Radical

I have been reading a lot of things over the past few months that have challenged the status quo in my own Christian life.  I have begun to realize that I have settled into a comfortable pattern of worship, service to God, and witness that doesn't really demand too much of me.  Don't get me wrong, I work hard.  Many Saturday nights, I am in my office until 10:30 or 11:00 PM putting the finishing touches on the plans for Sunday's services. I have a steady routine wherein, I spend Monday seeking the Lord about what the sermon should be the following week, deal with any bookkeeping that needs to be done as a result of visitors or decisions the day before, and settle in to study for the next Sunday's sermon.  Despite what it looks like in my office, I have a fairly organized routine that allows me to prepare my sermon, create the study guide for the bulletin, create the PowerPoint, do the bulletin, prepare the order of service, set up the computer for projecting the song lyrics and sermon notes, and get all of the soundtracks and videos in place and ready to go.  I love to write, so the daily blog and email updates that sometimes take up my morning, are a fun and exciting part of my day.  They also serve as a natural outflow from my personal devotional time.  The pastoral tasks of visitation and counseling fall where they may during the week, giving every day a little variety and adding a personal touch to ministry that I love. Salt in the daily times of personal and long-term planning and putting out the little fires that arise from time to time and you have a basic picture of what my life and ministry have become.  I like it.  It's comfortable.  It's a challenge, but I generally know what to expect.  When I compare that to the example that I see in the New Testament and some of the basic statements of Christ about following Him, I am beginning to see that maybe He is calling me to something more. 
We have developed a brand of Christianity that we can easily align with the American way of life.  Blessing equals affluence.  Obedience is simply the avoidance of the big sins.  Charity has its limits and its boundaries.  But what if Jesus really did mean for us to give it all away and follow Him?  Or what if He simply meant for us to live within our means, simply and frugally, and give everything else to reach the lost, to feed the hungry, and to change the world?  What if He really intends for us to genuinely redeem the time? What if the waste of our resources, time, energy, and emotions on things of this world like sports, reality TV, and leisure activities really do grieve the heart of God and quench His Spirit in us?  What if "Sunday Morning Christianity" only makes us accountable to Him for "Monday Morning Witness?"  I'm not sure of all of the answers yet, but one thing I do know, God wants to speak and have us to listen.  He is tired of us assuming that we know what He wants us to do.  So I guess the first step, for me and possibly for you, is to be still....just pull over for a few minutes.  Just turn off the TV, pull out of traffic, give your mind a minute or an hour to stop racing about what is next on the agenda.  Find a quiet place and pray with Samuel, "Speak, Lord, thy servant heareth."  Wait....wait....don't get in a hurry.  Just stay there until He speaks to your heart.  Listen for one thing that you can do to turn things around and begin to follow His plan for your walk with Him rather than your own.  Be prepared.  It may shake you up a bit.  He may ask you to do something that upsets your orderly, cleanly manicured, fine-tuned ritual.  But whatever it is, it will draw you closer to Him.  And one by one, maybe we can set aside the "golden calves" that keep getting in our way and begin to see His Spirit move in us in a powerful way.