Avoiding Your Cruise-Control Christianity

Thank you so much for tuning in and Welcome everyone – Hope you’re well!  I’m your host, Ben Lively, and you’re listening to “Shaken Awake” – Episode #55!  

 

I just want to thank you for tuning in with us today, wherever you are and whatever you’re doing right this very moment.  It means everything to me to share the messages that God’s lays on my heart to share.  

 

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So, without further delay, let’s get ready to invite God in with us, right here, right now and allow Him to speak directly to your heart and minds.   

 

So, today’s topic is on “Avoiding Your Cruise-Control Christianity”

 

I heard my pastor use this term the other Sunday and it immediately rung out loudly and it stuck.  I immediately wrote it down and was determined to look into this, for the name really said it all, at least to me it did.  Usually, when I get this certain feeling, it’s the Holy Spirit shaking me awake and telling me to listen up!  I knew it was Him.  My pastor kept on preaching but did not go into any details or elaborate on that phrase, so that’s what I set out to do – define it, then teach on it or talk about it.  I could feel and still do, that it has a prolific meaning to each of us, especially in the times we’re in.

 

You see, you have to be willing to go with Jesus somewhere you have never been before to get something you have never had before.  Do you understand that?

 

I want to look at three different scriptures. One is a little bit longer than the other, Revelation 3:14, Revelation 3:20-23. And then to John 13:35 and then to John 15:8. We're going to start at Revelation, and you know that this passage.

 

Revelation 3:14 - But John writes to the angel of the Church in Laodicea. “These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you're neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other. So because you're Lukewarm, neither hot or cold, I'm about to spit you out of my mouth.”

 

Revelation 3:20-23 - “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person and they with me to the one who is victorious. I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears laid here what the Spirit says to the churches.” 

 

And then John 13:35 says, “by this, everyone will know that you are My disciples if you love one another.”

 

In John 15:8, “this is to my Father's glory that you bear fruit, much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples”. 

 

Well, the first passage there in Revelation talks about being Lukewarm. Neither hot nor cold. Lukewarm is like water that was once hot or cold, but when it sits at room temperature long enough, it's eventually going to be Lukewarm.  It's going to eventually just conform to its surroundings. Fitting in is often what we Christians strive for. We want a Christianity that is just between me and God. Sometimes we'll let others in, but they have to fit a criteria. They must be safe.  The problem is, we never get hot enough to be refined by Jesus.

 

So we'll share our faith with some friends and some family. But they must be Christians as well or agree to disagree. I'm okay. You're okay. So let's be friends and never talk about religion.

 

Sometimes we will let the Church in it too, but only if they don't ask for too much of our time on actually, in this brand of Christianity, there is not too much room for God either. Not the one true God. At least we prefer to replace him with the guys that serve us. We used to call these idols – I’m talking about being Lukewarm. It's kind of like when you drive on the interstate and all of the cars are passing you and they're all going over the speed limit and, you know, you're not supposed to go over the speed limit, but just go ahead and get up there and just kind of go to the flow and set your cruise control so you stay with the crowd.

 

You're not getting blown by. That's what being Lukewarm is like. And we do that. We all do it. We just go with the crowd, the flow of the crowd on that interstate.

 

We'll set that cruise and be over the speed limit, and we're fine with it because everybody else is going and we're sitting until we see that state trooper parked, and suddenly we're very aware of what is wrong and what is right. Well, unfortunately, a lot of times we live our Christianity like that very much the same way. But when we read what John wrote and we read what Jesus had John right to the Church and talking about that very thing -about being Lukewarm. But when we read these other two passages that John wrote about being a disciple, it should wake us up. Sort of like seeing that state trooper on the side of the road.

 

A lot of times we just begin again to live that thin line. Go with the flow, lukewarm Christianity. But when we read this passage that John wrote that said that Jesus wants us to be known by all men, he said, again, that should be like that state trooper. So I just want to look at how to stand out, how to get off the cruise control. When Jesus said that “everyone will know that you are my disciples,” that means that we will be different, not like the rest.

 

We should look different; we should act different. We should be different. We won't fit in, we'll stand out. We won't be going with the flow, we’ll be disrupting it. If we are disciples, it means being hot, not covered.  It's light in the darkness. That's what Jesus means when he said, they will know that you are my disciples. Well, how do we do that?  How do we stand out? First off, we need to be engaged and not just entertained. We are in a culture that wants to be entertained. We're in a culture that says, Please me. 

