Scariest Thing Ever

This past week I took a few teens from our youth group to a haunted house.  It was operated by a Christian organization called Teen Quest at a house in a community neighboring ours.  The scare was centered around an actual even that took place in the house, the 7 deadly sins, and an explanation afterwards about life, death, and Jesus’ perspective on it all.

As it was my first ever haunted house I didn’t know what to expect so I made the following pact with the teens: If anyone screams because they’re scared it stays between us.  For me the scariest part was twofold: 1) one lady got way to close to me with a rubber mouse that turned out not to be rubber (mice, bugs, varmints of any kind…I hate them all); and 2) there were times when we were in complete darkness for extended periods of time and had to maneuver forward.  As I was moving forward in the dark, I had my hands out in front of me slightly, expecting to touch a wall or something that would give me an idea of what direction to go.  I didn’t know if there was anything actually out there in front of me, but I was hoping there was and I was truly expecting there was, even though I didn’t know.

This got me thinking about what could possibly be the scariest thing on the planet for “some” Christians.  I would say the scariest thing is if God actually answered a prayer.  For some Christians, they have put their faith in the Bible because it is tangible and they can see and hold it.  They have trusted the Thou Shalt Nots and turned those sayings into their God.  Some other Christians have put their faith in their congregation for the same reason.  They can see and touch and interact physically with the group of people on Sunday morning.  They can hear their pastor’s message and hold it up as the thing they will try to do better each week.  But they have not put their faith in the One True God.  And if God actually answered their prayer they would be forced to take a look at putting their faith and trust in Him, not just in words they read but in the living Word.  Instead of walking forward slowly with hands outstretched towards their Bible or towards their congregation and the Sunday Celebration they would have to come out of the dark and acknowledge that God is their light, they would have to stop just going to church and acknowledge that God has called them to BE the Church.

Many of you are thinking that God answers prayer all the time.  But for many, for the living God to actually manifest Himself in the life of some people who call themselves Christians, that’s a pretty scary thought. It shouldn’t be, but sadly it is.  So my prayer for all of these people is that they get a good scare in the days to come.