Showboat Christians

Showboat Christians

5/7/18

However we may feel about the title of this topic we must conclude that all of us have fit into this category at some point in our relationship with God.  Some of us are still living in this sin while others recognized this act and have been delivered of such lies.  It is not a new suggestion of picture painted that people who believe in God like to stand a boast about their life but when the time comes to explain the differences between God and the world they have no clue of how to witness correctly.  When this occasion occurs we have to succumb to the ways of the world because we do not know how to adequately defend God and the eternal truth He represents, an eternal and sinful shame that unless corrected will be an utter disgrace to face when our lives are over.  Studying God’s Word and listening to His voice and then applying what He tells you according to His Word is the only way that our hearts shall turn those who are lost into eternal vessels that God so lovingly Created.

We are going to continue our series on Jonah with a single statement from this prophet that many of us use today and while we use this type of language to others we forget that it is an open door for the world to invade, especially if we do not know what we are proclaiming.  For the most part, I stay away from all of the social media outlets and groups that have anything to do with Christianity or God, simply because they are filled with people who are combative and really do not care to understand what the other side is thinking or saying.  When the time comes to defend God through the questions that others have we only quote Scripture to them and leave it as such without explaining what that holy writ means.  The tables are then turned over by both sides with arguments ending up as the main conversational tool in which no one understands the other side and deeper divisions occur from the ones that we are supposed to be winning for God.  The only true result that occurs in these situations is the loud spiritual laughter that Satan does when the “conversation” ends between the parties involved.  This is the end result when people who claim to love God, and many of them truly do, stand up and become showboat Christians.

I have been caught many times by those who have legitimate questions and concerns about God with no adequate response to give them.  It is an embarrassing setting and one that I know I have been involved with many times over the years and responding to them that I do not know does God no justice on any level.  Also, when I have no answers for them many of them come back and ask “well, haven’t you been a Christian for most of your life?” another arrow into my chest that I cannot defend or deny because what they ask seems obvious.  How many of us have fallen into situations like this?  Now, having stated this fact there is no way possible that we can completely understand what God’s Word entirely says for His Word is so vast yet accurate at the same time our minds cannot fully comprehend every detail that is written.  However, it needs to be the desire of our hearts to know and then apply as much of God’s Word to our lives as possible so that when those who have real questions ask us them we will have a better chance of knowing where they are coming from.  Plus, when our heart is entirely engaged in God’s Word and wants to learn we will have our spiritual ears open and will be able to hear what God wants us to say at that moment.

I have blown this type of setting with others countless times and have regretted my words ever since they came from my mouth.  As time has passed and my life has taken the turns that it did, I have not had the opportunity to see these people again, to be able to talk with them or to even know how to reach them on any level, but I know that I did not have the true understanding of why God loves them and how to answer the questions that they had about God and more importantly how come I defended God and took His side when questioned.  How can we truly project God to be the eternal salvation of humanity if we do not even know the basics about His life and why would anyone choose to believe in God when the people who say they believe in Him do not know Him in the first place?  If we say we love God and are followers of His Son yet do not know their definitions are, then we are liars and can only project lies to the ones who need God.  How many lives were not changed due to the fact that we could not explain or give an explanation about God to those who want to know?  It is fascinating to me that many of us wait until we are pinned in order to speak of God and His mercies of life, a stark contradiction of what God has commanded us to do.

Jonah 1:9 states the following: “Then he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.”  It is this verse that gives us the follow through with how Christians and those who love God act on a normal basis and while doing so serves people with one of the greatest tragedies that one can do to another.  There is absolutely nothing incorrect or wrong about what Jonah stated to the people in the boat and it would be a true argument that Jonah meant every word that he recited in this verse.  At the same time, the words that he stated said something a whole lot louder for it was the actions that he displayed to those on the boat was far greater than what came from his mouth and it is this action of Jonah’s that defines the title and subject of this article.

From the tone that we get from how Jonah presented himself to the mariners, it would seem that he would be in good standing with the One who he is referring to, but we know that this is not the case because Jonah was in direct conflict with the Word of God, literally.  The mariners are the ones who were in front and all around him, that did not know God but still were in the path of the warnings and potential judgment, remember this for a while.  How many times have we boldly spoken in front of others about a certain topic of God yet hid ugliness and misguiding within our hearts at the same time?  It is a far common event for us to do such a thing and to be truthful, it has become an entry point of our enemy and we have held the door for this entrance party.  Jonah had come to the point where his boasting was far greater than what resided within his heart yet still tried to pass off to the others that he was a true man of God who had a Word to certain people.  Recognizing a pattern here folks?  I know countless people over the course of my life who were once involved in church and had a mission’s heart but now have nothing to do with church or God because of people like Jonah.

At some point in time, it will become obvious of those who are running from God yet try to put on a face that says to others that they are right in the eyes of God.  This type of lies to people hurt them deeply and may even cost them their eternal position with God.  God is not to be mocked or belittled in any manner and if the people of the Church are living such lies then it is easy for those who do not believe to ridicule us whenever they want due to the actions of our lives (Jonah.  Look at the scandals that are currently being delivered to our eyes and ears each day, the Church is full of heinous crimes against humans and should be punished as such yet we pass them by and allow those who have non-repentant hearts continue to thrive in their positions unscathed – from the beginning of their issues NOT when they have been caught years or decades later.  Once these issues have been addressed it then comes to light of just how much pain they (we) have caused to so many people and to be honest we have no defense for such immorality and grotesque behavior.

