Is Christianity my hobby?
The difference between a vibrant life and the wholesome American dream
Next week, we dive into our 7-part series on spiritual warfare, but I thought today’s question was the perfect way to preface the series. I’ll explain why. 👇
Spiritual warfare won’t be felt by just anyone. The reality is, if Christianity is just a hobby, you are of no threat to the enemy. He’s not worried about your impact. I hope that doesn’t sound harsh. It’s just the facts. The devil doesn’t care if you claim to be a Christian if your life doesn’t reflect that.
If he can get you to live in a perpetual “I’ll do it later” mindset when it comes to growing deeper in your faith, he doesn’t need to lure you into an alley of drugs, gambling, and prostitutes. He rejoices when we keep kicking that can down the road until “after college”, “once I have kids”, “when I retire”, or even on our deathbed long after we’ve sown all the wild oats we can. Honestly, living as a hobbyist when it comes to Christianity makes the devil’s job easier.
So, before we even talk about spiritual warfare, let’s talk about whether we’re actually an enemy of the devil. Hint: Being at odds with the devil is a good thing.
Now I don’t think a single believer would ever say that Christianity is our hobby, but have we ever entertained the question? Maybe we don’t want it to be true so bad that we hear it and answer an immediate “NO WAY!” I’m the real deal!
Today, though, I really want us to pause and consider this question. I also want us to ask God to search our hearts before declaring our answer.
You don’t need to take my word for it. I’m not here to call out the hobbiest by any means! And if you’re subscribed to a Substack all about prayer, I bet your intentions and faith are as real as they come. However, I still think wrestling with this question is helpful, even if it just clarifies for us the difference between a deep, abiding faith and a hobby. Also, a few other reasons:
Even with the best of intentions, it’s easy to slip into.
We might be too busy to even notice it’s our reality.
A casual faith may be all we’ve seen around us, so it’s all we know of Christianity.
So let’s entertain this question and start by defining hobby Christianity for a minute.