As I wrote yesterday, I’ve been meditating some on the Christian life in America. I’ve wondered for some time, and it seems to me, that the life of ease that most American Christians have is actually one of the greatest enemies to the Christian faith that we face.

This is antithetical to the way many of us think about our faith. We often think about how hard it would be to face persecution or trials of various kinds. But James actually says that we are to “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.” Then he tells us why: “for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4). Instead of warning us against persecution, Scripture actually warns us against a life of ease (Dueteronomy 6:10-12):

And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you–with great and good cities that you did not build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant–and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Yesterday I just briefly gave an overview thought about the life of ease on Christianity but today I want to think through at least one specific reason why a life of ease can be so dangerous for Christians. The admonitions to be alert and ready are everywhere in Scripture. Jesus, in Luke 12:35-40 asserts that “You must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” In the context, he is encouraging the disciples to live disciplined lives ever at the ready. Later in Luke 12:41-48, Jesus goes on to warn that the servant who is not continually ready for the master’s return might actually fall into sin. Elsewhere, Paul says in Ephesians 6:18 that we must “keep alert with all perseverance.”

It’s interesting that the life of ease often erodes self-discipline, particularly in the exercise of the mind. This was the warning at the core of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, wasn’t it? While George Orwell feared external oppression, Huxley feared that technology and the ease they brought would undo people’s capacity to think. As Neil Postman notes: “What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book.”

The Scriptures continually warn that we must be “sober minded” (2 Timothy 4:5; Titus 2:2; 1 Peter 1:13, 4:7, 5:8, etc.). The writers obviously have more in mind than just the effects of alcohol, they are warning against having a dull mind and lulled senses. Christians must be alert thinkers. Paul in Ephesians 4:11-15 warns us that we must not be blown about by every wind of doctrine. 1 John 4:1 warns us to “test the spirits,” while the Bereans were commended for checking even the words of Paul agains the Scriptures (Acts 17:10-15).

A life of ease neglects preventive maintenance and it rejects discipline, not only physical discipline but mental discipline. Many Americans reject anything that makes too many and too high demands on them. After all, we should only have to do what we want to do, right? This, coupled with the dumbing down of our culture has created many well-intened professing Christians who simply lack discernment. Discernment for a great many professing Christians is nothing more than a point of purchase consideration. In other words, it’s about where they bought it rather than close examination of the content. The result is that the “Christian media” industry has become the conscience of many people, but they’re not always as concerned with biblical fidelity as they are with money so we have front-row Christian books that deny the Trinity and more.

The “life of ease” mentality has steadily made its way into the American church. We’re told that the sermons need to be shorter, the words need to be shorter, there needs to be more variety, we shouldn’t require much of members. All of this is the world talking rather than God. It is the culture’s tendencies trying to saturate the ways of the people of God. Many professing Christians would simply rather not think about difficult theological issues because they don’t think about any difficult issues.

We must understand that the life of ease erodes the Christian at a great many levels. One of the most important is at the level of the mind. When we neglect difficult thinking, we find difficult problems because we’re not alert to error and we’re prone to wander (how I feel it). We must encourage one another to exercise our minds, to be alert and sober-minded, to test the spirits through the filter of the Word lest we all amuse ourselves to death.

• Read The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• Read The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Mark Noll
• Read The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience: Why Are Christians Living Just Like the Rest of the World? by Ronald J. Sider
• Read Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman