Damn Christianese Part 2
I asked myself today: What would you want to do if there were no limitations or set backs, only options?
This is what I wrote in my journal:
Too normal?! Instantly I was reminded of how normal Jesus' life was. He didn't come as the conquering King flowered in glory, He came as a man; son of a carpenter. He came in the simplest and most humble of entries that anyone could come into this world. Structurally, His life wasn't exotic. We tend to imagine His life as more glamorous and abnormal, but that's mostly because we are thinking of the bizarre miracles He performed and of His controversial teachings; things which accounted for only 3 years of His life. Nonetheless they were signs and wonders done within the context of a normal life, an intentional life dedicated to purpose. Think about it.
And this is why I hate what Christianese has done because it takes a good thing and makes it less than; to think that because you're not in the jungle somewhere with a Bible and a backpack that you aren't living to your utmost for Him. I don't believe it and I still find its hooks in my life!
It can't be said enough that stewardship is the highest calling. It is the first and constant calling that man has been given since Genesis; a continuous theme in the Bible. How you steward your life is between you and God, something that is not to be measured or compared against any other life. If someone wants to go trekking through the jungle to reach some unheard of tribe with the gospel, let them; but if you want to go and be a teacher in your community, a foster parent, a barista, whatever- then you need to let yourself.
Trust me, there is nothing glamorous about what people label as "the mission field" other than the airs and sheen we apply.
Too normal??? How can we say such a thing? The very definition of normal means "conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected." And Jesus Himself came to set what would be the new-normal, the new standard.
Normal doesn't imply the absence of greatness, rather it sets the stage for it. So embrace your life, normal though it may be, and steward it well with intention and dedication to purpose. And as always, damn Christianese.
This is what I wrote in my journal:
Directly after my heart spilled effortlessly onto the page I wrote, "But I wonder, is it too normal Lord?"I want to be in the city, in the thick of it. I want to be a friend to my neighbors and be a catalyst in their lives. I want to make neighbors out of the homeless, the people I pass on the day to day; build community. I want to have a home that feeds, shelters, comforts, brings laughter and peace, incites rest, mentors, inspires, and acts as a launching pad.
Too normal?! Instantly I was reminded of how normal Jesus' life was. He didn't come as the conquering King flowered in glory, He came as a man; son of a carpenter. He came in the simplest and most humble of entries that anyone could come into this world. Structurally, His life wasn't exotic. We tend to imagine His life as more glamorous and abnormal, but that's mostly because we are thinking of the bizarre miracles He performed and of His controversial teachings; things which accounted for only 3 years of His life. Nonetheless they were signs and wonders done within the context of a normal life, an intentional life dedicated to purpose. Think about it.
And this is why I hate what Christianese has done because it takes a good thing and makes it less than; to think that because you're not in the jungle somewhere with a Bible and a backpack that you aren't living to your utmost for Him. I don't believe it and I still find its hooks in my life!
It can't be said enough that stewardship is the highest calling. It is the first and constant calling that man has been given since Genesis; a continuous theme in the Bible. How you steward your life is between you and God, something that is not to be measured or compared against any other life. If someone wants to go trekking through the jungle to reach some unheard of tribe with the gospel, let them; but if you want to go and be a teacher in your community, a foster parent, a barista, whatever- then you need to let yourself.
Trust me, there is nothing glamorous about what people label as "the mission field" other than the airs and sheen we apply.
Too normal??? How can we say such a thing? The very definition of normal means "conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected." And Jesus Himself came to set what would be the new-normal, the new standard.
Normal doesn't imply the absence of greatness, rather it sets the stage for it. So embrace your life, normal though it may be, and steward it well with intention and dedication to purpose. And as always, damn Christianese.