First world, but not first rate, Christians

While I am currently living in Western PA, I am from central Ohio. Particularly the Columbus suburb of Hilliard. I draw attention to this because this past week, in case you weren't aware, serious storms went through the area. Trees were blown down, roofs damaged and power was knocked out. Some of the lines that went down caused significant outage for many days, in some instances as many as nine days! That is a long time to be without power and it is made even worse when temperatures are in the 90s every day.

To my brothers and sisters in Christ I feel the need to remind you that these are first world problems. (1)

In 2006  I spent an extended period living in Belgrade, Serbia. I was amazed at the number of businesses that advertised that they had air conditioning on their front windows. I felt like I was transported back in time when I would see that stenciled on the windows of a shop. I shared a room with a great guy and instead of beds we were supplied couches to sleep on. When I complained about this to a Serbian they laughed with me. Later I learned that same individual also slept on a couch. And Serbia is not (and was not at that time) a third world country!

We forget how good we have it here in America. We also forget how challenging this “goodness” can be for our faith. Being a Christian in America is hard. Not because of persecution but because of comfort. We live in a country that is so rich and our lives are so comfortable that we have come to expect the very best at all times.  God forbid we lose internet service on an airplane. Or worse, our cell phone drops a call. We have lost all perspective on how good we have it here and instead we cry foul when we encounter the mildest of discomfort!

In the great documentary, A Life Apart, the story is told of how the rebbes in Eastern Europe urged their flocks to remain in Eastern Europe despite the rise and influence of Nazism. The reason for such odd advice? The dangers of comfortable America. Shortly before WWII started, a Rebbe wrote a book and dedicated it to the Jews in America. He said in essence, “We Jews in Europe are about to lose our lives, but you Jews in America are about to lose your souls.”

For many American Christians, losing their lives is the worst thing that could possibly happen because the chief end of man is no longer about God, but about ourselves and pleasing ourselves. Instead of seeing suffering as a way of being conformed more to the image of Christ, it is seen as an unfair burden. The language of self-denial, so potent and powerful in the gospels, is ignored. I cannot recall the last time I heard a prominent Christian speak about the importance of self-denial.

There are a tremendous number of differences between the first world and the third world. But those differences, for the most part, can be summed up in one word: economics. I am aware of another difference, however, between the first and third world regarding theology. The third world church is, by and large, conservative; while the first world church is growing increasingly more liberal. Could this theological divide be related to our level of living as well? If air conditioning is out in your church and the temperatures are in the 90s, does the American believer still go? If they go do they complain incessantly? If air conditioning has never been present in the church and you have to walk for more than an hour one way to get there, does the African believer still go? Do they praise God along the way? Tremendous differences, indeed.

Perhaps this is why so many denominations are determined to whitewash what Scripture names as sin. Could it be they are aware on some level of how far their lives are lived out from what Scripture describes and so they have taken up false causes in an attempt to justify their false worldviews? Perhaps the Christian who throws a fit when they are overcharged on their cable TV bill or when their air conditioning is out is the same type of Christian who feels determined to push for non-biblical definitions of marriage. When all is said and done these sins are all rooted in self-satisfaction.

As I mentioned in April, I am currently reading the Sermon on the Mount every week.  To expand my knowledge of that block of teaching, I have started reading some works on it as well. One that I have really been enjoying is D.A. Carson’s,  Jesus' Sermon on the Mount and His Confrontation with the World. Commenting on Matthew 6.31 Carson writes, "Our worries must not sound like the worries of the world. When the Christian faces the pressure of examinations, does he sound like the pagan in the next room? When he is short of money, even for the essentials, does he complain with the same tone, the same words, the same attitude, as those around him? Away with secular thinking, The follower of Jesus will be concerned to have a distinctive lifestyle, one that is characterized by values and perspectives so un-pagan that his life and conduct are, as it were, stamped all over with the words, 'Made in the kingdom of God'"  (p98-99).

If I were permitted to make an addition to this work I would add, "Our complaining must not sound like the worries of the world but demonstrate a gratitude for what we have received and a trust in the God who still reigns."


(1) I recognize the arguments in favor of Minority World/Majority World instead of 3rd world and 1st world distinctions, but as Newbigin states words have history and if I were to use those words without supplying the history my point might be lost.