Last Thursday night, I introduced a new series called Three Chairs. The idea for the series came from a couple of pages out of Craig Groeschel’s book Christian Atheist. The three chairs represent the three ways you can live out your spirituality.
I called the first chair, Benefit. People who sit in this chair view their spirituality through the lens of how it benefits them. In other words, they are in it for what they can get. They want God to bless them, meet their needs, provide them with happiness and good health. However, they are unwilling to do anything extra for God. For many in this chair, God is like a cosmic credit card or a sugar-daddy. Most people would never admit to being in this chair, and yet far to many people who claim to be Christians are very comfortable sitting here.
Chair #2 is called Contribute. Those who sit here are willing to do things for God. As long as it doesn’t cost too much. As long as the sacrifice isn’t too painful. They attend church, volunteer when they have nothing better to do, and are willing to get involved in areas that interest them. It’s easy for people in this chair to be offended if you challenge them to go further. After all, it’s not like they are not doing anything! On Thursday, I suggested that people in this chair make the mistake of comparing their spirituality to others. As long as they are more spiritual than some of the people in their life, then all is good. The problem is, as Christ’s followers, we should be comparing our spirituality to Jesus Christ, not to other believers. When we examine Jesus’ life, how do we compare? If we are in Chair #2, then we fall short.
It is the third chair where we are called to live our lives. I called this chair Abandonment. I suggested that people in this chair are ready to give everything for the cause of Christ. If it means laying down their life for the sake of God’s purposes, then so be it. It doesn’t matter the cost, the sacrifice, the challenge. If God calls us to something, people in Chair #3 jump in fully.
You can move from chair to chair, but if you want to live your life fully the way God intended for you to live it, you must settle into the third chair. However, sadly, most people never experience life in the third chair. Only a few Christ-followers make the move from one of the first two chairs into that place where God can use you fully.
Since Thursday night, I have enjoyed the comments from many of the people at Bikers’ Church. Most were challenged by the message, and many wanted to tell me what chair they believed they were sitting in (the most common chair was #2). Some were honest in their admission that chair #3 scared them a little. While they wanted God’s best for them, the idea of moving to the third chair seemed daunting.
For a few, they wondered if I was suggesting that they have to sell everything they have in order to sit in Chair #3. But, that’s not what I said. What I said is that we need to be willing to do whatever God might call us to do. In fact, I referenced the entire message by using a scripture from Philippians 3:8
Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ.
Powerful words. In my message, I emphasized the word worthless. What Paul (the writer of these words) isn’t saying is that we have to get rid of everything we have in order to sit in Chair #3. No, that misses the point. Rather, we are to see everything we have as worthless or of very little value compared to our relationship with Christ. In other words, nothing should compare to Christ.
When you get to that point — sitting in Chair #3 — nothing can hold you back. No possession, desire, want, or need matters as much as loving God and loving others through your relationship with God.
Again, most never experience Third Chair Spirituality. Most never realize how freeing it can be. And yet, the invitation is there for anyone to live life that way.
I’d love to hear your thoughts. What chair do you believe you’re sitting it?
Here’s the video from last Thursday’s message:
