Is Being Boring the new Unforgiveable Sin?
Are you excited? Are you living an entertaining life? Television, Netflix, and You Tube present us with exciting entertainment 24-7. Boring shows die on [image error]the drawing board. We have become a generation that demands entertainment—entertainment that is beyond interested—that is exciting, engrossing, enrapturing, absorbing, enchanting, fascinating, enthralling, entrancing and sometimes captivatingly scary.
To keep us continually engrossed we have our cell phones, our tablets, Facebook, Instagram, etc. Why embrace long-term projects that require long term concentration and boring details? Shouldn’t life be one exciting incident followed by another?
When we bring this attitude to our work place we face a problem because much of our work may require tedious slogging. But when we bring the expectation of excitement to church, it can affect our whole approach to [image error]God and the Christian life.
Consider Christian living, for example. Patience and perseverance have no place in a life where excitement is the criterion of success. But the Bible instructs us; “We do not want you to become lazy, [through expecting ease and excitement] but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” (Heb. 6:12). “We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who he has given us” (Romans 5:2-5. Suffering is not exciting, and yet with the right attitude it is used by the Spirit to produce character—over time. That is an inspiring and encouraging truth that brings deep joy even if it is not exactly exciting. James 1 and 1 Peter remind us of similar truths.
Growth in godliness takes time and requires us to deal with the difficult things of life. Pioneer missionary, William Carey said, “I can plod.” That’s often what we need to do.
Take faith, for example. Faith may excite us but as Hebrews 11 reminds us, more often faith gives us the endurance to press on toward the promises over long periods of time. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham; “all these people [image error]were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth” (Hebrews 11:13) To have the faith to press on one’s whole life requires stick-to-it-iveness more than excitement.
Take prayer. If we expect excitement at the church prayer meeting, we’re likely to be disappointed. In fact it can be a real downer. Leading a vibrant, prayer meeting where attendees interact with God and each other is probably the most challenging job in the church. We don’t pray because it is exciting. We pray because God calls us to His throne. Have we developed the habit of prayer? Do we have a daily ‘quiet time’ of Bible study and prayer? If so, we’ve learned to persevere when we’d rather to something else.
[image error]Take worship for example. I know there is a whole branch of evangelical Christianity that believes that for worship to be valid it must be entered into by enthusiastic, upbeat worshipers. But some of us are sad and suffering. Our hearts are broken. Sometimes we need slow and solemn hymns that remind us of eternal verities. And did not Jeremiah, the weeping prophet worship? Did Daniel’s three friends worship in the fiery furnace and Daniel in the lion’s den? Are not the doleful, imprecatory psalms also part of worship? I love “Joyful, joyful We Adore Thee;” but also “Be Still My Soul.”
Can I make a plea? That we banish the word exciting from our descriptions of worship and Christian programming and replace it with inspiring, encouraging, and uplifting.
(Let me know your thoughts on this subject. Further articles, books, and stories at: http://www.countrywindow.ca Facebook: Eric E Wright Twitter: @EricEWright1 LinkedIn: Eric Wright ––)
