Christian Gimmickry

One of the goals on this year's list - in fact, one of my recurring goals - is to have a better relationship with God and be a more authentic Christian.  This has always been something of struggle for me - I can do some of the outward motions but am I really growing as a Christian?  Am I truly growing in my relationship, becoming a better Christian?

One of my resolutions to find a better way is to read Christian biographies.  Not a bad thought, right?  Look at the historical figures of the past who made the lives count for Christ both to be encouraged by their example as well as to find out what they did so that I can add it to my life.

Currently I am reading George Muller of Bristol:  His Life of Prayer and Faith by A. T. Pierson.  It chronicles the life of George Muller, a German who emigrated to England in the early to mid 19th Century and was renown for a series of orphanages he opened which he operated completely by prayer and dependence on God, besides becoming a Christian speaker and founding an bible institute.  Mr. Muller was known as a man of deep prayer, who prayed before any decision.  He never once asked for any donations to support any of the operations publicly; instead, he prayed and God supplied.

As I have been reading through this book I find the places that I highlighted or underlined last time as important points or things that I should remember.  "Ah"  I say, "this is what I need to do: pray as he did, read the Bible on his knees as he did, spend x amount of hours a day with God."

And then last night I realized I have missed the whole point.

I am looking for Christian Gimmickry like the world looks for to solve any issue.  "What can I do to get the same results?" I ask, when that is not the question to ask at all.  The reality is that these men and women performed these actions as an outgrowth of their relationship to God, not as a means to get to that relationship.  It was their focus on God and their dependence on Him that led them to taking the actions that they did - not that those got them to God, but that those were impressed on their hearts by God to help them get closer to God and be more effective in their ministry.

Does that mean such actions should not be undertaken?  Of course not - there is great benefit in any spiritual discipline.  But what it does mean is that the focus of my effort needs to be not specifically on any action but on the development of my own relationship with God through prayer and reading His word - just as all of those whom I read of did. It only through this that the relationship can be developed, and through the relationship being developed the ability to listen developed, and through the ability to listen being developed the discovery of those actions which will help me become a more effective servant of God - not a practitioner of gimmicks.