“Sweet Drudgery”

Tim Challies observes that sometimes the Christian life can seem like drudgery. I say “seem”, because, actually, it is not drudgery at all. There is great blessing even in routine, if that routine brings glory to God. The apostle Paul must have anticipated this sinful human tendency to become bored with the Christian life. He writes to the churches of Galatia: “Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).

Anyway, Challies point out that our desire for complete fulfillment on this side of eternity can possibly make us prey to the pernicious evil of “health and wealth” teaching (i.e., the “gospel” according to TBN):

“It often seems like drudgery to wake up early in the morning to spend a few minutes or an hour reading the Bible and coming to the Lord in prayer. Going to church and worshiping with the Lord's people or spending time reading an edifying book can seem hard and monotonous. This Christian life can become routine and we can begin to despise the monotony of it. And this is precisely where the gospel of health and wealth appeals to people. It promises a glorious life, a carefree, fulfilling, abundant life in the here and now. But this is a mere counterfeit of Christian doctrine. It bypasses hard work and offers short-term, selfish fulfillment and calls it godly, abundant fulfillment. It is a fraud.”

Read the entire article here.