RELATIONAL LEADERSHIP

CHRISTIANITY 'LITE'

The perennial statement: “I need to go on a diet.”

Not sure if you’ve said this before.  If you’ve never, congrats.  You’re either a hunk or a hottie.

But to the ‘average’ person like us, we’ve said this time and time again.

Thus, the invention of ‘lite’ foods – Coke light, Breyers light, Mayo lite, Coffee Mate light, Spam light, Tuna chunks light plus all the other products you can think of.

Even iPad apps have them – from Angry Birds lite to Fitness lite.

Their tagline?
Same flavor; less filling.
Great taste; less ingredients.

But we carry that over, unfortunately to our life with Christ.

Same flavor; less filling.  Great experience; less ingredients.

Jesus just becomes one of the ingredients of our week – 1 cup of work, 2 teaspoons of friends, 5 pints of family plus a dash of Jesus to cover all bases.

No wonder why we see ‘lite’ transformation… ‘lite’ lifechange … ‘lite’ adjustment … in our lives.

Same person; just different packaging.

Now we to church.  We carry a Bible around.  We say the right words like ‘Praise God’ and ‘God is good’ (‘all the time’).

But after peeling off the veneer, it’s the same rotten, depraved, lost person.

Jesus doesn’t want to just be one of the ingredients in your near perfect life.  When He comes in, He takes over.  He is not just Savior (to get us out of the mess we got ourselves into).  He is LORD.  And that means boss, in charge and the One who calls the shots.

When we surrender our lives to Christ, we die … so that He can live in us and through us.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

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Paolo Punzalan's avatar

Posted by:

Paolo Punzalan

Husband, father, pastor and most importantly, Christ follower.

4 responses to “CHRISTIANITY 'LITE'”

  1. Francis Avatar
    Francis

    great. “Lite” yet filling…Thanks.

    Reply
  2. Kaye Avatar
    Kaye

    Thanks Pastor Paulo!This caught my attention while trying to work thru my diet. as you have said, We could never afford to have a ‘lite’ transformation… ‘lite’ lifechange … ‘lite’ adjustment … in our lives. Let us experience the “fulness” of Christ.

    Reply
  3. chezka Avatar
    chezka

    Hi Pastor Paulo, just listened to your Chrisitanity Lite podcast so I searched your blog online.
    I was really inspired by the story about Briggie…about how as parents, sometimes, ‘rescuing your children from what they’re praying for’ may not always be the best thing to do. It reminded me of how we should always just let go (of our self reliance) and let God. You mentioned you blogged about your pup, I guess I just couldn’t find your blog entry. I think I will watch Sound of Music in Oct to see your daughter. She must be really talented to get in:) Godbless you, Pastor and may God keep challenging and changing lives through your preachings.

    Reply
  4. Paolo Punzalan Avatar
    Paolo Punzalan

    @chezka. my wife, jenn wrote about it also. you can find it here.

    http://www.jennpunzalan.com/2011/08/stepping-out-of-the-way/

    pls let me know if you’re planning to watch it. it will start oct 15. (haha. stage daddy na stage daddy). i’ll post the dates when janina is going to be Brigitta Von Trap. she has an alternate kasi. 🙂

    Reply

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