I am becoming more and more convinced that my life is not what Christ wants it to be. It's not that I think I'm a bad person; I just see more and more incompatibility between Jesus' teachings and the culture in which I live, including the church.
I'm reading the book Radical by David Platt. It is the latest in what must not be a coincidental series of books I've read that continue to challenge my lifestyle and the comfortable faith I've lived with for most of my life. I just don't believe God put me (or any of us) on earth simply to go to work, raise a family, volunteer in church or community activities, then retire and travel, play golf, etc. As I think about the way many of us, self included, have lived as Christians, it's little wonder that the church in America is declining!
Yet in countries where one can be tortured or killed for being a Christian, the church is growing. What truth do they know that we are missing? Could it be that the only faith worth having is one worth dying for? A faith worth sacrificing everything so that Christ will be proclaimed and people will be transformed?
I am growing less and less comfortable with my comfortable lifestyle. I don't think God sent Jesus to earth to be sacrificed so that I could squander his blessings to me on a big house, expensive cars, clothes, jewelry or electronics while others are starving to death. I'm beginning to think that Jesus really meant it when he said that unless I give up everything I own, I cannot be his disciple. Will I?
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