“The American church is a difficult place to fit in if you want to live out New Testament Christianity. The goals of American Christianity are often a nice marriage, children who don't swear, and good church attendance. Taking the words of Christ literally and seriously is rarely considered. That's for the 'radicals' who are 'unbalanced' and who go 'overboard'. Most of us want a balanced life that we can control, that is safe.”*
I came across this quote the other day and it fit in with a lot of thoughts I’ve had over the last few weeks or so. I don’t really feel the need to spew out my opinions on church and worship. I have no desire to turn this post into me telling you how I think things should be. Heck, I’m still figuring that out as I go anyway. Aren’t we all? But I do want to share some exciting things that have been happening…
After my initial church-hopping hunt when I first moved to Dallas, I ended up at Prestoncrest and landed in the middle of a great group of young professionals who were very active in fellowship and study… a mission trip to Honduras, monthly trips to volunteer at Fortress, Bible Study groups, and the perfect opportunity to meet some solid Christian friends all at my fingertips. And it was wonderful. A great fit for the last year or two.
But somewhere in the course of the last 6 months, I started feeling a lull. I started to get too comfortable sitting in a pew week in and week out, routine in my worship, complacent in my faith. No catastrophic event alerted me to these thoughts, there was just a gradual desire for something more. I began to realize that I had become, dare I say, a bit on the lukewarm side…?
“Lukewarm people attend church regularly. It is expected, so they go. Lukewarm people are moved by stories about people who do radical things for Christ, yet they do not act themselves. Lukewarm people are continually concerned with playing it safe; they are slaves to the god of control. This focus on safe living keeps them from taking risks for God.”*
And so, while I’m not advocating jumping churches whenever your spiritual life hits a valley, I do believe that God has a crazy sense of timing. Sometimes we feel like we wait and wait while nothing happens, no response from up above… and then BAM! Opportunity – right in front of our faces...
*Quotes from Crazy Love, by Francis Chan: great read!
Post a Comment