Custom Made Christianity

“What can I get for you today?”

“May I have your special without any mayo, mustard, onion, tomatoes, pickles, or lettuce? Oh, and can you take off the Swiss and replace it with cheddar, and then change the pickles to fresh cucumbers and the mayo to light ranch. Not ranch, but light ranch, and a diet Coke as well. Thanks.”

“Sure. Anything else?”

“Oh yes. Can you also change the sesame roll to sourdough? I’m allergic to sesame.”

“Sure thing, coming right up.”

Anyway we like it. That’s the norms of the “guaranteed satisfaction” American culture along with the notion that the customer is always right. I have opportunities to customize my car, food, clothing, house, room…you get the idea. Anything I want made anyway I choose. If I don’t like my options, I have the choice to decline what is being offered and accept the substitute from the standard selection.

When we take a closer look into Christianity today, the same principles are being employed. People are customizing what they believe to be truth and in some cases are substituting their own ideas to satisfy the guilt in their soul.

There is a class of Christians who claim that Jesus Christ is Lord, yet they only believe parts of the bible as truth; customizing their Christian foundation with a smidgen of Genesis here (only the part that God created the heavens and the earth), and a dabble of Job, Joshua, or Judges there; accepting Adam and Eve as God’s creation and rejecting the truth of 6 literal days. They buy into the Theory of Evolution, or at least the earth’s timetable according to Darwin.

However, with God, there is no customizing or catering. It’s all or nothing. You either believe or at least lead with your heart while your mind catches up, or you indirectly reject Christ.

Although opportunities of choice in abundance are greatly appreciated, there is only one way with God the Father and that is through his son Jesus Christ.

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)

As narrow minded as it may sound, that is the truth. God came first, or should I say, He has always been. He has given us free will, but the desire for more choices has increased exponentially because evil and corruption have filled our hearts. We are the ones who are causing chaos and confusion by trying to overexert and exhaust our minds to comprehend what was never meant to be fully understood until we are face to face with Him. No matter how many ways we are able to customize the world around us, we will never be able to customize God and His word.

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” (Hebrews 4:12-13)