Backpack God
The short excerpt is by Andy Stanley, and the Scripture is Luke 9:23 Then Jesus said to them all: Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
I like it when I say, God I have some things that need to be done, and I need you to help. That is not faith, but it is backpack God. I take God wherever I want to take Him, and I also leave God wherever I want to leave Him. I am going to do something this weekend, and I really do not want Him to be apart of it.
Most Americans treat God like He is a manageable thing. I am not inviting you in every area of my life. I want you to heal Aunt Martha, and then I want you to get back in the backpack, and then I will decide when and where that I want you to be involved in my life. What an insult to God! If you are not going to live your life like you can trust Him for everything, then why do you get frustrated with God when He does not come through in your life in the one little area that you invite Him into? If you are going to live like there is no God, why are you going to get upset when God does not show up as God? Who do we think that we are, and what have we done?
The ultimate insult is to come up with some new part of philosophy or religion and invite Jesus into it. We want to take bits and pieces of Jesus and bring Him into this new way of thinking to help me get what I want out of life and feel better about myself. It is an insult, it is ignorant, and you have not read the full story. He came as the Savior that bled and died, but He did not even have His own agenda but just came to say and do the will of the Father. Now you may not like that or follow it or believe it, but at least have the courtesy then of leaving Him out of your life and do not insult Him by trying to pick Him apart and treat Him like someone He never came to be and does not even present Himself to be.
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining
Posts