 

You see, we do not merely listen to the Word, the Word says to BE A DOER of the Word!  See, Christianity is not a spectator sport. And there are a lot of people that have a religion that is a spectator sport where they come in and they sit down, and they want to be entertained. They want to hear good music, they want to hear good preaching, and then they want to go home.

 

There's a lot of folks that are like that. They've got a religion, they do it religiously. But there's no relationship. There's no engagement into what needs to be being done. God does not want us to be simply entertained.

 

He wants us to be engaged…..He wants us to be engaged. There's a phrase that I know you've heard many times that says, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. I know you all have heard that. But unfortunately, there are a lot of people that live their lives with the view that what happens in Church stays in Church.

 

They don't take it home.

 

Satan doesn't mind us going to Church as long as he can keep us thinking what really matters is whether or not you make it to Church on Sunday. Satan doesn't mind that as long as that's our whole goal- it’s just whether or not we're there to check it off. He doesn't mind us having an emotional experience in Church. He doesn't mind you seeing or feeling inspired by the service.  As long as you don't take it with you, there's no problem. Satan doesn't mind you getting emotional. He doesn't mind you having an inspirational moment in Church. As long as you walk out the door and leave it there, he's good with that. Go ahead and go back and do it again next week because we're not making any headway when we do that, we're just being entertained.

 

Jesus quoted Isaiah when he said, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”  So it's a matter of the heart. If we're going to be the disciple that he wants us to be, our heart has to be in the right place. The proof he said that we're Christians is that our lives have been changed. And if our lives have been changed than we are doing as Christians, we are living and doing what price would do?

 

We have to move and I'm preaching to the choir. We've got to move from being Church members to being disciples for Jesus Christ. And there are a lot of folks that don't have a clue what that means. But that's what we have to do.

 

That's what we have to strive to do. We have to lead others to do that. During World War II, King Jordan, of England worked in a factory running a Lane. Now he did so because he wanted to get involved in a physical way and a cause he knew needed to succeed. He not only spoke words of encouragement to his subjects, but he got involved in a very tangible way.  We’re now seeing that happen and unfold in front of our very eyes, all around the world, with the Ukraine President, fighting on the front lines.

 

He not only said what he believed to be important during the war effort, he did something about it. That's what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 53 when He said, these people give me lip service, but their hearts are far from me. We need to be engaged, which means we need to be active in what's going on. It's not coming to be entertained, but coming to be a part of worship, being a part of what's going on, being engaged in ministry, being actively seeking opportunities to share the gospel. That is where the discipleship comes.

 

And that's what Jesus said. They will know this. They're going to know that you are one of My disciples because you love one another. And people who really love each other, they enjoy being together and they want to do for each other. They don't want to be done for.  They don't want somebody just to do it for them all the time, but they want to be doing things for that person that they love. And if we love each other as disciples, then we want to be ministering to each other. And people who look at us should say, there's something different. There, there's something different. Those people have something different.

 

We need to be engaged and not just entertained. The next thing He said was about being loved, about loving each other. That's number two, be loving and not lazy. He said, loving will set us apart. As Christians, love is an action word in this passage, and it implies that we are doing something.  We are doing something. We are loving. When He says, you will love each other, it's an action word. If we really love one another, we'll be serving one another.  And that looks totally different than the world outside because the world we live in, again, wants to be served. But if we really love each other as Christians, as disciples, then we are wanting to serve and not be served. Jesus said, “I came to serve, not to be served.” I didn't come for people to tell me how good I am. I came to serve you, is what He's telling disciples.

 

I came to serve, not be served. Therefore, as disciples, we need to have the heart and the mind that we want to serve and not be served. We want to be active. We want to be His hands and feet.

But unfortunately, we live in a unique world. But we need to be living in Christianity. Romans 1:10 says “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”  John 4:12 says, “No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

 

You know what he's saying, right? We can't see God physically. Nobody ever has. But if we act like a Christian is supposed to act. If we are the Church the way it's supposed to be, if we love each other and act like Christians, then the world will see God through us and that's the only way they're going to see God is through us.

 

I've been told that before and I'm sure you've heard before, but we may be the only Jesus somebody ever has the chance to see. Man, I sure hope what they see encourages them to follow Him. No one has ever seen God – but they believe we love one another. God lives in us and His love is made complete in us. If we're not careful, though, we get lazy and we start taking care of ourselves.

