So where we’re we?? Ah yes. What would the average Christ follower’s conversation sound like? For this exercise I scoured the internet, books, surveys, Barna polls, and statistics that all pointed me to a very unfortunate conclusion. An average Christ follower’s conversation isn’t much, if any, different than that of a non-Christian.
However, this conclusion didn’t come as quite the shock to me, as I hope it did to you. I also didn’t need “Kingdom research” to inform me of this, because, for a majority of my adult life, I was that Christian!! Yes, I went to church(most of the time), tithed(2% of my income), and was kinda “graceful”.
So what happened? I’ll get to that in a minute, but let’s look at this in the context of our conversation study. As I said yesterday, “Kingdom research” has shown that what dominates our conversations are our beliefs, likes, dislikes, and experiences. So why then, don’t “christian” conversations sound different.
Let’s start with beliefs. For this exercise we’ll have to assume that the Christians believe that Jesus is the divine Son of God. So that begs the question. Is belief enough? I think scripture is crystal clear that the answer is NO. Take James 2:19 “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that–and shudder.” Enough said.
Likes and dislikes. If it is alright with you, from here on out we’ll replace like and dislike with love. Only fitting since we are talking about the God of the universe, our creator, and the one who sent His Son to die for us. Love, as we mortals know it, tends to be reciprocal and conditional. We love others as much as they love us and when their love stops so does our’s. The problem is God’s love is neither of those. Which transitions us into the last point.
Experiences. This is where it changed for me. I , like most Christians, was ok with the believing part (apparently so were demons). I was even ok with the love part(with conditions). Experiencing God….now that was a whole different story. Wasn’t that for people in the Bible?? Plus, that would require alot of things I’m not very good at like commitment, sacrifice, and surrender. I hate to burst your bubble but without the experience of God, his Son, and their love none of us mortals are good at much. It is in these experiences, with the sovereign God of the universe, that we are refined. It is these experiences that make us understand a love that isn’t reciprocal and has no conditions. It is in these experiences we are to stay!! I don’t know about your Bible, but I can’t find where it says “follow me” occasionally. Or “abide in my presence” on Sunday’s. No. Experiencing the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit was never intended to be a “sometime thing” it’s a “ALL THE TIME” thing.
Update on mission projects
Adult congregation members
Even though there has been so much to rejoice about in Pakistan, there is some sadness today. Saul has sent word of 4 christian women that have been killed. Their crime….trying to feed their families. You see, they lived in a poverty ravaged area and a rich muslim man was there giving out free flour. Once it was apparent that there was not going to be enough for everyone, the crowd turned on the women. Let us lift up in prayer their friends and families. Also let us pray that the gracious, passive, and forgiving way our christian brothers and sisters handle this situation be a light in the darkness. Amen.
Also, please be in prayer for me as I meet with local church leaders tomorrow. We are trying to jumpstart a mobile food mission in Mexico. Please pray for action, boldness, and wisdom. Unfortunatley these projects can sometimes drag on(and on) even though the need and the resources are there.