It’s time to acknowledge the elephant in the room. I’m sure everyone has heard this phrase, maybe more so this week after the events in Hollywood. I’m not talking about a guy getting slapped for a poor joke, I’m talking about something much more pressing.
The Armchair Christian.
What is an Armchair Christian?
You may have heard of the Armchair Quarterback. The guy that knows how to run every team better than the coaches and leadership paid millions to do it. Better than the players who have sacrificed and prepared themselves to be the best.
The people watching the Olympics yelling at the athletes on the screen to do better. This is how we would describe an Armchair Quarterback.
I present to you the concept of the Armchair Christian.
What is an Armchair Christian?
The Armchair Christian is the one who shows up to church on Sunday to check the box. The guys attending the ‘breakfast club’ men’s breakfast claiming to have fellowship but only spend 2 minutes talking about Jesus. The of the rest spent complaining about wives, kids, and bosses.
The Armchair Christian posts a single verse or sometimes just “religious” quip to be witty or convince the reader to feel convicted in the moment. These are the posters who post scripture, often out of context, to say hey “I read a verse today and I’m here to share that because that’s what a GOOD Christian does!” Sadly, a lot of the time’s they claim to serve as a pastor or some other function of ministry.
It’s always good to share God’s Word, if it’s in context shared with Love. It’s good to attend church and to have fellowship, when done from the heart of a Jesus follower. We should desire to encourage others and remind ourselves of His goodness.
The issue lies in the heart. What separates a follower from an Armchair Christian is their relationship with Jesus. Relationship, not religion.
Many claim to be “Believers.” Not all believers are followers.
Followers understand the importance loving Jesus and requires action. It requires sacrifice, it’s going to cost something. Love isn’t free. Love requires us to give time, talent, and treasure. To be a follower requires more than just showing up to Church and checking the box. A follower lives God’s Word rather than just telling someone about it.
I am sure some will gasp and be appalled at this point; I expect the judgement and persecution.
The reality is, in their judgement is conviction or worse, condemnation. The point is not to condemn or cause guilt and shame. The point is not to stop the sharing of God’s Word or church attendance.
The purpose is to call the half-hearted to repentance. To stop the cycle of teaching others to be half-hearted, Armchair Christians. To be the light and example of what it is to truly follow Jesus. My hope is, if you are an Armchair Christian, you will find your way back to the Father.
If after reading this, you want to defend yourself and justify, you are an Armchair Christian. If you are angered and frustrated by what you’re reading, Satan is pulling your string again.
Satan is the father of lies. The deceiver. The champion of half- truths. The one who loves Armchair Christian as much as the dead. He is completely content with the Armchair Christian. The Armchair Christian isn’t a threat to his mission.
The Armchair Christian is the lost sheep, easy picking for a wolf in the woods. The Armchair Christian blows with the wind. The Armchair Christian has no backbone, no faith, in the face of adversity. There is no identity in Christ.
Satan want’s us to be Armchair Christians! As an Armchair Christian, we are ineffective in the mission of ministry and showing other’s the love of Jesus.
Every Jesus follower is called to ministry. We are all called into the Great Commission. To disciple others and lead by example. The command is to love God first and love others as we love ourselves.
To love God is to have a relationship with Him. As mentioned, love requires the giving of time, talent, and treasure. To love God, is to give those things to Him. Spend time with him, give to His work, use talent to honor and glorify the God who imparted those things in us. To work heartily as unto Him and not as unto the world.
We don’t need to quit our jobs, get a degree in Biblical Studies, start a Church, or take a missionary position. Unless He calls us to. If He does, then do it! Don’t wait, GO!
The call to be a disciple and disciple maker is to share God’s love by becoming a living testimony. Choosing Him daily and demonstrating the identity of Jesus by following His example.
We all face struggles and suffering because we live in a fallen world. Encouraging others is a good thing but doing it from a place of faith is what God asks us to do. The struggles we face aren’t to wear us down, but instead to strengthen our resolve and our faith in God.
To be a follower of Jesus and not just an Armchair Christian means to worship Him. Worship is more than just singing on Sunday. It’s praising Him in our alone time for all He has done for us. It’s telling others of God’s faithfulness in our adversity and struggles. It’s spending time listening to Him and letting Him speak to our hearts through our spirit.
Following Christ is sharing the love of God by giving to others. It is about sharing our personal faith and how walking with Christ has changed us from lost and broken to found and victorious.
To stop the cycle, we must examine ourselves and ensure that we aren’t judging others and pointing to their sin. We need to humble ourselves and admit we are human. We must share the goodness of God’s mercy and forgiveness.
It’s not about telling someone how to live, it’s about showing them. It’s by leading by living.
Listening is ministry.
Stop trying to be profound and tell everyone they are going to hell if they don’t listen and change. Stop talking about death. Instead, speak life. Show them how much better life can be if they choose Him. Show them how to have faith deep in the struggles of life. Show them the joy of the Lord. A true joy, the joy that doesn’t wave in the wind like a loose sail.
Sharing the truth is more than just talking a big game and checking boxes
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Not our ability to copy and paste a scripture or get up on Sunday half listening and focused on how to leave before everyone else to be the traffic by trying to get out of the parking lot first.
Being a follower is choosing to make life about Him and not our own agenda.
It’s time to stop being an Armchair Christian and become a Jesus follower. We need to get some dirt on our hands. Get in the fight by giving and sharing His goodness.
We are in a war between good and evil. This is a call to arms.
This is an opportunity to change and receive His heart. To be the person He created us to be and the reason He saved us. This is the call to remember why He set us apart, the reason we were created.
This message comes from a place of love, not a place of judgement. I can’t possibly know the heart of someone else, but God does.
You know where you stand and what you are doing for God’s Kingdom. You know if you are the Armchair Christian or the Follower.
If you find yourself to be an Armchair Christian, don’t be discouraged. Fix it. Repent and tell Jesus of your desire to change. Ask Him to make you the one He needs you to be. Ask Him to make you the one His people need. Ask Him to make you the wife or husband your spouse needs and the parent your children need.
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Matthew 7:7-8
If you ask with a willing heart, He is faithful to deliver. There’s no need to continue being an Armchair Christian. Now is the time to be a follower.
To be reconciled and restored to the Father who loves you. You can find the fire you had when you received Him. You can be a minister to others and a man or woman after God’s own heart,
You can continue to be a fruitless Armchair Christian or, you can choose to be a follower and your fruit will be honored and multiplied.
14 You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father, I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give to you. 17 These things I command you, that you love one another.
John 15: 14-17
Remember, He loves you. Jesus is only asking you to follow His example, to do as you see Him do. This message is written with love and hope. A love for you and for Jesus. A hope for your fruit to be multiplied. A hope for others to be found and His Kingdom glorified.
Blessings and peace upon you. May you find your path and be a lampstand to the world.
