Oh, I know, right?! We, in our church as Baptists (even though you or I may not necessarily be one), have becomes so comfortable with the ideas of God's grace and love to me, that I find it is a fight to remember that it is now my job to communicate that love and grace to the world as a member of the Body of Christ! I'm afraid my application to my own life is sadly lacking!
It's another aspect of comfortable Christianity. When I become comfortable, I become complacent. When Christianity becomes normal, recognized, accepted, and cultural, it ceases to be radical and abnormal, and we cease to see the need for radical, abnormal behavior and love. And the result is American Christianity!
And no problem. Thanks for taking the time to watch it!
You're 100% right. I think my biggest problem is knowing that I don't necessarily HAVE to go to another country to communicate that love and grace. We can still show God's love to those who are suffering here, though it's not overseas. That's not to excuse America's version of Christianity at all - we have become desensitized and indifferent. I just find that for me personally, I tend to think of going overseas as the "hard things", when I overlook the needs I can be trying to meet right here. Our church even glamorizes the missionaries and their ministries. Not saying that there's anything wrong with missions (obviously - you know where I stand), I just think we tend to put the missions and overseas work on a pedestal when we're forgetting that radical Christianity doesn't mean that we have to go to third-world country. Any flaws in that thinking?
Nope, I completely agree. The healthy church should be interested in the care of all souls, overseas or at home. Honestly, missions is hard, but doing the radical everyday things that you have to explain to your extended family can be harder! Hard things aren't just missions or such, it's anything that's demanded that's difficult to do.
And yeah, I know in my own life I have to fight the idea that my ministry will be when I'm older and grown in Africa, thus overlooking today's. The souls around us today are going to the same hell, just as surely, as the African or Asian across the ocean.
Alrighty, sorry I only just got around to watching the video...
ReplyDeleteWow. This is really, truly convicting. I wish they would show stuff like this at church. Thank you for posting this!
Oh, I know, right?! We, in our church as Baptists (even though you or I may not necessarily be one), have becomes so comfortable with the ideas of God's grace and love to me, that I find it is a fight to remember that it is now my job to communicate that love and grace to the world as a member of the Body of Christ! I'm afraid my application to my own life is sadly lacking!
DeleteIt's another aspect of comfortable Christianity. When I become comfortable, I become complacent. When Christianity becomes normal, recognized, accepted, and cultural, it ceases to be radical and abnormal, and we cease to see the need for radical, abnormal behavior and love. And the result is American Christianity!
And no problem. Thanks for taking the time to watch it!
You're 100% right. I think my biggest problem is knowing that I don't necessarily HAVE to go to another country to communicate that love and grace. We can still show God's love to those who are suffering here, though it's not overseas. That's not to excuse America's version of Christianity at all - we have become desensitized and indifferent. I just find that for me personally, I tend to think of going overseas as the "hard things", when I overlook the needs I can be trying to meet right here. Our church even glamorizes the missionaries and their ministries. Not saying that there's anything wrong with missions (obviously - you know where I stand), I just think we tend to put the missions and overseas work on a pedestal when we're forgetting that radical Christianity doesn't mean that we have to go to third-world country. Any flaws in that thinking?
DeleteNope, I completely agree. The healthy church should be interested in the care of all souls, overseas or at home. Honestly, missions is hard, but doing the radical everyday things that you have to explain to your extended family can be harder! Hard things aren't just missions or such, it's anything that's demanded that's difficult to do.
DeleteAnd yeah, I know in my own life I have to fight the idea that my ministry will be when I'm older and grown in Africa, thus overlooking today's. The souls around us today are going to the same hell, just as surely, as the African or Asian across the ocean.