What does it mean to be a routine Christian? I use the term routine Christian to describe when we become complacent in our spiritual life. We develop bad habits as Christians when we don't challenge ourselves and grow in Christ. Doing the bare minimum should not be where we want our spiritual life to be.
What if you had a friend. Your relationship consisted a few short conversations a day. You never said much more than what you wanted to complain about. Sometimes you say thanks. There is not much depth to your conversation. It really doesn't go anywhere. You leave the conversation feeling like it doesn't matter what you say at all. What if your prayers are like this with Jesus?
Do you find yourself as a routine Christian asking for the genie to grant you three wishes to make all of your problems magically disappear? Do you use Jesus as a avenue to complain about your life? A relationship with Jesus is different than going through the motions with Jesus. Our actions are meaningless if we do not have a relationship with him.
1 John 4:10 “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
Acts 17:27 “ that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us”
How to break the cycle of being a routine Christian.
We need to be intentional about how we approach God. By simply repeating empty prayer a few times a day, we are not building a relationship with Christ. Knowing who Christ is and knowing Christ are two completely different things. We can believe in Jesus, but not have a relationship with him. As our relationship with Jesus grows, our life will become more fruitful. We will experience more blessings. I am not talking about winning the lotto. I am talking about our outlook on life.
We will see the good in life through a Godly pair of eyes. Our life will break out of being the routine Christian. We will have more depth to our prayers. Instead of always asking for Jesus to do something for us, we will praise him instead. The dynamic of our prayers will change to encouragement. When we dig into Gods word, we can explore what God has planned for our life.