There are three kinds of Christians and by Christian, I mean, genuine believer here.
What kind of Christian are YOU?
- The Black and White Christian
- The Fluffy Christian
- The Balanced Believer
What Kind of Christian Are You?
1- The Black and White Christian
You see everything in black and white. There’s very few gray areas to you because you believe whole-heartedly in 1 Timothy 3:12. Whatever we are facing in life, God has an answer for it. Whatever decision we need to make is clearly outlined in Scripture and there’s no deviation from it. The Bible is the Word of God, no if, and’s, or but’s.
While all of this is incredibly true (!), the Black and White Christian has some pretty major pitfalls to watch out for. They often lack compassion.
This is MAJOR.
When Jesus walked the earth, He was very clear and concise in His teachings. He was bold in overthrowing tables and confident in the Father’s Word, but He was also tender with His disciples, telling them to let the children come or even letting them recline on His chest (John 13:23).
He knew what He believed, after all, He’s God- He made the rules, but He also knew the sheep’s tendency toward sin. He didn’t condone it but rather has compassion toward humans knowing how frail we are.
As a human, we fall, we sin, we struggle. Things are not ALWAYS black and white and the longer we are a Christian, the more we realize that.
Why?
God doesn’t give us a list of rules- do’s and don’ts. He cares far more about the heart than anything else.
Here’s what it comes down to.
You can have two people who commit the exact same sin. Hypothetically, let’s say murder. Same sin, different hearts.
Lemme explain…
One man murders another out of cold blood. He goes into a gas station, tries to rob the store attendant, and shoots him dead. He has no remorse for his actions, no pity for the attendant, nothing.
He goes to jail.
Take another situation of murder. A husband and wife are sleeping at night and a burglar breaks in and the wife rushes to call the police. The burglar grabs their 9-year-old daughter and holds a knife to her throat, threatening to kill her. The husband shoots the burglar from behind with a gun. The burglar dies.
The husband DOESN’T go to jail. It was self-defense.
In these situations, one man goes to jail for murder and the other doesn’t.
But you say to yourself, “But murder is murder, God says. How can one be innocent and the other guilty? Murder is sin. Why is one man free and one not?”
It’s because of the heart.
We cannot get so wrapped up in seeing the world so black and white that we miss the compassion.
Someone comes to us for advice and instead of loving them with Christ’s love, we rebuttal out a billion reasons why they should or shouldn’t do something. When we take the heartfelt, compassionate love out of the truth, it becomes harmful to the very gospel we so rightly believe in.
This song explains it well…
Ask yourself these questions:
1- Do you think you’re stronger than other believers?
You say to yourself, “I give more, serve more, I’m more mature, more stable than other Christians.”
2- You hear the Word of God for others, but not for yourself
When listening to a sermon, you say to yourself, “This is a great sermon for….” While something like that is normal on occasion, if it’s a pattern of your heart, there’s an underlying problem there.
3- Your prayer life starts lacking
You begin to become self-sustainable and feel like you don’t want to burden God with your tiny problems. After all, doesn’t He have his hands full dealing with the rest of the world’s massive issues?
4- You feel like the whole work of the gospel of Jesus Christ rests on your shoulders
No one else is working in the gospel. You’re the only one on fire for Him. Aren’t there others out there who care about Him like YOU do?
All of these mindsets are a result of spiritual pride. Pride is something so easily recognizable in others but so hard to ever see in ourselves.
So what do you do if you find yourself in this category?
How do you be confident in your beliefs while still maintaining your compassion and love for others?
- Realize that others answer to God, they don’t answer to you
- Don’t get offended when someone doesn’t follow your advice. Let the Holy Spirit do His redemptive work
- Practice loving and serving others. Realize that we are ALL sheep who have gone astray and we need a kind and loving, patient Shepherd to keep us from falling away from Him DAILY!
- Understand that others might be dealing with things you don’t understand. Maybe they are struggling with the loss of a child or spouse, grieving over a massive financial catastrophe that took everything they had away, dealing with a family member in prison, etc. Perhaps you’ve not known that kind of severe pain and are not tenderized by it, or maybe you have but you’re in a better place, mentally, now. Be kind to those who are struggling.
- Be sensitive to the needs of others and listen patiently, intentionally, and without judgment for what they’re dealing with.
- Carry the burdens of others. Rejoice when they rejoice and mourn with them when they mourn (Romans 12:15). We are all a family, knitted together in the bond of Christ.
- Accept people for who they are. Want the best for them, meaning God’s will for them to sin less and live a more godly life, but accept them now, how they are, knowing Philippians 1:6.
- Ask a good Christian friend to hold you accountable against pride.
2- The Fluffy Christian
You feel that God is very much a part of your life but you’re busy and there’s so many things you have to focus on in one day that God oftentimes, gets shoved to the back of the closet.
You love God and you wish you had more time for Him, but…life.
It’s all you can do just to get through the day, much less get extra time to spend on yourself doing something quiet.
For you, life is busy and you may or may not like it that way.
Here’s what I mean by that.
Sometimes people allow themselves to become very busy and pre-occupied because they don’t like how they feel when they are NOT busy. Maybe they feel guilty about something and it nags on them or maybe they feel lonely or dead inside and so busyness for them, is a crutch to get through life without dealing with the pain they feel.
For others, they just feel like they HAVE to do everything on their plate. If they don’t do it, who will, right? It’s the Martha-complex (Luke 10:38-42). They haven’t yet learned to balance and let things go.
Yet others, willfully are worldly and love the world and don’t want to give it up. This can usually happen with teens who are just becoming adults. They are just getting out of the house from under their parents rules and the whole world is open to them. They want to take a bite out of life and see what it’s all about. Think: the prodigal son wanted to leave his father’s house and go out into the world (Luke 15:11-24).