God had given Jonah a gift of words to tell the inhabitants of Nineveh, a gift of redemption, salvation, and restoration BEFORE disaster occurred to their way of life.  Once Jonah fled from God he violated that Word and thus became subject to anything that our enemy could think of to do to him.  God has our enemy on a leash, this is a true statement and fact but if we open that door to Satan he can walk right on into our lives while still being on that leash.  God had to grab Jonah’s attention and did so according to the first chapter of Jonah, quite vividly one can reckon.  Can we the Church not expect to face the same or similar consequences if we live in the same heart as Jonah and would God be authorized to perform such an activity in the name of His eternal definition?   Allow God to further demonstrate what He is trying to get across to us today and that is for us to look at our government and notice how it runs.  Every congressional setting that occurs begins with a prayer and if one reads these prayers it would seem as if we placed all focus on God for our daily decisions.  But as soon as the prayers are over it is back to earthly business and God is thrown out of the conversations which means He does not live within the majority of our hearts, a showboat Christian nation.

What we must understand is that when Jonah disobeyed and ran in the opposite direction after God had given him the words for Nineveh, the way that he should have taken towards Nineveh in the first place was abandoned.  How many people would Jonah have come into contact with on that original way and how many opportunities would he have had to share God with those who came in contact with him?  The entire Book of Jonah would have been written differently if Jonah had just listened and obeyed God in the manner that he should have but instead he ran and did his own thing in his own manner.  Yes, the city of Nineveh was eventually saved through the obedience of Jonah but we cannot forget the time and effort of Jonah while he was wandering away from God in disobedience for when God gives His orders to people their greatest fulfillment is to obey completely with the firsts of their hearts which will yield the best for God and His Kingdom, a perfection that a showboat Christian cannot see or recognize.  A detail to remember here about Jonah and most importantly about you, One may ask why didn’t God chose someone else after Jonah ran, it is because God loved Jonah just as much as He did the people of Nineveh which meant that He had to grab Jonah’s attention just as He had wanted the hearts of the inhabitants of Nineveh and once God gives a gift of His Word to anyone, He cannot take that away it is our choice to bury it or let it live.

What is phenomenal about this setting is that it could have never had to happen if only Jonah had obeyed what God had told him to do in the first place.  Instead, Jonah chose to disobey and thus set the remaining Book of Jonah content into motion, which is a direct picture of our lives as well.  Yes, the Book of Jonah could have been written differently but if it was written in another form it could not have been a representative of how God’s grace and restoration to His people.  It is difficult to follow the events of Jonah 1:1-9 without truly understanding that what occurred goes on in our lives as well.  So often we forget the authority God has given us to advance life and to promote His Kingdom of eternity and more close to home we have totally forgotten our commission that Jesus gave His Church to go and teach the Gospel of His life and message of separation, salvation, and restoration.  When we do not witness fully to those who need God and Jesus in their lives we represent a showboat Christian status and are subject to the warnings and then the judgment of God if we do not realize our sinful patterns.  We cannot truly live and represent God if we do not be a total witness for Him and His Ways. 

Jonah understood completely what needed to be done and where he was supposed to do it, just like we know and understand the Word of God today.  But just like Jonah we play around with the words of the Bible and exploit them for our own disciples and configurations which is a complete violation of God’s Ways and because of these actions, we are seeing a bunch of events that boggle our minds.  God does not have any limitations on how He can grab our attention and even what may seem like a natural setting or condition, in fact, could be a warning from God.  God created everything and can use any part of His creation in order to get His prized loves back in tow to His Ways.  Church, we have strayed so far away from God and what He wants all people to know and understand.  We have been taught the Word of God for the majority of our lives and have prostituted its Holy Content for our own selfish reasoning.  Jonah did the exact same thing while he slept in the boat and ran from God and this act of rebellion of his came to a head when he stood up and boastfully stated who he was and what he believed in.

Jonah had great words of faith to say to those mariners but had no effective means of delivering the true message of what God wanted to say to those who were in trouble.  How can any other definition or example not be a greater source of truth concerning the Church today?  There are countless people struggling with everyday life in this nation not to mention all other nations around the world and the majority of the Church has not witnessed or converted a single person for God.  Now, if a Christian has not completed the task that Jesus commanded us to do then there can be no other definition of our spiritual life than sleeping (sitting) in the bottom of the boat (in the pews).  It is time we repent Church and start standing up for God in the true manner in which we were created, thus speaking about God as our Father and Creator to everyone.  It is time we take back the authority that God gave us and begin to use it on the kingdom of darkness that surrounds this planet.  God loves each child of His and it is our responsibility to shed the showboat status and once again become the Christian of God’s Kingdom and proclaim the separation from the world and the salvation and restoration that comes with the Covenant of God.

DLB