Effortless Christianity
September 14th, 2008“He makes it look so easy.” That is a statement I hear from fans who admire their favorite athlete or artist. They’re envious of how the star can swing the bat or club. Spectators often believe that the performance is completely effortless – that they were born with a gift. While it may be true that some are more inclined to a certain skill, it is actually deceiving to watch an artist paint or a baseball player launch a ball over the outfield fence. These men and women have behind their skill years of failures and successes, pain and practice, and trial and error. And they don’t perform effortlessly. Their outer appearance masks complete concentration and control.
There are some Christians who admire a godly example with the same kind of awe. Some observe an elder, preacher, or godly woman and think, “They make it look so easy.” An unfortunate consequence is that the person deceives himself and believes that his temptations and struggles are too great, and that he can never become the kind of Christian he is observing. So he quits. But, again, he is not able to observe his example beyond Sunday morning and see how the godly man struggles. The years that lead up that point were filled with setbacks, temptations, and practice, and it never gets easier. In fact, there is no such thing as effortless Christianity.
In 2 Peter 1:5-8, Peter maps out for the Christian how he is to grow spiritually. It is a process that involves the addition of many attributes: faith, moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and – of course – love. But before Peter teaches how these things are to build on one another, he mentions that they should be done in “all diligence” (v. 5). The same word could be rendered “haste” or “effort.” Also, in verse 8 Peter teaches that these qualities must be “increasing” in the Christian. Cleon Rogers believes this term implies excess, “to be or have more than enough, to exaggerate.” A mature Christian may seem effortless, but it is only because he “exaggerates” his Christian qualities; he grows them in excess.