As the title suggests, the World Race ruined my life.
Remember that scene in The Matrix where Morpheus offers Neo the blue pill or the red pill. If not, here ya go:
This pretty much describes how I feel after my time on the World Race.
I took the red pill.
For 11 months, I lived authentically. I existed in community straight out of Acts 2. I was part of and witness to miracles and healings. I saw captives set free, demons rebuked, and Children of God understand their true identity for the first time.
I had precious few possessions, and fewer distractions. Disciples were made. Believers were edified. The kingdom came–It was built, here on earth, as it is in Heaven.
It was the most amazing experience of my life.
It also ruined my life.
Ever since I came back to America, I am not longer satisfied with the traditional American life. In fact, Ameri-christianity is difficult for me to deal with.
I attend church. I attend life group. I serve. I give.
But none of these things satisfy me anymore.
A life group, which meets once a week for about two hours, can never compare to the community built between my team and me while living in the friction of lives grating against one another. 24 hours for months at a time, my community was together. Things got real. Things got messy. We prayed over one another, shared all our possessions, served together, broke bread together and confessed our sins to one another. We carried each other’s burdens. We helped one another carry our own loads. We cried together (so much). We laughed together (so much more). We were the hands and feet. We were church.
The practice of church I find now is about 1.5 hours on Sunday. Everyone stays very individual from everyone else–as if we are all in our own little church cubicles. And then at life group we take tiny timid steps towards authentic community. We want it but we are scared to death of it. So here we remain. Neat and tidy, our lives hardly touch. There is no friction–no mess.
I struggle to be fulfilled. I struggle to enjoy these half-hearted attempts at God’s gift of community.
I’m left longing for some semblance of the messy, authentic, friction of living life on life–iron sharpening iron.
I have seen the Matrix. The World Race was my red pill. I can’t go back. I can never again be satisfied with anything less than the truth.
And the truth is: The World Race ruined my life…and I would never ever take it back.
Help me lead young adults and college kids to Eastern Europe for two months by donating on this site!
Also, check out my personal blog at Christopherqualls.com! You probably won’t be disappointed…but if you are, feel free to leave me a seething comment about the time you wasted reading my crap. I’d love that!
