Faith Over Flash

“Life is not about avoiding pain or crisis; it’s about appropriating my grace in every circumstance of life. Beware of living for the next spiritual high.” – Os Hillman

I have never taken an illegal drug, nor have I ever been addicted to an illegal substance. However, from people that I know who have battled such addictions, the pattern usually starts the same way.

First, you take a sniff, a snort, or a puff and you get an immediate rush. However, the next time around, you need to take a deeper drag or drink a bigger glass to get the same high. This process continues until it takes such a large dose of whatever self-medicating substance you are hooked on that you simply can’t stop. At this point, death is imminent unless someone – or Someone – intervenes.

Unfortunately, a lot of believers follow the same pattern when it comes to their Christian experience. Seeking a non-stop spiritual high, they drift from church to church and from fad to fad. If the pastor at the church where they have been attending isn’t as gifted an orator as the one down the block, off they go. The same goes for the worship leader… or the Sunday School teacher… or even the church building itself.

My friend, bells and whistles won’t get you to heaven nor will they make you a mature Christian. The path of discipleship is long, hard, and at times a bit tedious. But I’ll take faith over flash anytime… and so will God.

“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13 (NKJV)

“He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be My son.” Revelation 21:7 (NKJV)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President