Abandoning High Maintenance Chrisianity
I've been listening to David Platt's crazy, awesome audio book in my car, Radical. He said, "I could not help but think that somewhere along the way we had missed what was radical about our faith and replaced it with what is comfortable."
I’ll tell you what’s comfortable. My bed! I sleep in a sea of pillows and at least 5 blankets and 2 down comforters. When I was 10, I added about 20 stuffed animals to that, each with it’s own name. I am the true princess and the pea.
This is not radical sleeping. This is high maintenance sleeping!
Jacob was a radical sleeper. In Genesis 28, Jacob used a rock as a pillow at night when God appeared to give him the promise. Jesus was a radical sleeper too. Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Luke 9:58
Platt also says in his book, "We are settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves."
Could we be too easily becoming high maintenance Christians? Full of fluff? I think it is so simple to lose sight of the radical faith that Christ calls us to. I forget every day when I snap at my coworkers for making small mistakes or shake my fists at the driver in front of me in traffic. We work tirelessly at making ourselves comfy and cozy. I’m guilty. I pray for God to bless me over missions, leaders and even you. I just want Him to take away anything that might be disruptive into my too busy schedule, like a princess who needs needs more fluff to get rid of the irritating pea that's under her bed. I’ve only got 5 minutes to pray for Him to take all that “stuff” away from my life too. And then when I get my week vacation that I prayed for, I still only manage to find 5 minutes to ask Him to then go ahead and bless that vacation.
I think Christ calls us away from our comfort, blankets, pillows and stuffed animals to live a more radical life. This is what I believe a missionary is. That means that if you feel challenged to do something not so comfy, maybe just plain uncomfortable, you might be in the right place.
When we think of missions, we think globally. Guess what? Open your door and there’s the globe. You do not need to go to Africa to think globally.
A couple of weeks ago, Jack, in my study group at church told us to pray that God would use him to share his faith as he met with a friend that week. I’m a bit embarrassed to say that for the first time in my life, I got truly excited about someone else’s opportunity. I realized how important mission’s here really is. He has the ability to speak the truth of the gospel into his friends’ life. I most likely will never have that opportunity, let alone meet his friend. I need to pray for Jack to have that chance.
Why don’t I get excited to pray for all my radical Christian friends so that they all have opportunities like Jack? I have to think bigger than just me. They all encounter people on a daily basis. I want to start praying that they seek the uncomfortable as well as myself. That they let go of their security blankets of trusting in their large churches to do the job. Pack up their stuffed animals of thinking they don’t have a voice to speak into people’s lives by the power of God’s Word. Stop from purchasing the newest sheets with the highest thread count of staying home to watch the finale of Dancing with the Stars and instead make a visit to that lonely neighbor just a short walk out the door. Put away the down comforter of catering to your own interests and what’s convenient for you and doing what’s right for others by letting it cost you something.
This is missions. I don’t think Christ intended it to be cushy. You know someone that I’ll never be able to speak life into or show love and that makes me excited for you. I’ll meet people that God will put in my life that you will never meet. This is missions! It’s right outside our door. There’s a cost though. I hope you are willing and ready to say goodbye to your teddy.
If your faith doesn’t cost something, you got taken. It’s too cheap. Make a return and start to live life radical.
