Devotionals

CARDBOARD CHRISTIANS A Very Present Reality By Henry Jaegers

by Henry Jaegers
04/13/20
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CARDBOARD CHRISTIANS

A Very Present Reality

By Henry Jaegers

And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. (Revelation 3:1)

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. (II Timothy 3: 1-5)

When Paul and John wrote these words, the problems that they were addressing were already in motion at the times for which they spoke. The church of Sardis was not a church of the future or in the age of the church, it was a church existing at the time the message was written to a people who were already entertaining these problems. Likewise, when Paul wrote these words to Timothy, they were problems that were already in existence, not the future, otherwise, why would Paul say to Timothy "from such turn away."

Much has happened over these past 2000 years and the problems that are in the church today are a more present reality than they were back then. The problem is, they are not going to get any better before the coming of the Lord. That is further substantiated in Matthew 24 when Jesus proclaimed his “Olivet Discourse.”

But the problem that concerns me most today is the problem of "Cardboard Christianity". The reason that this situation concerns me, is that I was once one of these before I became a Christian, and I have discovered, even after being a Christian, that there were times that I myself entertained evidence of this cardboard reality. Now you may ask, “what do I mean by that?”

For years, I went to church thinking that I was a little bit better quality than most people because of my regular church attendance and involvement in church activities. But it was not long for others who are not Christians to be able to see beyond that pretentious lifestyle. The day that I opened the word of God for the first time, God confronted me with these terrifying words, "I know thy works, and I have not found thy works perfect before me." These were the first words that I ever read in the Bible and I shall never forget the effect that they had on my life. As I stood in the presence of the living and loving God and he exposed my hypocrisy, I felt nothing but shame and unworthiness to claim or mention the name of Christ. In those few moments, as I stood before God, repentance began its work through the guilt that I was facing. I was by myself at the time and I needed to find a Christian to help me solve my problem. By God's grace, there was a faithful Christian at lunchtime reading his Bible in his car all by himself. I found him, talk to him, and he helped me to find salvation that day. That day the cardboard was exposed and God became a living reality in my life.

When I talk about cardboard, I was talking about all the outward appearances and show that I wanted everyone to see and be convinced of my Christianity. But it was all cardboard and show. I realize that what I had was totally lifeless, empty, and of no value. It was the presence of the living God in my life that help me to realize that I was nothing more than a cardboard Christian and we know what happens to cardboard when exposed to water and fire.

I wonder if I am talking to any cardboard Christians today? I urge you if you are involved in Christian service and everything you do centers on how it would glorify you and how it would make you look; how it would benefit you? If that is true, you are probably a cardboard Christian. And if you do not have the life of Christ in you, you cannot produce anything but cardboard Christians yourself. I think it is a sad matter when we think of the possibility that all of our busy activities in the church and our outward expressions of our faith may be nothing more than works of the flesh. Paul in Romans 8:8, states "that they that are in the flesh cannot please God”. So, if you think that your fleshly activities in your busy lifestyle is bringing glory to God, think again! It may be just the works of the flesh and not the fruit of the spirit. The works of the flesh are the things that I do. "Like a factory, dirty, noisy, and full of activity producing only manufactured products), but the fruit of the spirit is like a garden. It comes from within and produces lovely, sweet-smelling flowers, and products that bring health and life to those for whom it is given.

Perhaps after thinking about this, there may be some who realize that they have spent their whole life in empty service, but there is hope for those who are tired of all of this and want God's “New Thing” present in their life. We are never too old to trust God and begin to see him perform the work that you never knew was possible. Take it from a former cardboard Christian. There is nothing like experiencing the life of God flowing out through you. Imagine someone saying about you someday, “I never knew who Jesus was until I met Mary, John Mike, etc