Army of Priests

I’m actually doing Luke 18:18-29, which reads:

A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honour your father and mother.’”

“All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”

Jesus replied, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”

Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!”

“I tell you the truth,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.”

I was looking around my room a month or so ago and noticed how much stuff I had (most of it I don’t even use!). Meanwhile, children in Africa starve to death because worms (from untreated water) in their stomach consume all nutrients before they do. They starve to death whilst eating. It only required a 50c tablet to cure…

So I’m doing it. I’m getting rid of all this junk. I’ve been doing it over time, bit by bit. After all, none of it can bring happiness and there is nothing like the awesome feeling that happens when you get rid of all this dead weight…

After all, Luke 16:13 makes it pretty clear that you have to hate money to love God. You have to hate it. I don’t want that false idol near me. I don’t want it’s crap cluttering up my life. So I’m getting rid of it all. 

But what is really weird is that people think I am crazy. I get rid of something and they ask, “What are you getting rid of that for?” As if ‘that’ is something important. So I tell them that if they are so concerned about it, they can have it.

I mean really, why are people more concerned about my stuff than I am? It’s just stuff. It doesn’t make you happy, or give you meaning, it just makes you want to get insurance.

I’m not the crazy one. This bizarre world that expects people to buy, buy, buy to be happy is crazy. This world that expects you to work, work, work in order to buy is crazy.

There seems to be a treadmill people are on where work makes them sad. Then ads convince them that buying stuff will make them happy. So they buy lots of stuff, but in order to buy that stuff they need to work more… Do you see a problematic cycle here?

I believe that a happier lifestyle is one where you cut down your expenses, so you can work as little as possible, and use the time you save on relationships. Not stuff. People. Experiences. Whatever.

And in the meanwhile we can help those kids in Africa. Which is, quite frankly, awesome.

So why does the world think I am crazy? Maybe I have just gone sane.

“work out your salvation with fear and trembling” – Philippians 2:12

I was at a switchfoot concert the other week. These Christian events are the pinnacle of religious hype I have grown to hate so I treat them like entertainment just as I would a secular concert. During the night a high profile evangelist gave a highly emotional talk designed to get as many people as possible to go and get themselves “born again”. Hundreds responded, “praying the prayer”, and left the room to pick up some packs to kick start their faith. Heck, the speaker was so good I was ready to join them for the emotional high of it all.

But something really irks me. Most of those people will be in exactly the same place in a years time as they were that night.

When we reduce salvation to “praying the prayer”, or just “baptism”, or believing the right stuff we violate the Philippians 2:12 principal. To suggest that justification is an event that happens at a certain time and at a certain place is a mistiminer. Jesus listed a whole heap of things someone needed to do in order to “enter the kingdom of God” and you don’t get to that place in a day.

I think we have this idea that we pray a prayer and (bam!) we are at the end of our salvation journey. Sanctification, an entirely new journey, begins. I don’t think it works like that. Praying a prayer or giving your life to God is a stepping stone to salvation, it doesn’t mark the final destination. I think it is what happens when we take Paul’s legal metaphors (only one of the many metaphors used) to its extreme and we end up with this bargaining idea (which also creates the idea that we are saved from God). I give you faith you give me life, sign here, mark this date. But relationships don’t work like that. You don’t meet a girl and become her husband the next day.

Now I know some people can genuinely pin point when they were “born again” and that’s great for them, but is that really the best way of theologically understanding what is happening? I can’t pin point a date. Sure, there are times in my life where God became more real but I never responded to an alter call or prayed the prayer. I hate it when people try to get you to write a testimony and it is suppose to go something like this: “My life sucked, I got saved, my life got better”. My testimony is closer to this: “My life was fine, as I grew up I slowly and confusingly got to know God better and as I have things have only gotten more and more difficult, and doubtful, and challenging, and painful. And I have had to come to terms with verses that tell me to ‘take up my cross’ and ‘give everything I own to the poor’ whilst fighting against increased temptation, and persecution, and such.” (Before you start to worry I am over-exaggerating. I am a happy guy but Christianity is not meant to be comfortable).