 

But we're commanded the opposite of that. We're commanded to be loving each other, which means to be serving each other and not just serving those people who love us back. That's another key. We're not just be serving those people that we find lovely. We're not loving those people that we find lovely and who reciprocate our love.  People love others, but do not seek to love others as much as they love themselves. Their love of others is typically focused on those who love them in return, like family, friends, and other people they know and connect with. There is little love left over for those who cannot love them back.  Their love is highly conditional and very selective and generally comes with strings attached. That's from C.S. Lewis's book Mere Christianity, quoting Brett Kona.

 

Does our love come with strength attached? Is it conditional or is it the unconditional? Like I say, the love that Jesus was speaking of when He said that you are my disciples, people will know because you love one another.

 

Actually, that was C. S. Lewis that said this. “Do not waste your time bothering whether you love your neighbor.  Act as if you do.”

As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you love someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injured someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do have a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less.” That's serious.

 

And what he's saying there is – isn’t that the same thing Jesus was saying? You know what? You're not going to always feel like loving each other. That doesn't matter.  It's not about feeling. It's about action. That's an action. One another. People will see me.

 

They'll realize you're my disciple. If you love each other unconditionally, whether you feel like loving somebody or not, somebody just made me feel and hard love and abrasive and not fun to be around. And somebody you just assumed avoid. But that's not what Jesus said. He said, Love one another and they'll know you're Mine….a true Christian.

 

They'll know you're My disciple because you love us. We have to love and not be lazy. It's lazy. The only people we love are those that we're going to get something back from or those we're comfortable with. But it's action.

 

It's doing what God wants us to do. When we love the people who are unloving. When we love those people who are unfair to us, when we love those people who look different than us and act different than us, when we love those folks who are very unloved, we need to love and not be lazy. And then thirdly, we need to be fruitful and not faithless. Jesus said that we would bring glory to the Father by bearing fruit is what He said.

 

If we want to bring Lord to God, we bear fruit.

 

And John said that the secret to this is staying grafted to the vine. John 15:5 states, “I am the vineyard branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. But apart from me, you can do nothing.” 

 

Every Christian will bear spiritual proof somewhere, sometime, somehow. Otherwise, that person is not a believer. Every born-again individual will be fruitful. 

 

Not to be fruitful is to be faithless, without faith, and therefore without salvation. That's some pretty strong words right there. If you're not bearing fruit at some point, somehow, then you may not have a relationship, is what He's saying. We all have room in our lives. Some of it's good, some of it's bad.  If the shoe fits – KICK IT OFF TODAY!!!

 

But if we're truly one of His, if our lives have truly been changed, if He has entered into our lives and our names written in the Lambs Book of Life, then we will bear good fruit. We willbear good fruit. 

 

What does that mean to bear fruit? Well, first it's to bear the fruit of the spirit that we read about in Galatians when it says the truth of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control against these things, there is no law.

 

So to bear fruit is to show the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. God wants us to become more and more like Jesus every day. We need to nurture these characteristics of the fruits of Spirit in our lives so that we reflect them in the others.  So we need to actively seek to have this fruit of love, joy, peace, patience. I don't like having to say that word patience because I'm not good at that one.  But patience is just a kind of self -control, He said. He gets these things. There's no law, these are good things, and we're going to cultivate those. 

 

 

We have a choice. You have a choice. I have a choice.  We can put down our roots into the soil of the landfill of fleshly pursuits in the world, OR……. we can put our roots down into the cool, refreshing mountain stream of God and his goodness and His grace and the person of Jesus Christ. We have to understand that the root bears the fruit. The root bears the fruit.

 

The fruit of the Christian is the outward evidence of the inward motivation. Let me repeat that - he fruit of the Christian is the outward evidence of the inward motivation.  He said, “I am the vine and you are the branches,” and we need to remain grafted into the vine in order to produce good fruit. That's one thing that bearing fruit means. Secondly, we're to bear the fruit of the harvest and that means making new disciples. That means sharing our faith, reaching out to people, and bringing them into relationship with Jesus.

 

He said to his disciples, go and make more disciples is what He said, go and make more disciples. There was a young salesman, he was disappointed about losing a big sale and he talked with his sales manager and just grieved the fact that he lost it. He said, “I guess it just proves you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.”  And the manager replied, “Son, take my advice. Your job is not to make him drink.  Your job is to make him thirsty.”

