I Am Sick and Tired of Shallow Christianity! (Candlestick Christians and Skyrocket Saints)
Posted: Saturday, January 02, 2010
by Dave Dozier
Thankfully, the holidays are over. One thing that means is no more fireworks disturbing my sleep.
It is amazing how much attention and money is spent on fireworks. Skyrockets, especially. You light the fuse, the rocket ignites, and three seconds later it is all over. A brief burst of beautiful light and a bit on sound, and it is gone. You can purchase a candlestick for less money, and get about three hours of beautiful light that softly illuminates your room with a warm flame licking away the darkness.
People who value the Skyrocket version of Christianity put lots of emphasis on "bling". They love excitement, but they don't value staying power. Their leaders often get tangled up in public scandals that involve sex, money, and narcissistic living. Jesus dealt with people like that in His ministry on earth. He spoke with disdain of religious leaders who insisted on sitting at the head of the table, giving long public prayers to impress people, bringing attention to themselves when they gave to charity, and who happily took the last dime that the poor had to offer, while refusing to reduce the burden that they carried.
Candlestick Christians, on the other hand, are content to sit anywhere at the table, and they pray and give their alms in secret (where Jesus says that Father is). They seek to relieve the burden that is born by the poor, the widows and orphans, the sick, and those in prison. (See Matthew 5 & 6, Matthew 25, and James 1:27).
Skyrocket Saints value things like notoriety, being successful, and having the respect of other people. Because of this value system, Skyrocket Saints are in danger of choosing style over substance, notoriety over noteworthiness, and expedience over excellence.
Candlestick Christians place value on faith that works itself out in everyday life. They value the Holy Spirit's transformational work in the heart. Character traits such as honesty, humility, faithfulness, integrity, thrift, patience, joy, contentment, kindness, self-control, and love are the result of the Holy Spirit's working in a believer's heart. These character traits are like the candle flame that quietly licks away the darkness and brings warmth and light to all who sit in its presence.
This value system leads Candlestick Christians to work quietly and not bring attention to themselves. They are more prone than their Skyrocket brethren to produce life-long change in the lives of the people they rub shoulders with in their homes, business, churches, and 3 rd places.
It seems that American culture values the Skyrocket lifestyle today, and eschews that of the Candlestick. Some would say that our culture's shallow value system has seeped into that of the Church, and that this is why the Church in America is shrinking in both number and influence. Jesus sees it another way. "You are the light of the world, and the salt of the earth", He tells the Church. In other words, the amount of spiritual light and flavor that our culture has is directly influenced by God's people. We don't blame a room for being dark. We fix the light. We don't blame the soup for not being tasty. We add the salt. Don't blame the culture for influencing the Church. Blame the Church for not influencing the culture.
I have had the pleasure of knowing a handful of Candlestick Christians in my life. Would that we had more of them.
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)Dave - BRAVO! I love this article. It is my prayer that I am a Candlestick Christian. What a wondeful - Holy Spirit filled analogy. I am posting this link on my facebook page. Blessings to you! TeresaThanks for the encouraging words. As we patiently devote time to prayer, the Word, fellowship, and meditation, the Spriit will transform us into the image of our Savior. Dave
Good article; great concept with much integrity-well done.I am also relieved that Christmas has been stuffed back into its box with the moulting tinsel. It is nothing but turkey genocide, with sprouts being the devil's grapes!
Well said....very well said!
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