So we’re in Jaco, Costa Rica. Daily life thus far has consisted of sleeping in hammocks under our Rancho.Waking up to the sounds of parrots and other tropical birds flying overhead. Drinking coffee in hipster Costa Rican coffee shops, going to surf competitions, swimming in the roughest waves I’ve ever seen, and eating the best tacos possible. I’ve seen some of the most beautiful people and laughed more and more at every attempt I’ve made at Spanish (Spanish with a southern accent is something everyone should encounter.) I’ve been to a Spanish church service as well as an English one.
This lifestyle is just so easy. It would be so easy to stay exactly where I am. I could live this glorious “Endless Summer” lifestyle. End of story right?
But in the 4 days I’ve been here, I think I’ve encountered more spiritual attack than ever.
When we first arrived our ministry contact gave us a warning. She said, “Don’t let Jaco engulf you in it’s lifestyle.” I took the warning and placed it in the back burner of my mind like any good missionary would and proceeded forward. But as the days have gone on, I’ve since taken it off the back burner and brought it to the front. Jaco is a place that people come to to lose themselves. And I can see why. When you look at it for face value, it seems ideal.
This morning our teams attended the local English church service. As I sat and listened to the pastor’s message, I felt more and more convicted. It centered around Jesus and his disciples just before he was arrested. He spoke of Jesus sweating blood as He spoke to God of what was to come. He spoke of Jesus returning to find His disciples asleep. He said “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”
Get up. Why is that so hard for me to do? Why am I so content with living in a mundane lifestyle when God has promised me so much more?
As the message went on and on, I thought back to a conversation I had with a teammate the day before.
As we sat on the beach watching the surfers, I made a comment about how this month was going to be hard for me. She asked why and I proceeded to tell her how even in the short time that we had been here, I had already fallen into a pattern of complacency with God. I had hardly picked up my bible. She then made a comment that rocked my world. She said, “Why is it that this place is doing that? We come from a place where our lifestyle is almost the exact same.”
Shoot.
I’m still learning how to do a relationship with God. I admit that. And I think I honestly always will be. But I’ve just realized how poor of an attempt I’ve actually been making. Just because I’m on a “mission trip” in Costa Rica, why is it that this mindset of growing the Kingdom couldn’t have started when I was back home in Tennessee? Sure I went to a Christian university and sure I attended the church services every week, but that was it. In order to actually grow the Kingdom I have to get up. I have to be ok with becoming uncomfortable.
I challenge whoever is reading this to do the same. Don’t be ok with doing the bare minimum. Don’t be ok with living in complacency. You weren’t made for it. It will get you no where. Don’t write others off as a lost cause. There is no such thing. The world doesn’t need anymore cookie-cutter Christians. It needs more who are willing to get down and dirty for the Gospel. It needs more who are willing to look past the surface level crap that the enemy so easily shows us, and get to know others for the Child of God that they were truly made to be. It needs less fear and more prayer. It needs us to get up.
