Tenure Vs Maturity

After many years spent doing anything, one gains valuable experience. Experience usually breeds skill and take us to the point where we can do something without even thinking about it sometimes. Experience is important and in the secular world, length of service (tenure) is valuable and comes with all sorts of perks.


However, in the Christian world, tenure or length of service as a Christian can lead to complacency and make us comfortable with our current state.  Save for the fact that we have had the opportunity to make more mistakes and therefore have a bit more experience correcting them,  tenure does not make us better off than a newborn babe. 

Sometimes,  with all those years come some pretty bad habits and the refusal to change.  Some of us have spent a lot of years getting away with certain things and even though it's not consciously done,  we feel like we can continue to get away with those things.

Today,  I realized that,  by not knowing what I know now when I started my walk 17 years ago,  I developed some pretty bad habits that are difficult to let go of.  Whilst in my head I know there are a lot of things that I have not done or are not doing right,  it's hard to make the changes because I have been doing it this way for so long.

I had the opportunity to speak to a friend recently who has been a Christian for almost as long as I have. We were at a social gathering and were having fun catching up on old times when did something in my presence. I remarked casually in joking fashion "girl, you haven't changed one bit". Her response shocked me into silence. She said "no, I haven't and I won't change for anybody." What was just a casual conversation between friends suddenly became a stark realization in my head and I almost couldn't continue our conversation. It was then I realized that length of service sometimes brings us to a point where we simply refuse to change our bad habits. We become so comfortable with ourselves just the way we are that we fail to realize that Christianity is all about change. It is about waking up daily and saying Lord, those things that are still in me that need to be changed, please, continue to work on it. Christianity is about recognizing where we are wrong and making a conscious decision to be different. The only way to be like Christ is to be less like ourselves, and we can't do that by becoming comfortable with where we are.

So this is one disadvantage of tenure.  We sometimes think of Romans 12:1 - 2 as advice for the young Christian to learn to renew their minds,  but I'm learning that the renewal of the mind must be constant.  We never stop growing and because we are always living,  there will always be a necessity for change.  Transformation is not an overnight thing,  it is a process that will never end simply because our sinful nature will never go away.

Tenure cannot be traded for Christian maturity.  Maturity requires action.  Tenure is only an existence.  If you never do anything,  you will still have tenure but you will never mature. 

Today, my encouragement to all of us to remember that Christianity is about change, growth and maturity. Let us not become comfortable with our bad habits or simply make a decision to stay the way we are. Let us remember that no matter how many years we have been Christians, we can still be immature.

May we change, grow and mature together.

Devotions like this one and others can be found in the Soul Food Series in Kindle or paperback format. 

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Open window Christianity

Daniel 6:10 NLT

But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.

The first sentence of this scripture shocks me a little. Daniel heard about the new law but went home to pray with his window open. Isn't that something? I know what I would do after hearing about a law like that. I'd go home to pray but I would definitely keep my windows closed.

Daniel shows the kind of bravery that a lot of us (including me) don't have, Not only was he not ashamed of his Christianity, he was ready to accept the consequences of this choice. Most of us have the freedom to worship whomever or whatever we want in our countries, yet not many of us are willing to stand up boldly and declare that we are Christians. We attend church regular and pray regular within closed doors but when we are required to speak out again immorality we shy away. Heated discussions about major social issues that are changing our landscapes happen around us all the time and we are afraid to take the Christian stance for fear of ostracism. 

Daniel didn't care about being ostracised. As a matter of fact, his punishment was not ostracism, but rather death. At the time he made the decision to pray, there is no indication that God gave him the assurance that he's survive the plan the enemy had for him, but he did it anyway. 

My encouragement to you today is to live out your Christianity with the windows open. Live life outside of church the same way you do in church. Be bold about your faith, let the devil know that even when threatened, you are proud to be a Christian.

Devotions like this one and others can be found in a handy collection in Kindle or paperback format. 

To grab your copy, click here. 

Joana James - Author of From Redemption to Maturity, Trusting God with your Future,   Nightmare at Emerald High & Alana and Alyssa's Secret & Finding Romeo 

Feather-weight Christianity

Since Christ made an appearance here on earth Christianity has always demanded a bit of radical faith. First of all, it takes a radical determination to believe the things we do. To the ordinary man, what we believe looks somewhat ridiculous. It may even look ridiculous in our own eyes sometimes, but we have our experiences and assurances that keep us going, so we believe.

Believing is one thing, however, actions are something totally different. Back in the day of the apostles, proclaiming Christianity was punishable by death, yet that era gave us the most radical Christians we have ever seen. In the face of persecution, the apostles continued to preach, teach and lead their flocks of believers.

Nowadays, we have things so much easier. We can gather in public places and talk about our God. We can declare boldly that "I am a Christian" without fear of any harm coming to us. We basically have it pretty easy.

So why then are so many of us practicing feather-weight Christianity? Why are we just doing to bare minimum? We walk into church on Sunday morning, or Tuesday night or whatever other day we choose to go to church and after that we behave like we've paid our dues. We have the "no one can judge me except God" attitude and we basically live our lives however we want. Most days, no thought is taken concerning God's rules and our lifestyle does not match up with the Bible or with Christ. We have a million and one excuses for the reason that we can't do what the Bible says and we claim that those that do are fanatics or ignorant Bible thumpers.

Its been said before that the main reason the world resents Christianity is the Christians. We don't practice what we preach and that serves as a deterrent to those on the outside. Our pulpits are confused and we relax our principles in the name of tolerance or love. I bet God is saddened when he looks down on His Church; His bride that he's supposed to return for. The bride that should be getting ready for his return.

There are a lot of things wrong with collective Christianity but it takes each individual to look at him/herself and make the changes. The Church is you and it is me. It is not a building or a denomination. Therefore it is not a building or a denomination that needs to change but you and I. Our priorities need to be reset, goals revisited and lives re-examined because change starts with the individual. Let your neighbors see a difference in the way you live. Let your coworkers see a difference in the way you work. Don't use excuses to fornicate or to party like a wild animal. It's easy to put on makeup and head to church and call yourself a Christian, but it's a totally different story where living the life is concerned. Let's go back to the basics, honouring God and doing His will. That's all that's required from us.

Let's live today with a difference. The world is watching.

Devotions like this one and others can be found in a handy collection in Kindle or paperback format. 

To grab your copy, click here. 

Joana James - Author of From Redemption to Maturity, Trusting God with your Future,   Nightmare at Emerald High & Alana and Alyssa's Secret & Finding Romeo