes them seriously — if you are taking them seriously, then you need to see a counselor.

Sadly, many modern expressions of Christianity are no different than fortune cookies. Many church services, sermons, and devotionals nothing more than feel-good gimmicks. Thus, it’s no surprise that many people don’t take Christianity seriously. Yet, if there is anything we should be taking seriously, it is our worship of the Lord. Worship is ultimately about God not about us. When we turn worship into another self-help program, it loses it’s power. Don’t get me wrong, we need to worship God in order to grow and our acts of worship should certainly lead to positive changes in our lives. However, God must remain the central focus in worship. When we worship God, we learn to love and trust God. When we love and trust God, we are better able to handle the challenges that God allows or brings into our lives. This is a clear biblical principle.

In Deuteronomy 8:5, God said to the children of Israel, “You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you.” The author of Hebrews echoes this truth in Hebrews 12:6-11

6 For whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives. 7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Worship is not a feel-good gimmick. Worship is about being challenged and trained, and we know from experience that no training or “chastening” is joyful when it’s happening, but later it yields peace and righteousness. So, when you go to worship, what are you seeking? Are you seeking to have your heart trained or your ears tickled? Do you want a momentary pick-me-up or do you want your mind molded by the holiness of God (no easy task at all)? Are you seeking to feel good or to be in subjection to God?

Naturally, we resist the training, the molding, and the subjection, but those are the only ways to, “the peaceable fruit of righteousness.” When I first started this Substack, I told you God before government was less about politics (even though we address politics) and more about piety. I’m very concerned about the upcoming election, but I’m much more concerned about growing in Christ. Sure, I would love to see God glorified in our government. But regardless of the outcome of the election, no one can stop us from glorifying God in our hearts and homes.

We must make the decision every day that we will serve God before we serve ourselves. That’s true worship and true Christianity. When we embrace the training, the molding, and the subjection, then we really begin to live the lives God has called us to. Amazingly, we know all this. That’s why we respect athletes so much and why sport is such a big part of our culture. We respect their hard work and dedication to become great and compete at the highest levels. Essentially, we respect the challenge inherent to sport. So, why don’t we see the reason in translating that type of commitment over to worship? Mark my words, if the Church would approach worship as seriously as athletes approach sports, then people would take take Christianity seriously again, and it would be clear to the larger culture that Christianity is not some feel-good-fortune-cookie gimmick.

Let’s be a positive part of the change, by taking our worship seriously. Let’s honor and serve God before we honor and serve ourselves!

God before government,

Rit