Christianity or Sentimentalism?

Last night as I was resting and getting ready for another week of camp, I was sitting with one of my best friends and we started to talk about how Christian's are not living the Christian life how they should, but are living it casually. We (Casual Christians) have developed sentimentalism towards God and His Word. We are content to be "fans of God" as Jim Berg puts it, and we make our Facebook statuses and our Tweets to say the "right words" and random verses every now and then, but in reality, we are just "fans of God." We are enjoying being on the right side, but we are not fighting the spiritual warfare that we are in. Yes. Spiritual warfare! Warfare is not won by casual Christians or "God fans," but by Christians who fighting sin, in their own lives, and fighting sin out of love in the lives of others.

Now a days, it seems that preachers and parents are afraid to preach or confront sin. We all want to be politically correct and politically acceptable so we ignore God's Word and what it says about sin. I like how one of my friends, Kyle Grant, stated an idea similar to this:

This is purely out of sincerity and something I consider important and every other Christian should also because God does. I have seen so much discussion on homosexuality lately and I have a few questions. What does it say about our devotion to God when we are labeled a legalist for having a negative attitude towards something God labels an abomination (you disagree? if you're upset with that statement, you prove my point)? Since when did the love of Christ which compelled Him to the cross become an excuse to tolerate the sins He died for? And, why should people be judged by having the same opinion God does on a matter? I understand the spirit of many Christians is not right, but it is not always legalism to protect a traditional opinion, it is not always love to tolerate, and it is certainly wise to agree with God. Am I judging? No, I'm a sinner like everyone l. However, something tells me if I accept sin then sinners won't accept my sinless God.

We all seem to forget that we will have to stand before God and give account to God for how we lived our lives. What excuse are you going to give God for not living as He has instructed? We are all self-centered in doing what we want because we are selfish and not presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice and living as God wants us to live: Holy. Holy means set apart. We need to be set apart from the world, not mixed in it.

Look at the zeal of Muslims. If you take their god's name in vain, Allah, they will go berserk and start killing people or you. At the same time that the Muslims are doing that, Christian's are taking their own God's name in vain! They have more zeal and love for their god and he isn't even real. Where is our zeal? Where is our love for God?

If we have true love for God, then we will live Holy, set apart. If we have Sentimentalism for God, we will live like the world. It's that simple. As Ken Collier puts it: "There are two choices on the self. Please God and please self. If self is what you choose, you lose. If God is your choice, you'll rejoice."

What excuse are you giving God?