Is the Church becoming Wimpy? Grace like Spinach.

Wimpy.  Such a strong word. Visions of Olive Oil, or Popeye…before the Spinach…comes to mind.

If you don’t know who Popeye is, He was a pipe tooting sailor who would chug down a whole can of raw Spinach.  As a consequence, He was able to ward off Bluto, the burly rascal who was always trying to steal Popeye’s skinny legged girl, Olive Oil.

But could it be, we have become content leaving Olive Oil in turmoil?  A church running, hiding, sitting complacent…so that we don’t have to battle our nemesis, Bluto?

Have we become like Wimpy…spiritually fat, a little confused, content eating hamburgers (or wanting things) that simply, fail to fuel us?  Have we too lacked the resources to pay for what our eyes say we must get? 

I just finished a book about William Carey.  The story of the first missionary to India.  The son of a poor weaver.  He taught himself Latin, Hebrew…then Greek.  He was passionate about getting England to send out missionaries, founding the first English Missionary Society.

But not only did He sit back and learn, instruct, tell what good ideas he had for others…but He also got out of the boat, volunteering to be the first missionary ever, to India.

However, it wasn’t just His going that made his life an impenetrable testimony to the world around Him, to those witnessing His heroic life….

It was his resolve to shake off the dust, stand up and keep getting up, despite the opposition; that kept his name jotted down in history as a faith giant we all would do good to emulate. 

William Carey…

  • Lost His sons, three of them.
  • His wife went insane.
  • He had opposition from India, England, and even from those within His own Baptist community.
  • He experienced a fire destroying his printing press building, where He had labored years at translating the Bible into various languages.
  • He experienced floods, multiple times, washing out his house, and all he had accumulated…

But he kept rebuilding.  Kept pushing forward.  He wasn’t shaken, didn’t stop fighting regardless of the opposition…to spread the gospel.

Yet, we get tripped up if…

  • Someone doesn’t look at us, or smile at us, at church on Sunday.  
  • We stumble over silly little offenses, like “they didn’t call me back”…or “I simply must have this or that”.  
  • We trip over idiosyncrasies like, “I can’t attend church because I don’t like the people”, or “so and so didn’t respond exactly how I want them to”. 
  • We fight about doctrine, and divide over preaching, buildings, bank accounts, size of families…..things that don’t even matter. 

But where are the faith-giants, the life-givers, the unshakable-children of the church who are willing to “go” and be what He wants…despite what we are feeling, despite the cost, despite whatever comes our way?  

I ask myself these questions, as I close the book, “William Carey”.  So challenged with these questions.  Still, I see them….

  • The mom who tends her cancerous daughter, while being a light on Facebook to all those around her.  She too had just recovered from cancer when she found out suddenly that her daughter now also needs treatment.  

She is a faith giant.  She refuses to be shaken.

  • Pastor Saeed, still imprisoned because He won’t denounce the name of Jesus.  His children growing up without Him.  He gets beaten, starved, and held as a martyr in prison. Still, he clings to his faith in Christ.

He is a faith giant.  He refuses to be shaken.

  • The arm-less one we saw in Guatemala.  Treading to the top of the mountain, to worship Jesus.  In this remote region, a neighboring people, rejected Christianity.  As a result, one man cut off this new believers arm with a machete.  
  • Did he hate?  Did he start a war?  Did he shrink back in fear?  No…he just

    kept treading up the mountain, to worship the God He loved.  Now arm-less…but still no-less in love with God.

He is a faith giant.  He refuses to be shaken.

And I wonder if we shrink back because we feel like Popeye, chased and under persecution,  forgetting grace is like Spinach. God never wanted us running.  He called the church to be strong, brave, courageous, and impenetrable.  So….

  • What if we got up…regardless of our hurting.  
  • Stood strong…despite the fact that others aren’t perfect.  
  • Spoke bold….unshaken by discouragement.  
  • Lived loud….really knowing the power of God inside us.

What if “the church”, generally speaking, really believed God is alive, I mean really alive, and is still actively working?

What if we knew that, although hard things happen, Christ is still the same… 

  • His power is no different from the faith of William Carey.  
  • It’s the same strength, a mom takes with her to chemo.  
  • It’s the same grace, Pastor Saeed carries with Him in prison….still.  A year later.
  • It has the same resolve to be a mocking point to all the neighboring tribes.  This arm-less one.

If we knew this….really believed this…

  • Would we give our lives more willingly away? 
  • Would we go from being chased to chasing the enemy?  
  • Would we stop looking gloomy, instead consuming all God has for us? 
  • Would we rise up, actively redeeming the victimized around us?

Would we be Popeye, on Spinach…flexing the Spiritual muscles Christ died to give us….

Instead of living like wimpy; failing to believe, content aimlessly searching for hamburgers.  Blank-faced wandering.  Looking for something…that never fully satisfies.  Living…constantly hungry, in a continually state of depravity….

When we were called to be victorious, satisfied in Him, and fulling running forward to where there is a never-ending supply of….Grace, like spinach.

(Linking with BarbieFaithful FridayMichelleAnn)

Subscribed yet? Join here! Add e-mail below! (No fees & Spam-free)

* indicates required

You may also like:

10 Comments

  1. Jen, you are such a Swee’ Pea!!

    Seriously, this was a very powerful post. Spoken with urgency and challenge. I found it very inspiring. Yes, it is very easy to become a wimpy believer. How sad for us, how sad for a world that so desperately needs Spinach Grace.

    I will be pondering your words today – and asking the Lord to show me where I am not relying on His strength, and how I can be more courageous in going out and spreading His very Good News.

    GOD BLESS!

  2. What a strong and bold posting! Yes, we can’t be complacent. I heard the following message in church recently and it resonated with me:

    “We are one generation away from Christianity becoming extinct.”

    Every generation relies on the previous one to carry the faith message. We need to be strong and mighty examples of faith for our next generation.

    Thank you for this message.

    Wishing you a blessed weekend.
    xoxo

  3. Dear Jenn
    Have you ever read the story of Madame Jean Guyon. She was a French aristocratic lady who was thrown into the Bastille by the Roman Catholic Church and King Loius the XIV. Rumors was that she was in the cell next to man with the iron mask. I learned so much from this humble lady.
    Blessings XX
    Mia

  4. Hi Jen! Such a cute comparison! Until you got to Bluto, of course. We do need to get the deep roots we need to be the best encouragers and lovers of God, no matter what the season or reaction.

    We have such wonderful models of faith in action, don’t we? And I didn’t know about this man, but he is another giant in love.

    Thank you for teaching me about Mr. Carey.
    Happy Sunday!
    Ceil

  5. Well that’s about the 6th time in a week I’ve heard the ‘Christ is the same’ message, and pastor preached it on Sunday too. Wonder what I’m missing because you know we keep seeing over and over what we need to hear.

    Anyway! This was a great post, thank you for linking it to Super Sunday Sync. Have a great week!

  6. Hi Jen! I couldn’t agree with you more my friend! It’s sad to say, but we as the Body of Christ, have been so consumed with ourselves that we’ve totally forgotten about the mission at hand…to seek and save the lost, giving of ourselves and showing others the love of Christ. Thanks so much for sharing this…have a blessed week! ๐Ÿ™‚

  7. I’m with you. I’m looking at this from a church perspective and a me perspective. How am I contributing to the problem? How can I contribute to the solution? How can I make it all less about me?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *