Candy Bar Christian and Candy Coated Christianity — E.A. Johnston

The Radical Faith of the Early Christians

When I read my Bible in the book of Acts, and I see what Christians in my Bible looked like back then, and I look around today and observe Christians, I don't see much similarity between the two. In fact, there is a vast dissimilarity between them.

I was sitting for my oral exam to pass my Ph .D., and I was being interviewed by two of my seminary professors, and I made the comment that when I read my Bible and see how the early Christians lived, and how they turned the world upside down in their day and served God in their day, that we in our day should be doing the same.

And one of my seminary professors got hot under the collar when he heard me say that, and he talked down to me and raised his voice, and in a pontificating tone he said, Well I wanted to jump out of my chair and holler, oh why not?

But I didn't. I kept my mouth shut because I wanted to graduate with my Ph .D. But when I think about what that seminary professor said to me, I get hot under the collar myself because he was wrong, dead wrong, and his brand of Christianity is like a mortuary where there is no life in it.

I look around today at most folks who call themselves Christians, and I don't see that apostolic brand of Christianity that rivets my attention when I read about it in my Bible. What I see when I look around is conformity, compromise, and a brand of comfortable Christianity.

Candy-Bar Christianity and Conversion

In this country of America, I see a great number of candy bar Christians who have a candy coated Christianity. And that's the title of my message this evening friends, a candy bar Christian and a candy coated Christianity.

Allow me to explain myself. What happens when God gets a hold of you? God got a hold of me a few years back and my life has never been the same. He flipped my world upside down and changed my perspective on this world and eternity.

When God gets a hold of you friend, your life is never the same again. Everything you felt was important is now dust and ashes. Every desire you had before is replaced with a new desire. That ever happen to you?

When God gets a hold of you, you go to bed thinking about souls and eternity and you wake up thinking about souls and eternity. That ever happen to you? About three years ago, God told me to give up my television.

I did. I have not watched TV since. I couldn't tell you what TV programs are on at night or who's popular or not. I don't know. I used to be glued to the golf channel. I could tell you all about my favorite golf players, but I don't know who won the Masters in the last few years or the US Open or the British Open.

I don't know. I don't keep up with it anymore. I couldn't even tell you who's playing in the Super Bowl. I don't know and I don't care because the Super Bowl isn't worth a hill of beans in eternity anyhow.

Surrendering Entertainment and Cultural Approval

What would you do, friend, if God told you to give up your television? If he told you to disconnect your cable TV, what would you do? Would you risk being an oddball in today's society because that's what you would be?

When I go and get my hair cut, the girl cutting my hair is talking about who won the Dancing with the Stars. I don't even know what she's talking about, for I've never seen the show. I haven't kept up with television programming in several years because I don't have TV.

Now you may think I'm strange, a little peculiar. I know I probably wouldn't be a very good dinner companion because I couldn't talk with you about the things on TV. I'm completely ignorant about Hollywood and I want to keep it that way.

But let me ask you again, friend. What would you do if God told you to give up your TV, disconnect it from your entire family? Boy, that would sure make your teenagers scream bloody murder. Your wife might walk out on you.

Your husband would throw a yelling fit. Old Granny would have a stroke because she couldn't keep up with her soap operas. Little Johnny couldn't watch the Disney Channel and keep up with all those bisexuals on there.

What would you do? Many of you would not want to give up your candy bar. Candy bar Christian and candy coated Christianity. I was in a financial crucible, which seems to be a familiar occurrence with me these days.

Sacrificial Giving in Times of Financial Need

I couldn't pay my utility bill or my mortgage or anything else. And I called a pastor buddy of mine and told him of my great need. He looked in his wallet and dug out what he could afford to part with and he sent me 50 bucks.

Now, 50 dollars sure won't pay a mortgage, much less a utility bill. I know he could have sent a lot more, but he sent what he felt he could part with. I then called a church friend who was a millionaire businessman and I shared my desperate need with him that I had no money for my utility bill or phone bill or car note, let alone my mortgage.

And could he help me? If he wouldn't give me some help, could he at least loan me some money until I could pay him back when my situation improved? He said he would pray about it and call me back. I never heard from him again.

I've run into him since, a time or two, but he's never mentioned it. Well, a pastor friend of mine in Africa heard about my financial dilemma and he telephoned me from Africa and this is what he told me.

He said, Dr. Ernest, my wife and I want to help your family during this critical time. My mother has just died and left me an inheritance. She left me a sum of 500 dollars. Now in Africa, friends, that's a small fortune.

In fact, in that part of Africa where my pastor friend lived, the average yearly income per capita was only 300 dollars a year. So this man said he just inherited 500 dollars. Let me now continue with his conversation to me.

He said, my wife and I have prayed about it and asked God and we want to send you my entire inheritance. Then he hung up the phone and I shared the news with my family. Two hours later, I received another phone call from him.

This is what he said, Dr. Ernest, it costs 500 dollars to have a funeral in Africa. I have set aside 500 dollars from former years to bury my mother when she died and now she's died and I have that 500 dollars set aside to bury my mother.

My wife and I have prayed and asked God and we feel God is telling us to send you that extra 500 dollars which I would have used to bury my mother. We're going to send you that money and trust God to bury my mother for me.

So the dear man sent me a check for a thousand dollars. He gave me all he had, all the money he had, his whole inheritance, his funeral expenses for his mama, a thousand dollars. Would you give like the American pastor or would you give like the African pastor?

Think about it and be honest before God. Let me ask you friend, if God told you to give away every dollar you had saved up and give it to his work, would you do it and trust God for tomorrow? Would you?

Would you be like the rich young ruler and just walk away and pretend you didn't hear him or would you give all the money you have now away to God's work in advancing the gospel in your generation to save a few souls from hell, a New Testament Christianity or candy bar Christian and candy coated Christianity?

