Decaf, Cold Brew, and Christian Integrity

Hypocritical Christian life and ministry is like decaffeinated coffee.

I tried my hand at making cold brew iced coffee this weekend. I watched some YouTube videos and read a couple of things online. If I do say so myself, the coffee brewed surprisingly well. In fact, the process made the best and smoothest iced coffee I’ve ever had.

That process of cold brewing itself fascinated me. Basically, you scoop ground coffee into a pull string cloth bag (I used a nut milk bag) and steep the coffee bag in cold water for a dozen or so hours. It’s almost like magic or a miracle, turning water into the divine juice of heaven itself.

That’s a bit what a Christian’s integrity is like. As the Word of God bleeds into our souls by the power of the Spirit of God, we turn from cold water to cold brew. It’s the miracle of abiding in Christ, the true vine. It takes time. But as we abide, we start to look different and to leave a different taste in the mouths of those who encounter us. We bring life and energy to our networks and the nations. We become “the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To some we are an aroma of death leading to death, but to others, an aroma of life leading to life” (2 Cor 2:15-16). These verses refer to the apostolic Christian ministry of Paul, but they apply as well to all Christians, both pastors and people. A wholehearted Christian life and ministry is fully caffeinated, life-giving, integrated.

On the other hand, hypocritical Christian life and ministry is like decaffeinated coffee. That’s the scary thing. Because decaf has all the looks, smells, and flavors of the real thing. Without a clear label, you don’t know the difference between decaf and regular coffee until you find yourself either buzzing or dragging half an hour after your morning cup. In other words, decaf coffee has all the looks, smells, and flavors of the real thing, but it doesn’t have any of the power. Decaf coffee is a lie, promising the benefits of coffee but failing to deliver them. So too a decaf Christian can look and sound and smell like the aroma of Christ, but he doesn’t have the power of the Spirit. Decaf Christianity is a symptom of neglecting to steep the truth of God into our hearts. It’s hard to tell a hypocrite at first, because hypocrites don’t generally label themselves. It’s only obvious in the long run. Hypocrisy takes time to discern, in others and ourselves.

If you’re honest and if I’m honest, we have pockets of hypocrisy in our lives. Places that might seem at first like Jesus, but have none of his Spirit’s power. What do we do then? We get fresh water (Jesus said he provides living water), we get 200 proof bold roast of his Word freshly ground, and we soak it into our souls. We read our Bibles and pray every day. We gather with the saints for worship and fellowship. In other words, we repent and believe again in the gospel.