As the past few weeks have gone by I have had the opportunity to speak with many different people about my acceptance and involvement with the world race and I have honestly struggled to explain to many of those people exactly what I’m getting myself into. I have followed the journeys of various world racers for the last 3 years but when someone outside of the church asks me what the world race is I go blank. I say it’s a missions trip and get blank looks, so then I back track and try to explain, it’s like humanitarian aid projects. I’m going to care for orphans, work with victims of the sex trade, do feeding projects and that kind of thing. I don’t even attempt to explain what drew me to this trip more than anything, seeing the kingdom of God manifest in my life and in the world around me. That would make their confused looks grow deeper and leave me scrambling to figure out how to explain the great commission to a non-believer without sounding oppressive and old fashioned.
My clumsy responses have left me feeling like I’m allowing an opportunity to speak about what I believe with the people in my life to slide by. That bothers me and leaves me wondering why I value political correctness over the truth. It makes wonder if I am ashamed of the gospel that I represent. Am I ashamed of Jesus?
God has taken me from where I was, cowering in the dark, and quite literally revolutionized my life with the gospel message. I am not who I was 4 short years ago. What I believe has taken on a life of its own, caused me to grow and energized me, restored passion to me, when I was ready to throw in the towel. My outlook is radically different from what it used to be. My world went from black and white to technicolor and it’s stunning. But it’s harder to recognize what is black and what is white among the broad spectrum of colours. I tried to explain what the world race was in another post and my answer was very political. I’m sick of the politically correct garbage and I want to tell you why I’m going. I am jumping off of the fence now.
If you are offended by what I have to say then I must inform you that you are most likely being a hypocrite. Most people I have encountered expect me to listen patiently to what they have to say about their beliefs and practices but do not extend the same courtesy to me when I try to speak about mine. I’m not shutting up anymore. This is why I want to go on the World Race.
I want to see the church, living, breathing and beautiful, in every single country, city, town and village.
I want to see people radically set free from the lives that they are living. I want to see them come face to face with their sin and selfishness as they are confronted by the cross.
I believe that there is ONE God. ONE truth. ONE life to live. And ONE way to heaven–no man can get there without Jesus Christ. I am going on this trip to preach that truth to the nations. Is that offensive? You bet it is.
I want to change. I refuse to live in mediocrity. I refuse to go to church on Sunday and leave it behind on Monday morning. I want to live a radical lifestyle of abandonment.
I AM NOT LIKE YOU. And I never will be. I am a child of God and I exist in a completely different dimension.
I go because I cannot stand to see injustice. I cannot stomach the sight of a life lived without God.
I have been deeply disturbed by what I see in the world around me and I cannot shut my eyes to it, stuff my hands in my pocket and walk past. I must look and I must reach out.
I respect you. I see that your beliefs are deeply rooted. I know you believe you are right. Indignation rises up inside of you as you read this. It is not my intention to offend you. It is not my goal to bring you down or pronounce judgement upon you. Quite the opposite…
I have been radically redeemed and given the opportunity to take a year to go on a spiritual pilgrimage around the world but my journey has already begun. It started right here, right now, with you, with me and with God.
You see, the truth is you are amazing. The truth is you are beautiful. The truth is you are deeply loved. The truth is you have been created with purpose. With passions and desires. The truth is there is a life out there waiting for you. ABUNDANT. Full of passion, joy and abandon. The truth is you don’t see yourself the way that God sees you because if you did there is absolutely NO WAY that you would wake up tomorrow and live your life the way that you’re living it today. I know because it happened to me.
The world race is my opportunity to abandon everything that holds me away from God. It is my opportunity to live out the life that God sees me living. It is my opportunity to speak UP! To SHOUT about the love that God has for the nations. I’ve always been a quiet person and now is my time to be LOUD. To turn up the VOLUME and SING about the awesome love of God. It is anything but a vacation. It is 10x more than merely humanitarian work. I am going to bring the Kingdom. I am going to invite people to run, to sprint, into the arms of God and be caught up in His love for them.
Discard whatever it is you thought I was going to be doing…
I am going to PREACH the gospel and I will not be ashamed.
