Dabbling In Jesus

Dabbling in Jesus

Show “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” trailer

Many of you may have seen that movie, but you probably didn’t catch an important lesson in it.

Revelation 3: 14-16

14"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. 15I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

We like cold drinks and hot drinks but rarely in between.

More importantly, no one likes it when something is done half-way…not even Jesus.

There’s a BIG difference between dedication and dabbling.

It’s okay to dabble in a lot of things.

You can dabble in the stock market.

You can dabble in woodworking.

You can dabble in quilting or knitting.

You can dabble in pottery or some other hobby.

You can even dabble in your job when you only do what you have to do and no more.

But, we have to stop dabbling in Jesus!

We Dabble in Church (Which is His body.)

o Sure we want to be members. But what does that mean?

o We want to go to church…when it’s convenient.

o We want there to be programs for the young people…as long as it doesn’t cost too much money…and as long as they don’t ask me to help!

o We want to support the church’s work and the missionaries…as long as it doesn’t interfere with my financial or calendar plans.

o We want the building to look nice and be well kept…as long as I don’t have to come out to a work day.

o We want there to be good teachers and workers in our Sunday School classes…as long as you don’t ask ME to do it. (and if I don’t like the ones you pick, I’ll let you know)

o We want the church to have great, biblical leadership…as long as they don’t expect me to be one, pick one or obey one.

o We, basically, want the church to be there for us…not the other way around.

We dabble in church.

We Dabble in Service (Outside of Church)

Matthew 25:31-40

31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

o We want to meet physical needs…on an occasional basis…not every day!

o We want to be kind to strangers…but invite them in? That’s just not safe!

o We absolutely want to care for the sick (and imprisoned)…if they would just let us know. Sometimes we didn’t even know they were sick or in need!

This is the difference. Dabbling waits for an opportunity. Dedication seeks an opportunity.

Dabbling waits to be told. Dedication knows the need because it knows the people.

o We want people to know about Jesus…but we don’t want to tell them. We would rather just invite them to church and hope they come.

These are not reserved for those in full-time ministry, but that is what we think when we dabble in our service for Jesus.

We Dabble in Growth (our personal closeness to Jesus)

2Peter 3 (after describing the return of Jesus)

14So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.