Did you know it's possible to power through this life? To push through when it's hard with a smile on our face and a pat on our backs? Doesn't it feel good when someone congratulates us for being strong amidst a trial? Doesn't it feel good to get a promotion in your job or ministry, knowing that you out-worked all your competitors during your late nights and early mornings, never stopping to rest?
As Christians, we need not acknowledge our weakness. We need not ever back down or ever surrender. We're tough. We can power through this thing. After all, Jesus saved us. So we have no right to ever be stressed, oppressed, distressed, depressed, or feeling like less.
We've got to show the world that Jesus came and saved us, and now life is always good and we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Even if we're feeling down, we've simply got to fake it till we make it. God will reward our hard work of keeping it all together.
I don't know about you, but I want to prove this to the world. I want to show them that I've got it all together. So I've compiled this list of the top tips on being a super Christian. They're easy-to-follow steps that result in overall spiritual health and happiness.
1. Turn loving God into a habit.
Read your bible every morning and night. Listen to at least 3-5 worship songs on the ride to work. Journal one prayer to God and one letter to your future spouse or a friend every evening. Go to church ever Sunday. God helps those who help themselves, so get a move on.
2. Hide your flaws and sins.
You are here to show the transforming power of Jesus to the world. If you let on that you still struggle with things or have sin in your life, it makes Jesus look bad. So be sure to fake it and hide all those things so that you gain respect from your peers and leaders. If everyone is convinced that you're doing well, their positive energy will fuel you to keep going.
3. Never give up.
Fight your way to the top. Use the skills and knowledge that God has given you to push yourself into the most influential place you can be. Letting on to your weakness is for lame people and new Christians. You've been at this thing for a while, you can't rely on God to use your weakness – at this point you should have worked through all of that and have it all together.
4. Stay as busy as possible.
Get involved in every ministry, project, and mission that you can get your hands on. Not only will this prove to the world that you're an awesome Christian, but it will take up time so you don't have to focus on hurts, problems, or weaknesses. As a believer, you must always focus on hope and never make time for sadness, worry, or fear. Stay busy and stay positive.
5. Show off.
As a super Christian, you must always be emotionally engaged in worship and ministry. You must always be the one being hospitable, good with children, and theologically knowledgeable, all while constantly raising your arms in worship (better done with a smile on your face.) Even if you're not feeling it, the world must know that God has done a work in you and you're doing absolutely fine.
At this point, I hope your "gospel radar" is going off. The above advice is not only absolutely bogus, but I believe it's both insulting to Jesus and detrimental to the church. And here's why.
1. Affection isn't habitual.
Relationships involve commitments and covenants that involve time, care, attention, and sticking through the hard times. And I actually believe that spending time in the Word and with the Lord regularly is a great idea. Something that we should do on a daily basis. But not because we have to. Not because we want to fix ourselves. Not because we have to prove we're good Christians. But because we're really, really in love with someone who loves us back. Period.
2. Hiding flaws diminishes God's glory.
Think about the people and stories that have influenced you most. They're not stories where people have said, "And then I met Jesus and now life is perfect." They're stories of "And you know what, sometimes it's still hard to do this thing. Sometimes I still mess up. But I'm choosing to take God at His word and let His power shine through my weakness." It's relatable. And let's be real. We all know each other aren't perfect. So can we take some of the pressure off ourselves and let Jesus keep his glory?
3. Surrender gives God room to work.
When we admit that we just can't do it anymore, Jesus gets a chance to show up for us. Because we're now giving him the room to take his rightful place as King and Lord of our lives. We can cease striving and know that He is God. Doesn't even reading that sentence make the tension in your shoulders go down? It's okay to throw your hands up and say, "Jesus, I can't do this. Your turn." He'll gladly take over.
4. Staying busy burns us out and clouds our vision.
Sometimes we're busy because we don't want to deal with the hard parts of life. Sometimes we're busy because we're trying to prove our capacity for life and ministry. Other times we're busy because we enjoy what we do but give it too much of our time. Whatever it is, we will eventually burn out. When we're busy, we can't see what God wants to do because we have our own agenda. So let's just slow down and let him do his thing, shall we?
5. When we seek glory, He doesn't get it.
Can't we all just decide to give some freedom? We're not always going to be pumped during worship. Sometimes, we don't want to play with kids, give a sermon, or be the perfect hostess. What if we all just stopped trying to prove that we're super Christians and let all glory go back to the One who deserves it?
Listen, let me just clarify that there is no judgment here. In fact, if you know me well enough, you know I'm writing this to myself. I'm just suggesting that we all take an honest look at ourselves to see if we're trying to be more-than-Christ.
Cause that's what "Super Christian" technically means, right? Above Christ?
Let's collectively take a deep breath and give a sigh of relief that we don't have to be perfect. We don't have to have it all together. Because He does. So let's give Him His place back, yeah? Here's to no more super christians. Cheers.