I don’t think many people would “pray the prayer” if I told them that.

There is part of me that absolutely knows that I am “saved” despite all my failings. I can’t explain that theologically. All I can say is that after years of striving for God, I belong in His arms. It takes more than a prayer to be able to say that.

Technorati Tags: Christian , Religion , Salvation

(From Emerging Grace)

“..In order for any two people – much less any two strangers – to really click, they’ve got to share something in common significantly more profound than working in the same place, or living in the same neighbourhood, or even being held captive together on the same alien spaceship.” – (John Shore in “I’m Ok, You’re Not”)

I went to the pub last night for a mates 21^st birthday. My conservative parents weren’t too happy about it but figured it would be ok since I had to drive anyway. The night was quite enjoyable. Fortunately, my friends were happy drunks rather than angry ones. As the evening rolled on however, I realised that a fair few Christians would disprove of my being there.

I’m not talking about being legalistic; I’m talking about being protected. In an effort to protect ourselves from the evil world we isolate ourselves into little Christian ghettos. By being at that party I was engaging in the world. I was putting myself within the range of peer pressure. I could have even sinned…

As Christians we often have a lot of trouble with associating with people “out there” – in the world. I know many Christians who socialize almost solely with other Christians. It is an easy temptation to fall into. Sure, we may work with non-Christians or see them at the checkout or on TV but we rarely invest ourselves into them (unless we are trying to evangelise them). Rather we form Christian sub-cultures so that we can stay protected whilst scratching our heads about why people aren’t flocking to us.

I have a flier in my hands for a Christian travel agency that gives the advice “let’s keep it within the Spiritual Body of Jesus Christ”. I want to puke. Why would we want to keep it within the body of Christ when there are plenty of good secular agencies providing the same or better service? Why would we want to use a Christian real estate rather than a secular one? Why would we want to put our movies on Godtube instead of youtube, myspace, facebook, virb, google video, or photobucket where everyone can see them? Is the secular world not “worthy” of us?

Matt Whitlock in Frequently Asked Questions suggests that we need more Christian bar tenders. Why? Because when a marriage is failing or someone’s had a bad day at work or can’t pay their bills where do they go? They go to the bar and talk to the bar tender. Of course, in the evangelical world jobs like bar tending are cursed. Evil happens in bars! Indeed it does, and that’s why we are needed there.

The Church is very defensive. We are more concerned with keeping things the same than we are in changing them. In my mind the church should be the primary motivator of change in the world. We repeatedly recommend that Christians not associate with people who sin incase it is contagious and we will catch their disease. Every time evil encroaches on an area we run from it. Instead we should be aggressively seeking out the evil in this world. Where evil is Christians should be so that we may fight it.

I strongly believe that Christians are meant to change this world. However, in order to change it you need to engage it. By “engage” I don’t mean hide in our church buildings and throw tacks at people who walk by. I mean enjoy the movies that non-Christians enjoy, frequent the places non-Christians frequent, do the things non-Christians do. Even befriend non-Christians just because you want to; not just to evangelise them.

The best example of contextual living I have heard of was set by Craig Gross who founded xxxchurch, a ministry to porn stars. Craig Gross goes to porn shows in order to be where he is needed. In one blog post he tells the story of how he had lunch with Ron Jeremy at hooters and then followed him to a party. It was not what you would call a “safe Christian place”. In the end though, after everyone had left, only Craig was there.

I knew eventually all the craziness would only last a few hours, it would eventually come to an end. It is all temporary, the fame, the sex, the girls, the life and eventually it all will go away not just for Ron but for everyone. Then what?

Ron looked at me and said, “Pull up a seat.”

