stop playing around

When I was in first grade, my family was living in Germany (dad was a chaplain in the army). We had some good family friends who had a daughter my age. Her name was Kimberly. Our families would get together often and Kimberly loved to play "house." Me, being the smart kid that I was at the age of 7, realized the brownie points I could earn with a good looking, blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl my own age and so of course I said yes. Here is typically what our version of "playing house" entailed: a wedding ceremony of some sort, the creation of a some kind of house, and taking care of imaginary kids. That was it. It lasted about 20 minutes or until we got distracted by something more fun, which as a 7 year old happened often.

My four year old son Ethan has entered into the world of "playing." This morning as he and I sat at the coffee shop, he engaged me in "playing" coffee shop. We were sitting on a couch in the coffee shop and so he went to the other side of the coffee table in front of us and proceeded to take my order which happened to be filled vicariously through some unsuspecting chess pieces laying near by.

Its funny how often we get caught up in the world of "playing" as kids. After all, playing never invovles the whole picture, just the highlights. You never see any kids playing, "lets do the taxes," or "lets pay the bills." You never see anyone play, "lets get into an argument and figure out how to resolve it." When you play something, you get the advantage of never having to do any of the hard things, just the easy things. You never have to do anything that costs... its all free. As we get older we begin to realize that things are a little different. Playing things are not the same as Living things.

The sad thing is, many of us often never leave the world of playing when it comes to us and Jesus. In fact, we become masters at playing church and playing Christian. We know how to exactly play the part in order to please people around us, our friends, parents, teachers, coaches. But the truth is, all we do is play and we never really live. We know some facts to regurgitate when we get asked certain questions. We drag our bibles across the pavement to make them look used and us look wise. We throw in the occasional good deed just in case anyone is looking our directio. But we never really live. We sit on our fences with one foot in the world and one foot in heaven and just play. Private Christian schools are notorious for students who walk the halls playing Christian. To impress their parents who have fooled themselves into environmental security, to impress their coaches, their teachers, but its all just playing. At least at public schools, students are not afraid to be real. They are not afraid to let you know exactly where they stand. There is a whole lot less playing that goes on.

In Acts 2, Jesus has just returned to Heaven, the Holy Spirit has just descended and filled the believers and Peter gives a sermon that blows away the crowd of thousands that is listening to the point that their hearts were "pierced" (v.37) Literally, it means that they were "cut to the heart." This crowd realized for the first time how bad their situation was. They had missed the Messiah. He had come, he had left, and not just left, but had been driven away... killed like a criminal. The blinders suddenly had been removed from their hearts and they stood there like they had all the wind knocked out of them and said, "What do we do?" They realized they had been playing in their relationship with God. And the emotional anguish they were feeling had cut them to their heart. What Peter said next wasn't earth shattering, but it was heart shattering... "Each of you must repent of your sins, turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ to show that you have received forgiveness for your sins. then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (v. 38) Now don't mistake this. This isn't a four part process. This is all one process with four differnt aspects. There is no second tier blessing of the Holy Spirit, this all happens at once. Also keep in mind that this isn't just about the absence of the bad. Its about the presence of God. Its about the death of Jesus Christ and his blood shed for you and me. You turn from the bad and take a step toward God. Its not just about being sorry for the sin in your life its about a change in your life. A change that involves you moving from a position of being self-centered, to God-centered.

Living Christian is not about some checklist. Its about true repentence. Its about faith in Jesus Christ. It about being publically identified with Him and filled by Him. Has the Gospel ever hit you upside the head and pierced your heart to the point where you admited that you suck and God saves and said, "What do I do?" Or are you too busy "playing" Christian... pridefully thinking you have it all figured out, arrogantly not seeing how this Bible story you have heard 300 times has anything you can use. Are you living Christian or playing it? Life is too short to just play Christian. I mean, if that is all it is for you, just something to pretend, something to play, why not just jump off the fence and plant both feet on the sin side and at least enjoy the pressure of not having to act like something you are not? If you are just playing the part of a Christian to make someone happy, mom, dad, boyfriend, girlfriend, and you have no desire to live Christian then at least enjoy the sin if you are going to reap the rewards of it when you die. But if you are willing to stop playing Christian and start living Christian, then do it, stop playing around. But know that if you do, it will cost you. It may cost you your pride. It may cost you your family, your friends, your status... but its worth it all. He is worth it all. There is no greater treasure than Jesus. So if you want to stop playing and starting living, just do what Peter says,"...repent of your sins, turn to God, be baptized, ... receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." and start to Live. You may fool many with your playing, but there is One whom you have no chance of fooling. And in the end, His is the only opinion that counts. Stop playing around and Live Christian.