I know it’s tacky to write about the same topic consecutively, but I will go ahead and do it anyways. I bring to you another story from the workplace.

“Fettuccini with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes, please, but without the fettuccini.”

Come again!?

“Baby mozzarella salad, but make sure to leave out the mozzarella.”

Excuse me?!

Sometimes, people make absolutely no sense. Fortunately, I never let these thoughts escape through my mouth, but I cannot help but wonder if the customer realizes how ridiculous their order is. Their customized requests strip the food item of its main element, and I end up handing them a container of just spinach and sun-dried tomatoes, hardly reminiscent of what the chef had originally prepared. But the unofficial motto at our deli is that the customer gets whatever pleases him/her, and we comply without questions. They get what they want, and they leave content.

Sometimes, Christians make absolutely no sense.

“Yeah, I’m a Christian, but I don’t really have time for God.”

Come again!?

“I love going to Friday night fellowship but the Sunday morning church and prayer thing aren’t for me.”

Excuse me?!

These actual phrases may never be uttered, but for many of us, our actions speak otherwise. Like the customer at the deli counter, we pick and choose the parts of Christianity we enjoy tasting, and sometimes we do not realize how ridiculous it is. The customization strips the religion of its main element, and we end up handing ourselves just the fellowship or just the namesake.

Believers do this. Churches do this.

It is hardly reminiscent of what the Creator had originally prepared in advance for us. Christ descended to earth to show and tell what the kingdom of heaven ought to be like, and he truly painted a beautiful picture. When we begin to stray from the Word and from the Truth, we sketch in the desires of our hearts and seriously mar the painting, and what others end up seeing is a false representation void of the main element. It is hardly reminiscent of what the Creator had originally willed.

As we walk through life bearing the name as Christians, let us not leave out Christ.