Spiritual Stupor

2 John 8 "Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward."

I was struck by this verse today. So many times in Scripture we are instructed to be on guard, watchful of ourselves spiritually and of the things around us (false teaching). To watch ourselves implies continuous action in our spiritual lives. Yet, so many proclaimed believers actually remain in a spiritual stupor and seem to be okay with that being their constant. I'm fearful that much of our culture places us in this stupor. I'm reminded of the movie Shaun of the Dead (I know, not the best movie to watch) in which the main character goes about his normal routine in public without the realization that people have become zombies. The point being made was everyone was so checked out in "real life" that when this dramatic change happens it looks no different. Can that be many spiritually? Especially those who claim belief in Christ? Ask yourself, "When is the last time I simply reflected on life let alone anything deeply spiritual that truly led to life change?" If you can't think of a time, why?

I love what positive things social media does for us as people and a culture. I love the creativity of television, movies, music, and other arts. I love athletics and seeing a great ball game played even if my favorite team is not one playing. I mean, I watched a couple hours of curling on ESPN one evening because it was a great competition. However, I am being challenged by how much of this I am truly taking in. The amount of time our lives are consumed by all this relatively good stuff may actually be complicating our lives spiritually more than we know. The amount of information we are now bombarded with on a daily basis could be too much for us to even process in addition to something like a Bible verse.

I don't know if I have an answer right now to what I sense in our world. I think the first few steps are to be awakened to where we are spiritually. Once we are awakened we have a choice: rise up or hit the "snooze" button. Choose snooze and remain in the spiritual stupor. Rise and begin the daily battle of following Jesus (Mark 8:34-38; Luke 9:23-27). Once we rise we must shine (Matthew 5:13-16) or live out what we believe on a continuous basis. I believe these steps of Awaken, Rise, and Shine are a daily process for the believer.

I end my thoughts with this word from Scripture: "Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." (Ephesians 5:14)