 

And so it is with us, with evangelism, with the fruit of the harvest. Our lives should be so filled with Jesus that it creates a thirst in other people. They are to thirst for what we have. It's not my job to make them, make a decision. That's not our job.  That's the Holy Spirit's job. That's the Holy Spirit's job - He convicts. Our job is to make them thirsty, to lead them to the place where they thirst for him. And the best way to do that is through our life, the way we live our lives and the reflection that we have of Christ in our lives. We need to bear the fruit of the spirit.

 

We need to bear the fruit of the harvest and then we should bear the fruit of Ministry and service. God wants us to discover and develop our gifts and use them to bless others that goes back to loving one another. Do you want to stand out? Then step down and be a servant, is what Jesus commanded. That's what stands out. The person is willing to serve.

 

Mark 10:45. This is a new living translation. Jesus said, “For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served, but to serve others and to give my life as a ransom for Me.”  So the real question is, do you want to stand out? Do you want to look different, or do you want to just put it on cruise control and blend in with everybody else?

 

That's the question we have to ask ourselves. That's the question that God is asking us. Do you want to look different? Do you want to glorify Me? Do you want to lead others to Me through your life?  Or do you just want to look like everybody else and put it on preachers to do what you’re called to do by Jesus?   

 

When we choose, because yes, it’s a choice by free will, to place our lives on and Christianity on cruise control, we are ignoring the very Word of God.  

 

The Bible speaks to this subject very heavily, and I want to share a few verses from the Bible so you’re taking God’s Word for it, not mine:

 

Proverbs 1:32   

For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them.

Revelation 3:15-16   cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

 

Proverbs 13:4   

The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.

Zephaniah 1:12 

At that time, I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, ‘The Lord will not do good, nor will he do ill.’

2 Kings 19:28   

Because you have raged against me and your complacency has come into my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will turn you back on the way by which you came.

Amos 6:1   

“Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the first of the nations, to whom the house of Israel comes!

Proverbs 10:4 

A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

Isaiah 32:9-20   

Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice; you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech. In little more than a year you will shudder, you complacent women; for the grape harvest fails, the fruit harvest will not come. Tremble, you women who are at ease, shudder, you complacent ones; strip, and make yourselves bare, and tie sackcloth around your waist. Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine, for the soil of my people growing up in thorns and briers, yes, for all the joyous houses in the exultant city. ...

Revelation 2:4 

But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.

Hebrews 5:11-12   

About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food,

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

Hebrews 10:25   

Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

James 5:5   

You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.

Luke 21:34   

“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.

Hebrews 6:12   

So that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Romans 12:1-21   

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body, we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. ...

Luke 12:47-48   

And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

1 Samuel 11:14-15   

Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingdom.” So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal. There they sacrificed peace offerings before the Lord, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

Hebrews 6:4   

For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit,

Ephesians 1:11   

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,

Romans 8:28   

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Acts 1:26   

And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

Luke 19:41-44 

And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

Matthew 26:33   

Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.”

Psalm 78:37   

Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant.

Revelation 3:15-17   

“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

1 Peter 1:17 

And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile,

2 Corinthians 13:5   

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

Acts 5:29   

But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.

Luke 21:1-38 

Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, ...

Luke 12:54-56   

He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

Romans 10:2-3   

For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness.

Matthew 7:26   

And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

Isaiah 55:6-7   

“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Proverbs 18:9 

Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys.

When you are saved from this world and become born again, you no longer live for yourself or for this world.  You are to love God with all your heart, body, mind, and soul.  You’re to love your neighbor as yourself and live a life that worth living – not for you, for Jesus.  You can’t do that while on cruise control – the world is on cruise control, while the world is at enmity with God and God at enmity with the world.  Be different.  Be like Christ.

 

So, my final question to you is this:  Are you living life for Jesus by your actions, or are you in the same car you’ve always been in, with the cruise control on?  If so, when will you take it off cruise control and start living according to how God commanded us to live as Christians?

 

So, before we end today’s show, I just want to thank you all again for tuning in and I HOPE you were touched by today’s message and scripture.  If you’d like to reach out to me, please call me directly at 4074933208, email me at ben@shaken-awake.com, or check out the show at shaken-awake.com.

 

Next week!!!!  Tune in Next Sunday – or WHENEVER YOU’RE ABLE, as we discuss “Does an Atheist Have Greater Belief and Faith Than You?” 

Next week’s episode is another powerful and DO-NOT-MISS episode – thanks for joining!  

Until next week, take great care of yourself and each other, and God Bless You all.