Air Conditioned Christians

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” - Romans 8:35-39

 On Friday it was 101 degrees.  Thursday it was 104 degrees so we moved “Evenings For Everyone” inside where it was air-conditioned.  On Wednesday it was 105 degrees.  On Tuesday it was 100 and something.  I don’t know.  I do know when the heat is on we run for the cool comfortable air conditioning. 

 Yes, it’s been hot and uncomfortable, but we could be living in Phoenix where the temps hit something like 116 degrees, or in Kansas City, where our son lives, where today it is supposed to be 101 degrees with much higher humidity than we have here.   

Most of us don’t handle the heat very well, and by heat I’m not merely talking about the temperature outside.  I’m referring to the heat of troubles, hardships, conflicts, illnesses, tribulations and difficulties of all kinds.  When the heat is on we usually seek and run for the air-conditioning.  

In fact, my perception is that the outlook of American Christianity is to escape the heat of adversity and get into the cool, comfortable conditions of security.  We tend to be air-conditioned Christians!  We believe in the God of the quick fix who will make us happy, prosperous, comfortable and protected. We are forever wishing to escape our bad feelings, insecurities, difficulties and dilemmas and move into strength, security, control and resolution.  We ask God to take our problems away and bless our quests for self-indulgence.   When the heat is on we seek the cooling relief of a God that will provide an easy way of escape.

But this remarkable and amazing passage from Romans 8 sends us in a whole different direction. It is critically important that we understand the context of these verses. Paul assumes that trouble and hardship are normal for the Christian life and, for that matter, human life. I believe we Americans have a hard time understanding and accepting that, and we assume that adversity is abnormal and must be avoided at all costs.

But I also believe this kind of thinking is a false and bogus gospel - a shallow faith.

For the apostle Paul adversity and trouble are a given and accepted part of life, and especially a part of the Christian life. We live in a fallen world where trouble is a given. 

Think of some of the things that Jesus told his disciples.  “I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves.” (Matthew 10:16)  It sounds like heat to me!

“Take up your cross and follow me.” (Mark 8:34) It sounds pretty scorching to me!

“Those who lose their life for my sake will save it.” (Luke 9:34) That’s anything but air-conditioned.

On Thursday evenings we’ve been studying the Book of Acts.  Do you know what event in the life of the early church was the catalyst that caused the church to move its witness out of Jerusalem and into Judea, Samaria and finally to the wider world, eventually all the way to Rome – and beyond?  Do you know what the event was?  It was not a slick new church marketing program; or a new approach to worship or evangelism; or telling the people what they wanted to hear by using faith to reinforce their fears.  It was persecution!  That’s right – persecution!  Because they were persecuted, they scattered beyond Jerusalem and brought their faith with them.  In today's Roman passage we hear say the most scandalous thing:  “All things work together for good for those who love God.”   They believed it – and they lived like they believed it!  They believed that even and especially through suffering and sacrifice the kingdom of God; the glory of God could break through and be revealed.

The more the early Christians were persecuted, the more committed and fervent they became in their witness; the more they sacrificed.  You see, they understood that they were witnesses to a Lord who died on a cross; a Lord who was subjected to and experienced all the same bad stuff they were subjected to.  They didn’t believe in a God who hid behind protected and reinforced walls of safety and security, but they believe in a Lord who came down off his throne, and became vulnerable to a very dangerous and perilous world and lived a life of total love in the face of it all.  They understood that God in Jesus Christ had already gone ahead of them down the suffering and sacrificial road, even into death, and they trusted that it didn’t matter what happened to them.  In fact, they understood their sufferings, for love’s sake, as something that united them with the suffering of Jesus – and He with them. 

2 Corinthians Paul speaks of this:  “We are afflicted, but not crushed; perplexed but not driven to despair; persecuted but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh.”

What an incredible statement!  That kind of attitude simply cannot be defeated.  They really believed that “nothing could separate them from the love of God.” – and they lived like it and they died like it!   They really believed that the more they suffered and sacrificed in patience and forgiving love, the more God’s glory shined through their persecuted flesh – and they lived like it and they died like it. 

