Don't Be Weak, Be Tea

    I drink tea.  Although I like the smell of coffee, I never developed a taste for it.  

    In any case, it occurred to me that our relationship with Jesus is a lot like tea. 

    No one wants to drink tea that is watery and weak but that is exactly what you get when you only dip the tea bag (or infuser) into the water momentarily.  One quick dip might leave a vague, tea-like, drippy impression, but the result is still more water than tea.  To get a proper cup, tea has to steep.  The tea must remain in the water until the water begins to take on the characteristics of the tea itself.  The water becomes dark, deep, full-bodied, and begins to take on the aroma of the tea.

    It’s the same with Jesus.  No one wants to be a weak and watery Christian but that is exactly what you get if you only dip Jesus into your life momentarily.  A quick dip might leave a vague, Jesus-like, drippy impression, but the results are still more human than Jesus.  To become more like Christ, we need time to steep.  We need to stay in the cup with Jesus for hours at a time until we begin to take on the characteristics of Jesus.  Our humanity needs time to brew so that our faith becomes deep, full-bodied, and begins to take on the aroma of Christ.

    In our overburdened, over-scheduled, hurried culture, the temptation is to try to microwave everything.  But while you can microwave a cup of water, you really can’t rush tea.  Your tea still has to steep.  The temptation is the same in church.  We want to drop in on Jesus once in a while and call it good, but real faith has to steep.  Our Christianity needs time to brew.  We need to spend time with Jesus, in church, in group study, in scripture reading, and in prayer so that we begin to take on the character of Christ.

We have a choice.

    Our faith can be weak, watery, and vaguely Christ-like, or we can take the time to steep and let our faith become deep, full-bodied, with the aroma of Christ.

Be tea.