Brother Yun's Rebuke of Western Giving

I have read the biography of Brother Yun, the Chinese believer who was in prison for his faith in China and cruelly tortured for his testimony in Christ Jesus. He wrote an article entitled An Appeal to the Western Church and in it he describes how American Christians give their money to God.

Here now are his words from his observation of the American church. Multitudes of church members in the West are satisfied with giving their minimum to God, not their maximum. I've watched men and women during offering time in church.

They open their fat wallets and search for the smallest amount they can give. This type of attitude will never do. Jesus gave his whole life for us and we give as little of our lives, time and money as we can back to God.

What a disgrace! Repent! Those were his words friends. I'll never forget what the wife of a deceased millionaire told me. She said that her husband left over a million dollars to several ministries in his will.

The trouble was that this man lived a long time and many of the ministries in his will were no longer in operation at the time of his death. Had he given to them while he was alive, they might have survived and continued on.

But he wanted to hang on to the money and earn interest on it while he was alive and watch it grow. I believe friends that many good ministries fold up and close their doors for want of funds and candy bar Christians.

The Acts 2 Model of Shared Possessions

Well how is a Christian supposed to give to God and his work? Let me read it to us from the book of Acts in chapter 2 and verses 44 and 45. And all that believed were together and had all things common and sold their possessions and goods and parted them to all men as every man had need.

In other words, there should never be a believer with a great financial need as long as there are other believers in the world. I know a lot of good evangelists out there preaching the truth and several are starving and they need financial help.

A good evangelist doesn't need a handout but a leg up to continue the work of God, the work which God has called him to. Like I said, when I read about how Christians behaved in the early church and I look around today, at least in this country in the west, I see a vast dissimilarity between them and us.

They were on fire for God and eaten up with eternity. They were intoxicated with Christ and lived on the out and out for God and lived to bring lost souls in. But today it isn't so. How do you give your money to God friend?

A candy bar Christian and candy coated Christianity. What would you do friend if God told you to give up your sports and entertainments and spend that time and money for him? What would you do brother pastor?

Redeeming Time from Sports and Entertainment

Would you give up your golf game? Would you give away your golf clubs? Would you give up watching your football and your basketball? Would you? I haven't watched a basketball game or a football game in years.

Even when I had a TV, I didn't spend my time on such things that don't matter in eternity. Now you call me a hard shell, but I promise you dear Christian friend, when we stand before Jesus Christ at the Bema seat and he reviews our lives with his eyes of fire, we will cringe and be embarrassed for all the time we wasted on such nonsense as sports and entertainments.

Time is a commodity given to each of us by God and we are exhorted to redeem the time because the days are evil. Let me ask you a question. Are the days we're living in evil? Then what are you doing with your time?

I used to live on a golf course. I belonged to one of the most prestigious country clubs in the country. It was on the PGA tour and all the big names played there. I played golf at least four or five times a week.

Back then I lived to play golf and I was active in my church as a Sunday school teacher. One day God told me to hang up my golf clubs and give that time to him on my knees and in my Bible and he told me what golf stood for, G-O-L-F, golden opportunities lost forever.

I haven't played golf in my home city in over 15 years. God told me to give it up. Let me ask you, friend, if God told you to give up your favorite sport or hobby, would you do it? Would you? Candy bar Christian and candy coated Christianity.

Surrendering Besetting Sin

Let me ask you this next thing, friend, and be honest. If God asked you to part with your darling sin, the one that so easily besets you, the one you keep crying over and keep committing time and time again through defeat and discouragement, if God asked you to give that to him and to give it to him entirely and forever, would you do it?

Christ's Warning About Sin and Hell

Jesus said, wherefore, if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off and cast them from thee. It is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire, and if thy eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee.

It is better for thee to enter into life with one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. I like the story about the British Bible teacher F .B. Meyer who was struggling in his pastoral ministry until one day he said that in his sleep God came to him in a vision.

F. B. Meyer's Story of Total Surrender

He saw the Lord come to him. He saw him just as clearly as he hoped to see him in glory. Then the Lord said to him, my son, would you give me every key to every door of your heart? He then saw himself handing a ring of keys to his Lord.

The Lord looked into his face and said, are they all here? Yes, Lord, he replied, all except one tiny little key to one small room. This was his tobacco habit. Then the Lord looked at him sadly as he handed the keys back to him and said, I must have them all or I will take none at all, and he vanished.

F .B. Meyer then awoke with a start. He leaped out of bed, dropped on his knees and cried, here, Lord, is the other key. I surrender all. Let me ask you, dear friend, have you given the Lord Jesus every key to every room of your life and heart?

Have you or are you holding something back which you do not want to give to him because you know if you give it to him you can never have it again because what you give to him he keeps, a candy-bar Christian and candy-coated Christianity.

Answering God's Call to Full-Time Ministry

Let me ask you this final question, friend, and then I will leave you alone to get alone with your God. If God asked you to leave your career, to leave your business, to leave your secular goals and go into full-time ministry, would you do it?

If he called you into ministry, would you go? Would you or would you delay with an excuse? I knew two men whose personal lives were wrecks, and they were both businessmen. When I asked each of them privately what they had originally intended to do with their lives, they each confessed to me that God had called them to preach, but they did not want to be poor, so they went into business instead, candy-bar Christian and candy-coated Christianity.

Pursuing God Before Surrendering Anything

Which is it for you, friend? Which is it for you? For you to give God something, you must first go to him and ask him if he wants to take it from you. The first step is to pursue him in prayer and ask him if there is something in your life that he wants you to give him completely.

The first step comes from you, friend. The next step is from you. Let us go to prayer.