Christ-LIKE or Christ-LITE?

As I listen to some classic Gregorian Chants, I imagine what life must have been like back in the Middle Ages. Monasteries are built with such details in architectural precision. Stainglass windows in colors portraying passages of the bible or the works of saints.

But the more I think about this, the more I realize how committed people were to Christianity back then. The time spent mastering their voices when singing praise and worship in the monastery, their voices reverberating within the stone walls. And it was done for hours each day. The monks also took great care in learning to read, and not just read, but also write whole bibles by hand. The level of dedication to these practices brings to mind how little we commit to God today. Most people just give God a couple of hours a week at best, most likely less than that. How and when did we lose that hunger to be in the presence of God, to carefully write each scripture so that others can read them?

Have we become the Disconnected Generation? Have we gone from Christ-like to Christ-lite? Sometimes I wish I could find an old monastery and just sit in the pew somewhere and listen to monks sing to God, letting His presence fill the halls with the voices. We need to have that hunger back, especially in these dark days. I encourage you to spend more time with God, be more mindful of what Jesus has done, and let the Holy Spirit bring out what you were created to be. I know this may be challenging, but what have you got to lose? Time that you would give to a cause that bears no fruits or rewards? Time spent on acquiring things that you can’t take with you when you die? Why not spend that time building a relationship with someone who can be with you for an eternity?

Again, I ask, are we Christ-like, or are we Christ-Lite?