… By 2:30 am the club was empty. I stayed. Why? because when all these things fade away what is left is only Faith, Hope, and Love. I gave back my all access pass and headed back to hotel, but realized we are on the same team. I don’t need the lanyard anymore to see that. The differences about porn we will leave to the debate, but in life, Ron Jeremy can not be an opponent. He must be a friend, and friends share friends and invite each other into their world. We’re more alike than different, we both have struggles, challenges, etc, but when it comes down to it, the only difference between Ron and I is that I have a relationship with Jesus that Ron doesn’t have that yet. But we’ll keep sharing dinner, sharing our friendship, and sharing our lives, and maybe one of these days we’ll have that in common too.

Craig is one of those guys who gets it. He understands that we are in this world not to run from evil but to fight it, to engage it. Where are meant to “be there”. Jesus also made a habit of seeking out the dark, evil places. He always found the sinners in an area and ate and laughed and loved with them. He met them where they were, not expecting them to reach a certain standard of holiness before they could talk. He didn’t need Christian spaces or cultures to hide in. He lived in the culture of the time because that was where the people were – where his mission was.

I have a fair few non-Christian friends. Do I want them to become Christians? Absolutely. Is that desire the prime motivator of my friendship? No. Will I keep being friends even if they never accept God? Yes. My friendship and love is not contingent on their accepting God. If it was, it would not be true friendship. I accept them as they are, even as I desire them to grow.

It’s not all this simple though. By attempting to engage and change the world we will soon see the world try to engage and change us. We are on the earth to battle and should expect evil to fight back. The more we engage the world the more we increase our chances of being compromised by it. But the more we distance ourselves from it the more we compromise with fear and passivity. This is where the balance of being “in this world but not of it” comes in. We belong to neither the evil world nor the Christian subculture.

We are made to be “salt and light” but salt is useless if not applied to something and light is pathetic if it is hidden. We could hate consumerism with such vigour that we go and live a simple life in the country and then influence no one. Is this what Christians are meant to be? We could be so pure that we flee from every sign of sexuality and therefore never spread that purity to the people who need it most.

But here is a question: is purity seen more in a protected conclave or a sex craved campus where a Christian holds firm to God despite constant temptation? Isn’t it the way we contrast with evil that makes us truly good? That’s what this world needs: contrast. If we hide in Churches amongst Christian friends doing Christian activities we are only white on white, if we mix in pubs amongst non-Christians’ sinning we are white on black – and appear all the more white for it.

That’s contextual living – being there. Being where the world is its blackest. Being where the pain is. Being where the people are. Being where the devil is. Being where Christians don’t dare to go.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” – John 1:14

“Incarnational Living” roughly corresponds to a catch all phrase in emerging circles for “active Christ likeness”. It describes an aggressive attempt to live a life that exemplifies Jesus in the community. In short, incarnational “livers” take the question “What Would Jesus Do?” seriously.

The incarnational liver sees parallels between Jesus life and their own. Jesus, who is not of this world, took a humble form as to actively show love and pursue justice (culminating in his death). So the incarnational liver sees themselves as not of this world but rather as a humble vessel of Christ in this world; on a mission to show love and make justice. In other words, the incarnational liver is a “little modern day Jesus”.

The incarnational liver is active. They passionately search out opportunities to express love and bring justice. They do not wait for an opportunity to find them. They consider their life a mission. It is a mission to show the modern world Christ – to introduce them to Him through the example of their own lives as to initiate an experience with their creator by proxy. They not only tell people about God, they show them him. They show His love by giving it, sacrificially if necessary and without hesitation. They show His justice by fighting unrighteousness. By being known they give people a “taste of God”.

The incarnational liver is a Radical Christian. They are “God in the neighbourhood”. They influence the world around them. People are not the same after knowing them. They are an “incarnation of God” through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. That’s a lot of responsibility. To seek out the most despised people in society and find the best way to love them. To make fellowship with the outcasts. To stand up against corrupt and discriminating social structures. To give until it hurts and then give more.

