Potty-Training Christians?

    Do you remember when you were little and you were being potty trained? Do you remember how everyone would celebrate every time you went, “Poo-Poo in the Potty?” Actually, now that I think about it, you were three years old. You probably don’t remember. I only remember because I have a younger sibling. And let me tell you, that’s a weird time in the life of the older sibling:

            “Mom and Dad! I got a 94 on my spelling test!”

            “Who cares? Your sister made a two-sie!”

            And then you think to yourself, “Man…the folks used to be harder to impress.”

            It’s good to celebrate that with small children who are potty training. Positive reinforcement helps them learn the behavior and that’s good, but we don’t do that when we’re older right? Did you jump out of the bathroom at age 17 going, “Mommy I did it!” They would have gotten you an appointment with a psychologist right away.

            WHAT’S THE POINT: You are supposed to get credit and praise for these things when you’re learning them, but now that we’re older it’s considered the bare minimum that you can use the bathroom without any assistance. You don’t get credit for that right? Check out this parable from Jesus:

Luke 17:7-10 “Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Would he not rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”

            Sometimes our first impulse with this kind of story is to read it and think, “What a jerk! He won’t even cut that guy a little slack!” What you need to understand is that the master had paid for this man to do some work and the worker should not expect a shower of gifts for completing the job. Our Master, Jesus, paid for us. He died on a cross for my sins and your sins. When he left this world he commissioned us to do a job. He asked us to go forward and make disciples (Matt. 28:16-20).

            With God though, we still want credit for the bare minimum. We say, “God I prayed today and it didn’t start with “God is great…God is good…Let us thank Him for our food…!” or “Jesus if you will please let this cop not give me a ticket, but a warning I will commit to ten years of missions work in Bangladesh!”

We want applause, but God is saying, “That’s good, really. I’m glad you did that today, but your friends are destined for the wrong side of eternity…is there anything you want to ask me about them?”

I want to have the heart that craves more than the bare minimum. I want a heart that desires to live a Great Commission Lifestyle. I think Paul describes this lifestyle well:

“We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.”

Colossians 1:28-29