Part 2: Are You A Borderline Christian?

Are you settling near the place God has in mind for you, but not right in the middle of it? Are you settling for “good enough” when God wants the best in His relationship with you? Is it possible that you are also doing this in your business? As Christians, shouldn’t we want to be exactly where God wants us…not just on the border?

Choosing The Border Land

In my last post, I posed the question, “Are You A Borderline Christian?” In this post, I talked about how several of the Israelite tribes chose to take as their inheritance the land just outside of the Promised Land. This land they chose was across the Jordan river from the land God had promised their fathers.

Unfortunately for these tribes, they decided the land just outside God’s Promised land was “good enough” and so they settled there. This decision caused several problems for these tribes.

Christian Business Application

So, as we always do, let’s talk about how we can apply these ideas to our lives as Christian business owners and leaders.

First, let’s recognize that this is very much a picture of Christians today. So many believers hear that God promises us peace and joy in ways we cannot imagine, but they still decide that what they can see in the world right in front of them is “good enough” for what they need!

So many times, we know God has something awesome for us one day, but we choose to take the “good enough” that we can see in front of us right now. Why do we do this?

Why Choose The Border Land

There are several possibilities. Maybe we think “a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush” is from the Bible! We want what we can have right now rather than waiting on what God has for us later. Maybe, like the borderline tribes, we may not want the “fight” it will take to get it.

But sometimes we are even okay with accepting the fight and still want to settle for less than God has for us. What could we be thinking? Maybe it is our fear of full commitment to God and what He wants from us. Maybe we are much more comfortable in the “borderline” position – getting just enough of God to make us feel better, but not so much that we are no longer in control.

Whatever the reasons we may have, we need to stop and realize that we are thinking this way. We need to search our own hearts and allow God to reveal the truth to us about where we stand.

This Is A Big Deal!

Second, we need to recognize that this is a VERY BIG DEAL. God wants our all (Matthew 22:37-40). He is jealous and does not like it when we live as borderline believers. He wants us fully committed to Him. In fact, Jesus would rather we were AGAINST Him than in the middle (Revelation 3:14-16).

This is true in our businesses as well. We cannot pick and choose which parts of Scripture we will apply to how we run a business. If we are going to live in full commitment to God, we need to fully commit our jobs to Him as well.

Dangers To Christian Business

Finally, let’s discuss the dangers of living as borderline Christian business owners and leaders. Just like the borderline tribes, we are putting ourselves and our businesses at risk when we try to ride the fence like this. When we are living as borderline believers, we lose our clear and frequent communication with God.

As a result, our decisions suffer. We are more susceptible to temptation and attack – spiritual or otherwise. We are also weaker in our defense agains the storms that will come. Quite simply, we are on our own – and that is not good!

Trust Him Completely

D.L. Moody said, “The world has yet to see what God will do through a man who trusts Him completely.” I think this statement rings true for our businesses as well.

Let’s commit together to move out of the borderline areas and into God’s Promised Land – His will for our lives as well as our businesses and jobs. Let’s give him total control and submit to His leadership. I think we will find that He is faithful to make good on His promises!

Where are you living? Your business or job?

If on the border, what are you going to do to change it?

If you don’t know, what is your next step to find out?