I want to be that type of Christian. I want to be a bearer of Christ’s image. I want to find where it hurts the most and be there. I want to show people Jesus by being like him. When people ask “What was Jesus like?” I want to respond, “Let me show you.” He lived a revolutionary life – a counter cultural life. He did small things with great love and in the process gave them what no great action could – himself.

I want to live like that.

Parts 1 and 2 of this series have triggered some reaction so there are a few points I would like to clarify before continuing.

1. What I am exploring in this series is not the faults of our practises but rather the faults of our approach to them. There exists an idea that “A good Christian goes to church, plays a part in ministry, reads the bible, prays, doesn’t smoke, doesn’t drink, etc”. The problem I am discussing here is not about going to church or reading the bible or not smoking but rather the idea that “A good Christian does these things…” That’s when perfectly good practises become religious.

2. I do not consider our position in our relationship with God to be one without responsibility. I consider God to be the initiator and head (taking the lead of) of our relationship which is like a marriage. It is our responsibility to invest into that relationship in a similar way to how God invests in it. This will quite possibly take the form of going to church, reading your bible, or praying but the specifics are individual and driven by love rather than a “rule book”.

Whilst God pursues us, there is also a drive in us to return to Him. We have a natural inclination to search for beauty and God is the most beautiful person of all. As He is clearly revealed in nature no one is without fault if they know He is offering reconciliation yet continue an adulterous relationship with sin. To me the cross is like a proposal God is making to the world and He is desperate for us to say “I do”. Just because God pursues us does not mean that we are in anyway predetermined to find Him for it is still our duty to turn from our wicked ways and reconcile with “our first love”-er.

3. Religion partitions our lives

Religion partitions our lives into “my time” and “God’s time”, “my money” and “God’s money”, “my space” and “God’s space”. Our religious activities occur during a particular time and thus we allocate time during our day for God then we live the rest of our secular lives without Him. We allocate 10% of our money for the offering, and then we spend the rest on our own pleasures. We allocate buildings for Church services and we make sure we don’t desecrate them with swearing or by wearing hats, but once we are outside we wear hats and swear.

All of my life belongs to God. I must think not just about how I give money, but also about how I spend money because all of my money belongs to God. I must spend my time with God all day and not just during my allocated “quiet time”. I must act outside of Church just as I do inside Church. My life is a sacrifice to God, not my practises.

This partitioning allows us some form of security. We can say we are praying for the lost without going out and talking to them. We can say we are reading our bible’s whilst walking past the hungry on our way to Church. We are doing what religious practise dictates we ‘should’ do and by doing so we safely put God in His place.

2. Religion is impersonal

Religion suggests a “cookie cutter” solution for a diverse range of people. It suggests that everyone will benefit from reading their bible, without acknowledging that God may want to teach someone in another way at the moment. It suggests that everyone will learn by going to Church without realising that someone may learn more by spending that time eating breakfast with the disadvantaged. Perhaps someone needs a conversation more than a sermon? Perhaps someone needs to weep rather than jump around to contemporary worship songs?

A religious person thinks that because ‘X’ works for them that it must work for others. Surely that person should say that ‘X’ worked for them, but they shouldn’t present this as a formula for success. If Moses was around today he might tell us that burning bushes are excellent ways to talk to God. Peter might tell us that walking on water is an excellent way to build faith. Paul might tell us that hunting down Christians in Damascus is a great way to meet Jesus. (I openly confess to being guilty of this myself)

People are different and God works in different ways in different people. We should absolutely share our experiences, but don’t let us think that we are the standard. What if someone does do ‘X’ and it doesn’t work. Would you have them be discouraged because it ‘should’ of?

1. Religion causes us to place formula before romance

In my mind the greatest problem with religion is that it places practises over a unique, intimate, and romantic relationship with God. You will never get a wife by following a formula, and so God did not woo you by following a formula. Nor will your relationship with God develop by following a formula.

