"Crib-Note Christians"

 

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

—Luke 9:23

The graduate student with whom I was walking to the library to work on a project we had just been assigned bragged, “I hardly ever made it to the library as an undergrad.” To me, that seemed like an atrocious comment because the internet was barely accessible at the time. But, I suppose some could “get by” reading CliffsNotes^®1 and studying off other people’s work.

Enhanced Box Meals, a cookbook which takes a “mix,” or prepared box dinner, may give semi-cooks ideas for meals and desserts. But, using this trick rarely fools anyone into believing the meal was “made from scratch.”

Similarly, a piano instructional method learned on-line just doesn’t come close to teaching a “wanna-be musician” how to use good technique and offer sight reading experience. Proper technique and an exposure to the many pieces that make up an appropriate repertoire takes in-person learning methods and critiques.

Into this category of relying on “Crib-Notes,” I would also place what some call the “two-fers”—those individuals who only attend church on Christmas and Easter. They would rarely be called “disciples” by anyone who knows Christ’s expectations, as clearly expressed in His written Word. Somehow, the “fun” of going to church on big Sundays, wearing new clothes, sitting with family members before a big meal, and claiming membership in a church when one writes his or her obituary seems like enough. They have believed the lie that merely “identifying” with a local church in some way makes them upstanding Christians.

Instead, we know that following Christ does, indeed, extract a price from all who are serious about their faith. Life in Him carries suffering and sometimes death. In Nazi Germany, faithful Lutheran minister, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, author of the famous book, The Cost of Discipleship, was hanged for his opposition to Hitler’s policies of euthanasia and torture of the Jews. Bonhoeffer wrote:

“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”

These words form quite a contrast to those “Crib-Note Christians,” who take the easy way out and smugly and self-righteously do as little as possible to serve God and their fellow humans. True discipleship is costly.

And, even if we attend worship services every Sunday, each day we weakly struggle to live as Christ has asked us to live. We realize that, the longer we go onward in the Christian life, we do not have the strength, the wisdom, the grace, the love, or anything else to make a faithful life on our own. We need the daily “feeding” that takes place when we pour over God’s written Word and seek His will. Whenever we try to serve Christ on our own, we open ourselves up to the charge of also becoming “Crib-Note Christians.”

Anne Cetas, the managing editor of Our Daily Bread, writes this: ²

Being a “disciple” calls for giving up our lives for Him. It’s about living as Jesus calls us to live, daily giving up our plans and purposes for His. A relationship with Him causes us to be concerned with our thoughts, decisions, attitudes, and actions—all to make our life joy-filled for us and pleasing to God.

Lord, please have mercy on all of us “Crib-Note Christians”!

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1 The term CliffsNotes® is a registered trademark of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. The use of this term within this blog post is not intended to imply any connection, any endorsement, or any involvement whatsoever with the content of this blog post by the trademark holder. More information is available at the following: https://www.cliffsnotes.com/discover-about

2 Cetas, Anne. “A Convenient Christianity” appearing in Our Daily Bread Devotional Journal. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Radio Bible Class Ministries, 2010. Devotional for November 29th.