Christians Have Pickled Themselves in the American Dream

Posted on by Marty Schoenleber, Jr.

Monday is for Discussion

The churches of America are weak, spiritually anemic, prayerless, biblically illiterate, apathetic about personal holiness and unengaged with their neighbors at any meaningful level. Are there exceptions? Of course. But the stark reality is that we are almost irrelevant in effecting change of our culture toward godliness despite our numbers. We need to ask the question, “Why?”

My Take:

We have pickled our spirit’s in the American Dream rather than the Kingdom of God. We have immersed our hearts in entertainment rather than the worship of Christ. We have saturated our minds with trivia rather than Scripture. And we have abandoned the pursuit of the lost for a selfish preoccupation with our own comfort and preferences.

Ten Ways American Christians Demonstrate They are More American than Christian

  1. They are more likely to live for their security, convenience, and comfort than the sacrifices necessary to take up their cross daily and follow Christ.
  2. Their lives would be more disrupted by taking away their cell phone (or ipod, ipad, or computer) than if you took away their Bible.
  3. They more likely prayed more often and more fervently for the demise of Obamacare than they prayed for President Obama himself.
  4. Like their non-Christian neighbors, they don’t know the names of their five closest neighbors despite the fact that their Master sent them to reach the lost.
  5. They aren’t tormented by sin.
  6. They aren’t intoxicated with the greatness of Christ.
  7. They are more comfortable pursuing the American Dream then they are in pursuing “a cross-bought and cross-shaped” lifestyle.
  8. We live like our most important citizenship is in the United States rather than the Kingdom of Heaven.
  9. Our progress toward holiness is impotent compared to the resources available to help us.
  10. We spend little time, effort or money clothing the naked, visiting the sick, or those who are in prison. (Matthew 25:36) even though the One we call Lord commanded us to do so. 
Funny thing about a pickle. It starts out as a cucumber. In the process of its pickling it has no idea that it is being gradually turned into a pickle by the juices it is emersed in. Most Christians are completely unaware how they are being changed more by the culture around them than any impact they are effecting on the “juice” of our culture.
Repentance and revival, not political action and anger, are the only hope for our country. Will you join me in praying for it?

6 thoughts on “Christians Have Pickled Themselves in the American Dream”

  1. Brought these comments over from Facebook:

    Kevin Tupper
    I think a good place to start is:
    – a renewed understanding of what the gospel, the message of the kingdom of God, is
    – why it’s a good idea to live there now
    – and how to go about doing it.

    Repentance and revival – a return to the Prophetic Imagination (props Walter Brueggemann.) Counter cultural can then become based in who I am instead of what religious propositions I might profess. In my world, that can only start with me. So as far as I’ve come, begin again with me Lord Jesus.

    Tuesday at 10:15pm
    Mark Smith
    One problem is the Church has lost the Gospel, one rarely hears it. “Ask Jesus into your heart (I don’t know where that comes from) and he will make your life better.”

    Wednesday at 4:26am
    Greg Volsko
    I think a good place to start is the realization that hay, wood and stubble = selfish ambition, gold, silver and jewels = selfless obedience.

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  2. Thank you for a powerful and much needed message. I am so troubled by those who call themselves Christians and express such incredible hostility and disrespect towards the president of our country, children who are being sent across our borders, hungry people who receive food stamps or who suffer from injuries or illnesses that prevent them from working and earning a wage that will support their families. I am far from perfect and certainly have my share of shortcomings, but as I read and study my Bible, I can’t help wondering if they are reading the same book I am. The words I read call for me to love and care for others, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the widows and children and to remember that whatever is done to the least of these, is done to our heavenly father. God bless you for taking a strong stand and speaking out about things we need to hear…and respond to.
    Sandi

    Liked by 1 person

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  3. Brought over from Facebook:
    David Mussard says:
    It kills me to see people call themselves Christians and the only time they open their Bible is on Sunday after instructed by the pastor to do so. Big Red Flag 😕

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    1. I have always encouraged the congregation to read the scripture WITH me during Worship service; instead of simply sitting there “listening”, or WORSE, watching a “power-point” slide, more often than not, the ONLY “biblical words” they have seen during any given week.

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  4. Heartbreaking that it is truer today than when you wrote it 5+ years ago; especially as I have been spending a major portion of my day meditating on 1 Timothy 4. We, the Church in the West, are truly pickled in the American Dream.

    We are no longer interested in “training ourselves for Godliness” but in following “silly and irreverent myths.”

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