I love theology. I love being able to answer questions that people can give me regarding religions and Christian apologetics. But there becomes a point where this can become too important to someone, when they turn their Christian faith into a study instead of a relationship. I have reached this point myself, and thus is why I need the World Race.
Growing up in a Christian family, with parents who also grew up in Christian families, it was just a norm I was following when I decided to be a Christian myself. For me, it wasn't the personal relationship with Christ we are to strive for as Christians; it was just a label I had chosen for myself. I was a Christian: I believed Christ, who is God's son and who is also God, died on the cross for my sins that I may be cleansed of them and join my Father in heaven. But this was as far as it went; I wasn't seeking to grow closer to God each day as I should have.
This changed after high school when I felt called to a year off to go on a mission trip. During this three month trip in India, I learned what being a Christian was really about, and how I could know God on a personal level. My life was changed, and so I committed myself to knowing God. I was sure it was nothing but easy spiritual growth with God from here on; that I would never run into a bump in the road with my relationship with Him.
But in reality, that isn't how it works. We will always have battles with our sinful nature and with our flesh. After a few years of seeking to know everything I could about God, I realized that I had started to create an idol for myself: an idolization of knowledge. I became obsessed with learning about Him in any way, shape or form that I could. My times that I was suppose to be spending worshiping Him and praising His name were instead spent studying predestination and free will, or studying the genealogies of the Bible, of things of this sort that are fine to study, but should not be treated as more important then Christ.
I came to this realization during the last semester of my senior year of college, and knew that it needed to change. The World Race will provide the opportunity for God to bring about such a change in my life, and I am so excited to see what else He has in store for me to let go, change, and grow.
