Sponge Cake Religion
Some people de-church because their parents’
style of Christianity is so different from what the Bible says. They
become angry, humiliated, and distrusting of ‘guidance’ from their parents.
Sidebar:
Some Christian parents seem like that sponge cake. While in public, they seem like a normal Christian cake. But at home, they act like a block of undigestible sponge
1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!
This verse tells us that even true believers are flawed until we get eye-to-eye with Jesus.
“But my parents never gave me an inch of slack.”
Sidebar:
Every year for Homecoming Week in my high school, the Cheerleaders would sponsor a ‘Homecoming
Cake Contest’, open to all high school students.
You could tell when mom or
grandma helped make the cake ,
and you knew when a couple of Sophomore
boys larked out on their own.
Some cakes were pretty comical,
including the one I made my Junior year.
But one boy decided to prank
the school one year and spread frosting on a rectangular piece of
rubber sponge. This trick was new to us in the early 1970s, and everyone
thought it was cool,
except for the hungry athletes who wanted to eat
it.
Some Christian parents seem like that sponge cake. While in public, they seem like a normal Christian cake. But at home, they act like a block of undigestible sponge
with some 'Jesus-frosting' on the outside.
.
Self-proclaimed Christians include two variations, the sheep and the
wolves.
Here are the Sheep:
The Sheep are
trying to follow Jesus. Some people come to Christ as young parents.
They get to march in the Jesus Band in The Sunday Church Parade,
but
they haven’t learned to play their instruments yet and can sound
pretty bad when they try.
Their children have to share their parents’
spiritual growing pains.
Your parents will
never be completely admirable until they die and see
Jesus, for the reason below:
1 John 3
1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!
And
that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it
did not know him.
2Dear
friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet
been made known.
But
we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall
see him as he is.
3
All
who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
"But
we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall
see him as he is.”
This verse tells us that even true believers are flawed until we get eye-to-eye with Jesus.
Then true believers will be totally
transformed. So, we must be flawed until then, but we work to
improve, to honor Christ, and to lesser the
amount of damage we do to others.
People who walked with Jesus and saw him raised from the dead were frail humans.
People who walked with Jesus and saw him raised from the dead were frail humans.
And
the New Testament confirms that we all fail at times.
We need to acknowledge the inevitability of failure of parents,
because this is truth.
“But my parents never gave me an inch of slack.”
OK.
I suspect my kids felt the same about me at times.
I was strict with my kids,
because I didn’t want them to get comfortable with any
sin
that would keep them out of heaven.
I know from experience
that it’s easier to avoid a sin than to quit a sin.
I was pushing them to be better people than I am.
I was pushing them to be better people than I am.
"My parents were such poor examples."
This happens. Self-indulgence of the parents can be a real discouragement to their children.
Overspending, obesity, habitual tardiness, anger are all signs of immaturity.
Some 1st-generation Christians have a long way to go on their journey toward Christian maturity.
.
Now for the wolves...
Yes, some parents are wolves, unsaved and doomed unless they repent.
Your parents may be wolves in an ordinary church, or they may be in a cult.
If your parents are wolves in
sheep’s clothing, the 'Christianity' you saw, the
lifestyle you saw,
was fraudulent play-acting. There are several
reasons for this.
Wolves have many wrong reasons to go to church:
1) They try to be saved, but demand an equal footing with God;
1) They try to be saved, but demand an equal footing with God;
choosing
their own path but expecting God’s blessing.
2)
They crave attention, which is different than looking for relief from sin-guilt.
Attention-addicts have many disguises, but they all seek attention in some manner.
Some
attention-seekers are very charismatic.
Others wear self-pity like a
blanket on a cold day, with eyes that beg for attention.
3)
Some people enjoy manipulating others. The local church offers a lot
of low-hanging fruit for
people like this. Low-level leadership is
not always difficult achieve and then misuse.
.
So what is the solution?
We all need Jesus.
Church is the best place to find other believers.
In nearly every book of the New Testament, there are warning about false believers.
.
We know that anyone who earns money has to be careful of counterfeit money.
Likewise, anyone who wants God, has to deal occasionally with wolves in the church.
Be aware and be wise. Learn to set boundaries.
photo: Pinterest