We ended our Bible study Thursday evening with the story of the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7, the first Christian martyr.  Quite the opposite of today's suicide bomber, who use their religion to murder others in cold blood, Stephen willingly gave up his life for Christ, and as he was being stoned to death, he looked at his executioners and said, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”  He truly believed that nothing could separate him from the love of Christ.  He lived like it and he died like it.

Stephen was anything but an air-conditioned Christian.  When the heat was on God’s glory and stupendous love shined through his persecuted and dying flesh! 

Success (something with which we are obsessed), according to this passage from Romans, is not the avoidance of adversity, but knowing the love of God within adversity. The promise made by this passage is not that God will remove the difficulties of life, but that God will continue to love us through them and reveal His glory through them.

Those who accept the adversities of life and find God's love in the midst of them are those who most often become wisest, most healed and whole and joyful people. Christians whose faith has been filtered through struggle and sacrifice are often the most joyful of all.  On the other hand, those who spend their lives in a desperate attempt to avoid hardship and pain often end up most miserable, filled with the most anxiety and anger.

Our comfortable Christian lives in the United States make it difficult, if not almost impossible, for us to really understand this passage; really identify with the power of this passage; really trust this passage.  I have found this passage makes more sense to those Christians who struggle: who are poor; economically insecure; living on the margins; and victims of all kinds of oppressive authorities.  It is the Christians who are really vulnerable and not sheltered by all sorts of comfortable blessings who understand how God can be present in the midst of struggle and sacrifice.

However, struggle and sacrifice does not necessarily lead to spiritual maturity. It can lead to bitterness, frustration, anger, and even violence. We all know people who have allowed their suffering to embitter them and destroy their lives. Even social movements, in response to injustice and suffering, can become violent forces of revenge and hatred.

But struggle and sacrifice can also lead us to trust in the love of God. Struggle and sacrifice can help us let go of everything and realize that there is no alternative but to depend on God.  Surrendering to the love of God no matter what the cost can lead to great spiritual maturity and wisdom.

This passage from Romans is an awesome and astounding promise of God, that comes to us through the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  If only we could incorporate even a mustard's seed measure of its truth into our lives, what a stupendous difference it would make in how we live and how we die; how it would transform our attitudes about struggle and sacrifice; how our fears would melt away.

Who shall separate us from the love of God? Can trouble? No.  Hardship? No.  Persecution? No. Famine? No.  Nakedness? No.  Danger? No.  Sword? No.

Paul meant his list to be suggestive, not exhaustive. We are invited to put in all that we fear could separate us from the love of God.  What are you afraid of?

Are you afraid that your weakness could separate you from the love of God? It can't. Are you afraid that your inadequacies could separate you from the love of God? They can't. Are you afraid that your inner poverty could separate you from the love of God? It can't.  Are you afraid that your sin could separate you from the love of God?  It can’t.  Are you afraid that illness could separate you from the love of God?  It can’t.  Are you afraid that sorrow and grief could separate you from the love of God?  It can’t!

How about a difficult marriage, loneliness, anxiety over your children's future? They can't. How about negative self-esteem? It can't. How about economic hardship?  It can't.

Maybe rejection by loved ones, or the suffering of loved ones? They can't either. Worse yet, how about war? It can't.  Can nuclear war? Even it can't.  What do you fear?  What holds you back?  What embitters you?  What frightens you?  None of it can separate you from the love of God.

Paul was convinced that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Like Paul, we, too, must become convinced of it. It is, in the end, when everything else has been stripped away the only thing we have left to hang on to.  So, let us not run from adversity, fear, suffering or sacrifice.  Let us not allow our love to get cynical, condescending and bitter.  Rather, let us claim this incredible promise of God as our own – and live like it and die like it.

Ask yourself, what do you do when the heat is turned up in your life?  How does your faith inform your troubles?  Do you use your faith to try to run for the air-conditioning; looking to faith for a quick escape?  Or do you allow God to empower you to face the difficulty, the fear, the anxiety; allow God in Jesus Christ to carry his cross through it with you leading you to greater spiritual maturity and authentic joy so that His glory might be revealed in your struggle and sacrifice?