Dare to Be: What it Means to be a "Christian" Part 1

As times have changed so have people and the hearts of men and women of God. Advances in technology and the release of social media have bound the hearts of so many and have lead to almost a pandemic of young adults and teenagers who have become addicted to it. Unfortunately, the church has not been immune to this and the rise of secularism (even though secularism has always been around) has brought forth a new kind of Christian. This "Christian" for the sake of time we will call the iChristian. Over the course of the next few posts we will attempt to detoxify ourselves from this pandemic and return back to the time when being a Christian was not a passive event but, one where you would boldly stand for what you believed and sought after the glory of God.

Working with youth has been a passion of mine for some time and for a while I had the privilege of working with a group of young men. I came to see the a rise in selfishness and self preservation in the young men. Cell phones, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter seemed to be the main focal point of almost any conversation. We had a rule where we would collect the cellphones of the teens and of course, some tried to hang on to them as if they were a lifeline that if removed, would kill them. Now, me understanding that most of these kids had never had a church upbringing attempted to play the law keeper when it came to paying attention in church. This I can attribute to being raised in the Baptist church where you were taught from a very young age you did not do anything except listen to the pastor when he was speaking. It taught me a form of respect and reverence for God.

Seeing these teens however breaking what seemed to be a cardinal rule to me was very unsettling. I explained to them that using their cell phones in church showed God the same disrespect as it would if you were to invite someone over to hang out with and they sat texting someone else the entire time. This did not set well with the group so, cellphones were never seen out again.

I began to think that it was only the you teens whom came from non Christian homes until I began to see it in adults whom claimed to of been brought up a Christian. In fact, they would brag about doing so to others. Now I can understand using technology to take notes or even use for a Bible in church but, the texting, IMing and even checking the scores of a game is flat out rude. Now, please understand I am all for using technology and social media; I myself use it on a daily basis but, there is a time and place for everything.

The iChristian seems to have a hard time with this concept though. the usage of these things during church does not seem to be a problem with them. They say the times have changed, people are more relaxed or it doesn't really matter. The fact is, it does matter. If your pastor is standing up in front of you and delivering a sermon, most likely these are words God wants you to hear. "I multitask" is a big excuse I hear and that's all it is; an excuse. The carnal nature of the human does not see the problem in this and tries to justify the actions. The truth is multitasking allows only so much of your brain to be used for each activity. Say you are on Facebook and listening to the sermon, while using your device you are dedicating a maximum of 50% of your attention to the sermon and to the device. You are not fully absorbing what the pastor is saying and because of this, you may be missing something that could completely change your life.

After Christ ascended into heaven and Peter gave his ever famous sermon at Pentecost, the people dedicated themselves to the teachings of the apostles. They even went as far as to sell their possessions and gave to those who needed what they had earned. They devoted their lives to God and because of this they were blessed. I believe that a revival is coming, a great revival that will sweep over the world and turn the hearts of men, women and children of all nations, languages, creed and walk of life to God. I do believe that many will not turn their hearts to God but, many will. Before a revival can happen we, the Christians of the present need to come back to our first true love and lay down our selfish prides and ambitions. We need to unplug and the iChristian needs to become the follower of Christ. It is time we get back to the beginning; go back to our roots. We need to sit at the feet of those who teach and listen to the words God gives them for us to hear. We need to either become hot or cold but, no longer lukewarm. It is time to be a follower of Christ and not someone who claims to follow religion.