A spare tire is a good thing to have in your trunk; but once it’s there, who gives it a second thought until it’s needed?
This “spare-tire religion,” R.J. Rushdoony wrote in 1994, is descriptive of all too many people’s Christianity.
https://chalcedon.edu/resources/articles/spare-tire-religion
It’s profession of Christianity over practice. Rushdoony marveled over how many Christians fight over doctrines to which they’ve given but little thought: “It seems that some cannot say what they really believe, but they know what they do not believe.”
But some ten years ago he found hope in the growing number of Christians who had stopped taking their faith for granted and were eager to explore its deeper meaning. “Spare-tire religion is doomed,” he wrote. “It will be replaced by Christianity.”
Sometimes it’s hard for us to see that. And sometimes that’s exactly how God works it.
Spare tire religion nails it – we need a Great Awakening.