The problem is that ultimately, the world never fulfills us and so they’re left chasing one thing after another, looking for something to satisfy them when only Christ can.
The good thing is that after a while of trying to satisfy their fleshly lusts, desires, and needs in the world, they come to realize it can’t and if you come along-side of them at that time, they can open and you can draw them into a genuine and lasting relationship with the Lord who DOES satisfy all our needs! This is how one of my best friends came to Christ. I recognized he realized the world didn’t meet his needs and he was looking for something that only God could satisfy and I led him to Christ and he became a genuine believer.
Another one of my friends also came to that realization, that he needed Christ and gave his life to God.
Being a Christian who is preoccupied with the world isn’t something you want to do. Here’s why: 1 John 2:15-17.
At some point, we need to realize that we’re not here for ourselves, we were created for Jesus Christ.
That means, everything we do in this world has eternal value.
My question when I first learned this principle was, “Okay, if everything has eternal value, what’s the value in my doing dishes?!?!”
Feeling like I had my mentor stumped, she simply said, “What is your heart WHILE you’re doing those dishes? Is it bitter of having to clean or are you working as unto the Lord?” Colossians 3:23-24
In that verse, it clearly says that WHATEVER we do has the potential to earn a reward in our inheritance from the Lord (basically, God promises that the believer will receive heaven rewards for his obedient efforts). That doesn’t mean we won’t see rewards on earth at all, sometimes we do, but if we don’t see rewards on earth, we will for SURE see them in heaven and oftentimes, we see both- rewards on earth and in heaven.
If you’re a fluffy Christian, you must realize that you’re ultimately ripping yourself off out of future rewards.
You’re also ripping yourself off of a more intensely and beautiful and holy relationship with the Lord.
The Bible says we are to set our minds on things above (Colossians 3:2) and how we are to live in a manner worthy of Christ (1 Peter 3:13-17).
If you’ve been a Christian for a while, Hebrews also has some things to say about it in Hebrews 5:12.
If we are not living in a way that is DIFFERENT than the world, we cannot expect to save souls for heaven, which is ultimately all of our calling (Matthew 28:19-20).
When it comes right down to it, living a fluffy life as a believer is not honoring to God.
So, what do you do if you find yourself in this category? How do you live in the world and not be conformed by it? How do you break off the love of the world if you have it in your heart?
1- Take your relationship with God seriously. He very seriously died on the cross for you, not so that you could fit in with the world and live a nice, little safe life, but He died to TRANSFORM your life into a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17. Your old, worldly ways should be gone!
2- Read Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper. It’s one of my favorite books in the world and such a huge catalyst of events in my own life, I highly recommend every Christian on the face of the planet to read that book. It’ll help you see that each and every day must be lived to its fullest capacity of being used for Christ and His kingdom.
3- Commit every day to the Lord. Every day that you wake up, you have a responsibility FIRST to God. Matthew 6:33. When you wake up, pray and ask Him to direct your steps (Psalm 37:23), ask Him to use you that day to minister to the hearts of others. Ask Him what HE wants you to focus on that day and then do it. Pray earnestly and sincerely that He will lead, guide, and direct you each and every day as you open your eyes.
4- Understand that living in the world but not being of it, doesn’t mean you can’t ever have any fun. That’s the balance. It means you CAN live in it (have fun) but our minds should constantly be washed in the Word of our Lord Jesus Christ and wrapped in Him all day, every day.
The Black and White Christian and The Fluffy Christian will always be at odds with one another, but for the sake of unity amongst believers, we MUST get along.
That doesn’t mean you have to be best friends with every single person at church, but it DOES mean you shouldn’t run away or avoid them.
Both types of Christians can learn from one another. The Black and White Christian can learn to not take everything so seriously, lighten up a bit, and The Fluffy Christian can grow in their knowledge and understanding of the Lord.
Please also keep in mind that these are sometimes just phases we go through.
When I was growing up, I was a fluffy Christian. I wasn’t yet genuinely saved (although I was elect). Church was just something my mom did on Sundays to find good people to hang out with. It wasn’t a lifestyle and God definitely wasn’t a daily God, He was more like someone we prayed to when life got tough.
That was the environment in which I was raised. So when I gave my life to God, after I got out of the homeless shelter, I was dead set on making a mark in the world and went into The Black and White Christian territory.
Over the past 7 years of my Christian walk, God has really used difficult situations to tenderize my heart. I now see and have a lot more compassion for others in their struggles and understand that EVERYONE is struggling with something AND EVERYONE is longing for something.
We all need continual grace to survive this world as believers and we should find that first and foremost in the arms of our loving Savior, as well as within the family of Christ.
This leads us to the third type of Christian…
3- The Balanced Believer
This is the person who knows how to have fun. They don’t take life too seriously and can get along with just about everyone.
But just as much as they have fun and enjoy life, they are busy serving and working for the Lord.
Each day they wake up with a renewed sense of confidence of how God is going to use them.
They spend many hours, both in private and in front of the watching world (whether that is to your family, your church, at your job, etc.) making their faith known.
They spend many hours a week in the Word of God, throughout the week. On Sundays and Wednesdays, they are faithfully gathered at church and their hearts are altogether abundantly joyous for the Lord.
People come to them for advice because they are met with a genuine care and concern for their lives. They are usually well-liked, happy people who are compassionate and sensitive to the needs of others.
This is where we should all attain to be- wholeheartedly working for the Lord but understanding that the Lord put many amazing things in the world for us to enjoy.
