Wake Up

I am reading “Radical” by David Platt. The subtitle is Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream. Wow, it’s a good book. It is really challenging me and making me take a look at how I am living my life, and where I have not been doing such a good job.

I’ll admit that I was afraid to read this book at first. Afraid of how it would convict me and what it would then require of me to do or to give up. I am certainly feeling stretched already, but am glad for the conviction.

This is an excerpt from close to the beginning, and it really spoke to me.

I’m calling it “Wake Up“:

…We do have to give up everything we have to follow Jesus. We do have to love him in a way that makes our closest relationships look like hate. And it is entirely possible that he will tell us to sell everything we have and give it to the poor.

But we don’t want to believe it. We are afraid of what it might mean for our lives. So we rationalize these passages away. ‘Jesus wouldn’t really tell us not to bury our father or say good-bye to our family. Jesus didn’t literally mean to sell all we have and give it to the poor. What Jesus really meant was…’

And this is where we need to pause. Because we are stating to redefine Christianity. We are giving in to the dangerous temptation to take the Jesus of the Bible and twist him into a version of Jesus we are more comfortable with. A nice, middle-class, American Jesus… A Jesus who brings us comfort and prosperity as we live out our Christian spin on the American dream…”

…Wake up and realize that there are infinitely more important things in your life than football and a 401(k). Wake up and realize there are real battles to be fought, so different from the superficial, meaningless ‘battles’ [we] focus on. Wake up to the countless multitudes who are currently destined for a Christless eternity. The price of our nondiscipleship is high for those without Christ. It is high also for the poor of the world…

…

Half of the world struggles to get by on less than $2 per day while we sit in our comfortable homes with our endless supply of food and clothing. 26,000 children under the age of 5 die every day due to diseases that can be prevented. Millions of people are facing another day of not knowing Christ and risking unimaginable suffering for eternity. The price of not obeying what Christ has told us to do all along is quite high.

We CAN do something about these realities.

The problem is, I AM comfortable with my material possessions. I don’t WANT to give up everything and to risk it all.

But, if we really do claim to be followers of Christ, as Platt says, we must commit to believe whatever Jesus says and then we need to commit to obey what we’ve been told. We can’t cherry pick our favorites and ignore the hard parts. We can’t claim to follow Him if we refuse to believe ALL of what He said. “The gospel does not prompt you to mere reflection; the gospel requires a response.“

So this is what I’m working on – figuring out what my response is supposed to be. We have a couple small things in the works and I look forward to sharing those with you as they develop.

But for now, how does all of this strike you? Do you think we need to take back our faith from the American dream?

Feeling Restless

Have you ever felt restless? Like something just wasn’t right or something was missing, but you couldn’t put your finger on it?

I have. And when it happens, it’s something that I really can’t quite figure out.

I have a wonderful husband, a great family, good friends, and a good job. I try to do good things (& always ought to strive to do more).

But sometimes that feeling creeps in. I feel a little lonely, a little discombobulated. Restless.

A couple months ago I stumbled upon a post by Sheila Walsh that described exactly what I had been feeling but couldn’t figure out. She hit the nail on the head, and it has stayed with me.

Read her post “Restless” here.

She describes this restlessness as “a sacred ache, an ancient longing” that points us continually to Christ, and that it won’t go away “until we make it all the way home”. It tells us “that home is what we’re made for”. Like a constant reminder.

To me… this makes complete sense. And I find it comforting.

Do you get restless? What do you think about this idea?

Looking to Rename My Blog

Okay – to my handful of loyal readers…

I am looking to rename my blog. I have never really been fully satisfied with “Live.Love.Serve.” It was sort of a default choice. Problem is, I can’t seem to come up with anything that fits that I like better.

So for those of you who read my blog & know the types of things that I write about, do you have any suggestions? I’m wide open.

And I might be able to round up a little prize pack for the winning suggestion!

So please help me out. Suggest away.

This Comfortable Life

This is based on a conversation I had with my oldest brother a couple months ago. It has stayed with me…

I live in a comfortable house.

I drive my comfortable car to my comfortable job where I earn a comfortable salary.

I come home to my comfortable food, my comfortable AC/heat/running water, and my comfortable family.

I have a group of comfortable friends, we lead our comfortable Bible study groups, and go to a comfortable church with all of the programs you could ever imagine.

I have enough to buy all of the comfortable clothes/shoes/accessories a girl could want.

We may not be the richest people in the US (in my mind, we are nowhere close to it), but by world standards we are filthy rich. Go to this website and put in your annual household income. It will rank you on a scale of the world’s wealth. Very eye-opening.

I wrote another post about how we are blessed to be a blessing. You can read it here.

So in all of this comfortable life, what is God calling us to do?

What more does He require of us?
And how can we make sure that we are using our blessings to bless others?

Our Noisy Lives

Most of the time, I don’t like silence. When I’m home by myself, I tend to automatically turn on the TV, just to have the background noise (particularly after dark). When I’m driving, I have to have the radio, or better yet, I have to find someone to call and chat with (with my hand’s free device, of course!). When I’m waiting somewhere for someone or something, I often have to find something to look at or fiddle with, so as not to have to just sit awkwardly waiting & staring.

Our society is becoming increasingly busy and increasingly “noisy” – whether it’s audible noise or just stuff to fill up our time. I think sometimes we are afraid of the silence. Afraid of feeling awkward or of being bored.

Last week was a pretty crazy week at work. All I wanted to do when I got home was to turn on the TV, lay on the couch, and veg out. Just to have mindless activity that didn’t require much out of me. We don’t normally watch a whole lot of TV around our house. We don’t even have standard cable – just the basic networks. But we manage to find something to watch when we want to.

So when this weekend rolled around, we actually felt like we had overdosed on TV for a while. Friday night, we ate dinner, watched one short show, and then turned off the TV and read. It was nice. It was peaceful. I felt rejuvenated and able to process some thoughts. The trend continued through the weekend. I actually got some really good thinking done, about several things. Imagine that.

Honestly, I think lately I have been slightly afraid of being too silent for fear of what God will whisper to my heart. We’ve been pondering lately what He is calling us to do – from the small daily things up to our grander life purposes. (That’s a lot to think about, I know.) And there has been a  piece of me that is afraid of what He is going to require of me. What will He ask us to do or give up, and will I be able to handle it and do a good job – at whatever IT may be? One of my main prayer requests to my small group of friends recently has been for courage – courage to follow through on whatever may come up. So we’ll see.

Does this train of thought strike a chord with anyone else? Do you find yourself addicted to the noise?
And maybe related for you, or maybe not, do you find yourself somewhat afraid of what God is going to ask/require of you when you’re really listening?