The Every Minute Christian

Have you ever heard of a “Sunday Christian?” Sunday Christians are people who would identify themselves as Christians. They are people who think about Jesus on Sunday morning as they get ready for church and as they worship during the service, but after they kick off their church shoes when they get home (and for the rest of the week) they do whatever they want. When Sunday rolls around again then the cycle continues. Being just a Sunday Christian is not a good thing. I think we may all have seasons in our faith, where just going to church is what we cling to – what keeps us moving in the right direction and keeps us connected to Jesus in some way. You know the hard (or complacent) seasons that I’m talking about. But those seasons need to come to an end and we need to grasp onto more . . . more commitment and more of Jesus. Our culture has a tendency to glorify this comfortable and complacent way of living. I mean, it’s easier to just think of God and what He wants for me once a week rather than completely committing my life and my will over to Him! Culture says “do what you want and what you need to be happy.” And we buy into that often (heck, I catch myself believing and living into this lie way more often than I should! After all, it’s easy!). Because of this, the sermons we will hear preached from the pulpit are challenges to move out of that cycle and become “more than a Sunday” Christian. A “more than a Sunday” Christian is someone who seeks to spend time with Jesus and live out their faith during the week. Maybe that’s spending time with God a little every day, attending a Bible study or small group once a week or even serving in the church’s youth group. This is awesome! However, lately I have been challenged in my heart even further. To not just be a “more than a Sunday Christian” (man, do I wish there was a decent acronym for that mouthful!), but to be an every minute Christian. My heart is challenged to engage with God not just on a daily basis, but to recognize His presence and lean into Him moment by moment.

Over the last ten years my faith in Jesus has moved from a “Sunday Christian” to a “more than a Sunday” Christian. It all started back in 2010. I graduated highschool, moved down to Lethbridge for University and connected at a church. My faith was something that I had to choose to invest in for myself. My dad was no longer (annoyingly) knocking on my door five minutes before my alarm would go off on a Sunday morning to make sure that I was up and getting ready for church. It was me, myself and I. I had to choose for myself if I really wanted to even be a Sunday Christian, as I could have made that choice to leave my faith in Jesus entirely! That challenge of growing up and making the decision to invest in my faith further led me to reading my Bible every day. I mean, I had accepted Jesus into my heart at the early age of six – and yet I had never read the whole Bible. One day this hit me. If I claimed to follow Jesus and yet didn’t know half of what I was believing or of what He said in the Bible – what was I really doing? And so, I set out on a journey of reading one chapter a night in my Bible before bed. Sometimes it took three minutes to read . . . and sometimes ten minutes. It wasn’t a huge commitment, but it was the first time I had really tried to invest in my relationship with God on a daily basis. A year after I started this journey, my roommate and I decided to start getting up early and spending an hour with Jesus. We would challenge each other. If one of us woke up before the other, we would wake the other person up. I always got out of bed pretty quickly because I am a bit of a stickler with the way my coffee is made – and so I needed to be the one up the stairs and first to the coffee machine! It was in this community challenge and journey of choosing to meet with Jesus every day that I moved father from being “just a Sunday” Christian. My faith deepened and it has been almost ten years of waking up early before work (or school, depending on my season) to spend time investing in my relationship with God.

Fast forward to today where God has been challenging me to be an “every minute Christian”. To take my relationship with Him that next step further. What would the definition of that kind of Christian be? I believe it is this: “Someone who acknowledges God in all that they do.” Part of acknowledging God in all things is actually just remembering that, as a Christian, the Holy Spirit lives inside of you. God in you – right now. That kind of closeness is meant for an intimate, minute by minute type of communing. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 gives us a clearer picture of what this might look like.

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Notice the words he uses – always, continually, in ALL circumstances. These words point to the every minute Christian. The Sunday Christian and the every day Christian would rejoice, pray and give thanks but not continually! After all, that does sound a bit crazy! Honestly, for the longest time I thought that these verses were an exaggeration. You know, Paul says that, but he’s a little crazy and over the top . . . so . . . he doesn’t mean to REALLY never stop praying. But then, I realized that to be an “every minute kind of Christian” is also pretty crazy. These are the strange people always asking how they can pray for you (and then actually stopping to do so), or the people who look to direct conversations with others to God just because they want to talk about Him. They are the crazy ones who serve every Sunday morning in Sunday School because they have a strong desire to disciple and lead the children to Jesus! They are the crazy ones who drive around with Bibles in their car (you know, in case they need to give away God’s word to someone in need), or the ones who have a vial of olive oil in their purse, ready to anoint and pray for healing over someone God might put in their path that day. They leave the house with extra money or food gift cards just in case a person in need walks up to them on their way to their favorite coffee shop and asks them for money. These things are crazy! Are you willing to be the crazy person who does these kinds of ridiculous and out of the ordinary things for Jesus? I have decided that I am.

With this in mind, let’s go back to 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. What can these verses share with us about being this type of crazy, every minute Christian?

1. REJOICE ALWAYS: The recognition of God’s presence in you and with you at all times will lead to rejoicing always. Rejoicing (according to Google) “describes the outward expression of our internal joy. In the Bible, rejoicing takes the form of leaping, shouting, singing, playing music and dancing.” Rejoicing is worship. The kind of worship that flows out from you from the recognition of what’s inside you (you know, the Holy Spirit with all fullness of joy!). The every minute Christian overflows with this kind of joy and worship for God even in the most ordinary and basic parts of their day. For me, this means not just pausing in the morning to spend time with God, but actually choosing to do so in other parts of my day too. Not just having the attitude of “let me finish reading my Bible so I can go do the other fun parts of my day…” but developing a desire for God and His Word that makes time with Him the central, best and the most fun part of my day.
2. PRAY CONTINUALLY: The New Living Translations says: “never stop praying” (NLT). I don’t know about you, but every time I read that verse I feel a little overwhelmed (and also amazed) at the thought of what that’s supposed to look like. The thought of a deep community with God, where you’re constantly aware of His presence with you. Where you are not only praying for those around you as you spend time with people and as you walk around doing life, but you are sensitive to the things that He has to say to you too: “See that person over there? Go help them.” After all, prayer is a conversation. The every minute Christian engages in these conversations with Jesus on more than just meal time or before bed prayers. It’s these kinds of prayers that direct their day to day movements and conversations.
3. GIVE THANKS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES: Yes, all circumstances! That means, even when things are hard and not going your way. But, why? Because God is with you, He has saved you, He loves you, He is good and He has your best in mind. He is taking care of you, even in those hard and horrible times of our lives. The every minute Christian remembers this and overflow with gratitude all of the time because He is good all of the time.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”

Romans 8:28

1 Thessalonians 5:18 ends with this: “for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” You see, this is all part of the journey that God is taking us on. It’s part of the sanctification process – so we know we will not be able to do this “every minute Christian” stuff perfectly until Jesus comes back. But, God’s will for us it to take us there on that journey of acknowledging His presence in the every moment and responding to Him through rejoicing, prayer and thanksgiving. God is an everyday, every minute kind of God – with us always – never leaving us or forsaking us. The more that we engage with that and lean into that truth, the more of an every minute kind of Christian we will become. Are you willing to invest in your faith and take that next crazy step in your journey with Jesus?

Written by: Justine Joy