Our relationship with God is a passionate and exciting thing. It is untamed, it is exhilarating, and it is unpredictable. That relationship comes before any formula. Jesus did not come to teach you what to do in order to meet God; He came to introduce you directly.

I doubt that your relationship with God will fit within the box of religion. It will challenge you where religion doesn’t go. It will cause you to do things that religion never touches. God does not want robots that know what to do; He wants people who know who He is.

“Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” – Mathew 7:22-23

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I love quotes. Unfortunately it seems only famous people ever get to be quoted. Thus I feel compelled to raise the banner of the “common man” and suggest some quotes worthy of the mouths of even the greatest theologians.

S. Pitt, a good friend of mine says: “Love is more about who I am than who they are.”

“Dare to do what will only work if God is in it.” Is a quote of ‘Pastor Chris’ from Bracken Ridge Baptist church when I visited one night.

In a rather simple yet meaningful quote M. Fargnoli said, “God knows what he’s doing.”

Finally here is one of mine: “The Church is called to be offensive – to storm the gates of sin, pain, shame, anger, and greed in this world and to change it through contagious love.”

So if you have any quotes from your self or other “nobodies” which would fit quite well next to C. S. Lewis or Ghandi please post them so that we may begin to give them the recognition they deserve.

Casting Crowns always has a way of putting into words many thoughts that people will not touch. I just heard this song today and wanted to share it with you.

Is there anyone that fails
Is there anyone that falls
Am I the only one in church today feelin’ so small

Cause when I take a look around
Everybody seems so strong
I know they’ll soon discover
That I don’t belong

So I tuck it all away, like everything’s okay
If I make them all believe it, maybe I’ll believe it too
So with a painted grin, I play the part again
So everyone will see me the way that I see them

*Chorus*
Are we happy plastic people
Under shiny plastic steeples
With walls around our weakness
And smiles to hide our pain
But if the invitation’s open
To every heart that has been broken
Maybe then we close the curtain
On our stained glass masquerade

Is there anyone who’s been there
Are there any hands to raise
Am I the only one who’s traded
In the altar for a stage

The performance is convincing
And we know every line by heart
Only when no one is watching
Can we really fall apart

But would it set me free
If I dared to let you see
The truth behind the person
That you imagine me to be

Would your arms be open
Or would you walk away
Would the love of Jesus
Be enough to make you stay

Chorus x2

Well if the invitation’s open
To every heart that has been broken
Maybe then we close the curtain
On our stained glass masquerade

Is there anyone that fails
Is there anyone that falls
Am I the only one in church today feelin’ so small

One of my friends runs with Jesus’ analogy in Mathew 5, Mark 9, and Luke 14 and has coined the term “salty things”. A salty thing is an action which makes a difference to another person. A salty thing changes a world: theirs. It is a proactive action built upon love that is targeted at the needs of another person. Salty acts reach into the gutter of people’s lives and pull them into the light. They prove to people that they can be loved no matter who they are.

When I look at my life I can see some areas where I am salty and some where I am not. This blog likely classifies as “salty”, provided it is actually making a difference to someone. Yet today I met a poor woman who claimed to be from Sydney and due to unforseen circumstances was in desperate need of money for accommodation. I gave her the change in my wallet, which was less than $1, (I trusted her story, what is the alternative?) and continued on my way. I latter realised that I could have done more. I could have called or travelled to the hotel and paid her accommodation in full. That would have been much saltier.

I can think of many problems with western Christianity, but its lack of saltiness is perhaps it’s saddest failing. No one is guiltier of this charge than me. So I ask the same question Jesus did: “if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?” (Mathew 5:13) How can I go about the slow process of making my life one that truly affects the people around me? How can the Church turn from a nice institution to a dangerous culture changing army?

Enter Operation: S.A.L.T.

