Casually Yours

Many years ago, Hitler said something that was very true. Just because he was an evil man, does not mean that sometimes bad persons do not say something good. Even a clock that is stopped gives the right time twice every day. Hitler in his “Mein Kampf” once wrote, that the revolution that he was preparing, could be stopped only by those who brought against it, “an explosive idea”. And Hitler was right! Because there is an explosive idea that puts a stop to the kind of thing that Hitlers and dictators try to do. It is the explosive idea of Christ and Christ’s teachings.

Christians have a bombshell! Jesus Christ explodes hatred, wars, immorality, fear, and the evils that prevail upon this world. The apostle Paul would never agree that two plus two could ever equal 5. It has to be 4. And so it is with belief. It has to be the right answer. It has to be the explosive love of Jesus Christ. In Romans 10:8, Paul says “For the secret is very near you, in your own heart, in your own mouth! It is the secret of faith, which is the burden of our preaching.” (Phillips translation)

In a ladies department store, a coat was listed for sale under the name, “Casually yours”. Perhaps that fits people of our day. The advertisement said, “This coat captures beautifully that fine air of informal unconcern.”

Is this what is wrong with us? We have too much of that “fine air of informal unconcern”. The sin of casualness…careless casualness…that’s the nail that crucifies the Christ again and again. A Christian must never be “casually yours”. But always “devotedly yours”, or “enthusiastically yours”.

The secret of our salvation is “belief”. And belief must move us to commitment, and commitment must shove us always to do a little more, give more, care a lot more, and let the love show! It’s not the “casual” thing to do.

In one of the Peanuts cartoons, Lucy is terribly
frightened because it has been raining and raining
and raining. She begins to wonder aloud if there
might be a repetition of Noah’s flood. But Charlie
Brown reassures her. He tells her about God’s
promise and the meaning of the rainbow and the
covenant.

Much relieved, Lucy says, “Thanks, Charlie Brown,
you’ve taken a load off my mind!” To which Charlie
Brown replies: “Good theology has a way of doing
that!” (from The Santuary for Lent 2006 by James
W. Moore