It has come to my knowledge recently that some people would classify me as a “radical Christian”.
Personally, I don’t feel as if the “radical” part is necessary.
You are either a Christian or you are not.
And if you are, there is a specific lifestyle that God lays out in His Word for those who believe in Him.
The lifestyle that I am talking about, God defines as “LIFE”.
We all know the classic John 3:16, in fact most of us can quote it…
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal LIFE.”
The only LIFE that God desires for us is a life where we fully believe and trust in Him and His promises. A life lacking faith and trust isn’t a life at all. Let alone a life that a Christian should claim to live by.
God does not call us to trust, believe and obey Him because He desires to “run our life”, or to turn us into puppets with no freedom of choice.
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” –Galatians 5:20
No, our God is gracious; He gives us a choice to turn to Him or to run away. His desire is that we would all turn to Him, (“whoever believes”), because He knows that a life with Him leads to just that… LIFE.
Life: a period of time where someone is ALIVE.
If being alive is one of our options, the other clearly is death, and that doesn’t leave much to choose from in between. (or anything at all for the matter)
God is a gentleman, He gives us the choice, but He wants us to choose Him because He wants to save us from death and all the chains that bind us in that state.
Either choice we make we choose to obey certain desires…
Option #1:
Obeying our selfish longings. If we choose a life without God, we choose to live according to the “rights” and “wrongs” we have created for ourselves. It seems really appealing in a sense; you can do whatever you want to do, whenever you want to. You live to fulfill whatever brings you the most satisfaction.
Option #2:
Obeying the 2 greatest commandments that Christ calls his children to follow. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” And, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
The outcome of option #1:
The fulfillment of our satisfaction will most likely bring us happiness for a time. FOR A TIME. That’s it. It will leave us wanting more. It will leave us still searching for that one thing that will bring us complete wholeness.
The outcome of option #2:
The deep secret place in our souls will be so full of love that it will pour out onto everything we encounter. Our lives will be defined not by the love we have for the creation, but for the creator. And that is real love. That love goes beyond circumstantial happiness. That is God’s love and it is perfect. His love heals, brings hope and casts out fear. His love never fails.
So if loving makes me radical, then I am radical.
If loving makes me weird, then I am weird.
If loving makes me completely opposite from the world, WONDERFUL! I don’t want to be like this world. I did not come from this world. I do not belong here. My home is with my maker, my savior my dad, my Lord.
The only thing the world has promised me is what I can do in my own strength, which is nothing, at least nothing that is eternal.
When it comes down to it we all have a choice to make.
I choose life, what will you choose?
Just as a reminder, I am fully funded! Praise the Lord!
As most of you know, I am still in Kenya. We stayed here for our 8th month because it was not safe for us to go into Uganda. I am at a new ministry site in Nakuru. Life is so good! God has blessed us with a wonderful family to stay with. We are spending much of our time visiting children's homes, helping maintain the homes and loving on the kiddos!
We will be leaving in 2 weeks for Thailand.
I will be arriving home in the states in a little over 3 months time. I currently still need funding for my plane ticket home and some personal expenses while still on the field. If you would like to help me with those expenses please email me, [email protected].
Thank you so much!