Firstly, I think it appropriate that S.A.L.T. stand for “Serving As Living Testimony”. I wish to live as a testimony of God’s grace to wretches and His powerful intention to save people from their brokenness. I will be a testimony of God as He makes his home in my life. I shall humble myself in service to others just as Jesus did. Hopefully people will know I am His disciple by my love (John 13:35).

Secondly, I know that I cannot become salty on my own. Fortunately God has provided me with close friends with whom I have spent much time discussing saltiness. These people shall form my salt shaker. We each desire to make a difference. My thinking is that I should seize upon this community to encourage accountability and imaginative solutions to salt blockages.

Thirdly, I understand saltiness to be a proactive quality. Each of our “worlds” has its own injustices, gutters, and broken people. It is within my world that I will watch for opportunities and then take purposeful action to make an influence. For example, imagine I know someone in financial strife; I may make a purposeful effort to approach that person offering assistance rather than just waiting for them to ask. I refuse to be blind to the pain around me, and I refuse to ignore that pain.

Operation S.A.L.T is a social experiment in its planning stages. It is the beginning of an attempt to turn theory into practise and is something I shall discuss with my “team” as we dream wild things with God and wonder wether we really can make a difference in this world.

In the mean time I ask: “if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?”

“Imagine you are a great evangelist (like Billy Graham great) and share you faith with one person every day of every year for sixteen straight years. Assuming al those people accept the message and commit their lives to Christ, you will have led 5,840 into a personal relationship with Christ. It’s simple addition. Not bad. You might say, “No, unbelievable!” Now imagine that you train or disciple two people in year one, and they train two people each in year two and so on. In year sixteen, because your training curve is multiplying geometrically rather than merely adding arithmetically, you will have infected 65,536 people. That’s unbelievable, but that’s the Jesus way. Jesus did His math and knew that multiplication would get the job done faster and better than addition.” – Kenny Luck (Risk pg 176)

Are you familiar with the term “social networking”? A social network is a map of relationships over a large number of people. Imagine I know persons A, B, and C. A in turns knows person D and E; B knows F, G, and H; and C knows persons I, J, K, and L. By virtue of friends A, B, and C I have an indirect relationship with persons D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, and L. I once heard someone estimate that each person has on average 100 acquaintances. Assuming there are no double ups, this means that by the 5^th level you are “connected” to 10 billion people (the Earth’s population is currently about 6.5 Billion). What this means is that you don’t have to be Billy Graham to change the world.

The worst disasters are diseases. Malaria infects 350-500 million people and causes about 3 million deaths annually. This bug is not a major weapon, it causes no mass destruction, and it does not raise breaking news headlines. Malaria has only a very small area of effect: its victim and the people in their immediate vicinity. Christianity works the same way. Jesus was no headline. He slipped very quietly through history only truly training 11 people and leaving about 100 followers. Yet he is clearly the most influential person of the last 2000 years.

A Radical Christian contains a passion that is infectious. Whenever someone asks me how to revitalise Christianity or fix the Church they seem to expect some massive plan to launch a huge new organisation or new-breaking project. The reality is that the most effective change is far more personal and challenging. I tell them that if they want to change the world, they have to raise the bar on their walk with Christ (which we have covered) and lower their barrier with other people.

Lowering the Barrier

A while ago I had the opportunity to hear from people who used to go to the same Church as I. People come and go and this Church in particular had seen some massive changes. What became apparent from people’s reflections was that everyone in that Church had been lonely. You would never have known from the outside. It appeared like any ‘healthy’ church. People smiled, there were plenty of social outings, and people were friendly. But no one ever found the intimacy they were looking for. As a result, people remained the same year in and year out, never changing.

Christians tend to be individualistic. Our salvation is individual. Our relationship with God is individual. Our lives are separated during the week. A couple of hours on a Sunday morning and some programs during the week simply aren’t enough to build a relationship that will turn a group of people into one ‘body’. This type of relationship requires you to share your life, your insights, your fun, and even your relationship with God with other people. They require a great deal of trust, brute honesty, and intimacy.

