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“Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession…Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
We will be reading through Nehemiah 13:1-31
It would seem that the covenant did not last long: 12 years later and all of the risk, hard work, and commitment was not only gone, but sin had permeated through all of the gates of Jerusalem and into the city. Even the holy temple housed the very man that had threatened death to those that had restored Jerusalem. The enemy was living in God’s temple!
Scripture does not say why everything had turned bad, but we can definitely say that the people’s passion had waned and God was not the priority anymore. We see in Nehemiah’s return that he is distressed by the results, goes directly into action, and constantly petitions God for further favor.
Remember me for this, my God, and do not blot out what I have so faithfully done for the house of my God and its services.
Nehemiah 13:14
I’ve seen this happen too many times digitally, so much so that it shouldn’t surprise me. I can’t see all the church technology teams that may have become lazy or actually abuse their positions, but online everything is available to be seen.
- Church and ministry social media accounts have died or become a personal platform to peddle stuff.
- Social media groups and communities for churches or within the niche of church technology start off as a thriving place for discussion, but either turn into a cesspool of self-promotion or a place to troll and be critical of others.
- Blogs and podcasts are promoted as something to be used as an evangelistic and discipleship tool to everyone who needs support or wants to know more, but quickly they become a barren wasteland for all new visitors to see how uncommitted they actually are to the cause.
I wonder if we are simply drawn to the novelty of the ideas or want to find quick, cheap success and when it doesn’t come we decide to not put in the hard work and move on. It really is a shame because I get more and more discouraged by Christians and I feel strong in my faith. Imagine someone struggling or having lots of questions and seeing this over and over again. I wouldn’t want to pursue it.
We need to do better. Serve with dedication. Serve with passion that is God inspired. Serve with professionalism. Serve with humility.
Use these reflection questions for the comments section.
- Have you or your ministry been straying from God?
- How are you going to keep your eyes on God in this ministry?
- What can you do to help correct and prevent these failures in service to the Holy One?
Speak your mind...