As Christians we must reach the point where we begin to personally feed and support each other rather than relying on a small clergy on Sunday mornings to do the work. To be truly effective in building one another we must know one another. We must take the risk of removing our Church mask and revealing ourselves to one another. As we do this, we find more acceptance and assurance than ever before. We find other like minded people with similar problems to our own. We find sleeping soldiers waiting for someone to stir their passion.

If you have God in your bones then you can show someone God by showing them yourself. As you break down your mask and show people how you live out your authentic walk with God people will see that you are different and will feel challenged on their own walk. This isn’t to be done in pride (“Look at me, I read my bible”), but as simply showing what is real (“I was reading Isaiah 58 this morning and…”). Share your challenges and your triumphs. Talk about the things that are confusing you as well as your revelations into truth. Your passion and your life will rub off.

Changing the World

Diseases only affect their victim and the people around them yet change the world. As a radical Christian (the “victim”) your faith should affect the people around you and thereby change the world. As radical Christians reproduce (and they are – more and more stories from around the world are arising) they slowly take over the world. We could end poverty if everyone was a radical Christian. We could stop suicide. We could provide a shoulder for every hurting person. We can change the world. We don’t need to wait for Christ to return – we can begin changing the world now. Simply by raising the bar on our own faith, and exposing our faith to others by lowering the barriers between us.

The Radical Christian: An Overview

The Radical Christian: Being the Gospel

The Radical Christian: Place in Ecclesiology

The Radical Christian: How they got there

New Christians are infectious. This week I got a chance to meet one of the people that had been saved this semester on my university campus. The way his eyes would light up upon reading passages from the bible for the first time bought a smile to my face. A pity, I thought, that his faith would eventually deteriorate into some day-in day-out cycle. But then I realised that I wasn’t thinking like the radical Christian I claim to be. I began to realise that if our passion is dying it is probably a sign that something is wrong.

A little background on me: I am a 19 year old university student living in Brisbane, Australia. I am heavily involved in reaching the lost and building strong inter-Christian relationships that support growth. I was raised in a Christian home though I never really “knew” God till after I thought I would waste some time praying to him when I was 8. I don’t remember very much of my early Christian hood, but I do remember praying for hours and soaking up the feelings that God would lavish upon me. Those feelings eventually went away and for years my passion was non-existent. That has all changed however and now I am far more passionate then I when I was a young Christian. I hope to explain some of the things that changed me from a dead Christian into an unstoppable one here.

First, I’ll describe passion as emotion that compels you to do something. If I have a passion for reading my bible, I am likely excited by what it contains and hence inclined to read it. If I am passionate about reaching the lost, I may feel deep compassion and love that drives me to spread God’s word. Secondly, there is a truth that is at the core of Christian growth: when you take one small step towards God, he takes a big step towards you. God is always desperate to help you and merely awaits you to show him (by action) that you want him to.

1. Keep Changing

The core of the gospel is that God can transform you from a sinner into a saint. Sin tears apart our lives and is making us far less that what we were created for. God’s goal is redemption: repairing the damage such that we can fulfil our original purpose as the jewel of God’s universe.

A lot of people never change however. They stay the same year in and year out never experiencing God’s transforming power. Do not be fooled: even the best of us is far from perfect and there is much to be done.

If you want to be passionate – let God change you. There are few things more exciting than seeing what God has done in your life. This is an active initiative on your part. You must recognise what needs to change in your life, ask yourself what you can do, and then do it asking God to help you. You must keep doing this continuously.

2. Know who God is

God is Big. God is Creative. God is Glorious. God is Powerful. God is Holy. God is Lovesick. God is Smart. God is Addictive. God is Eternal. God is.

The more I think about God, the more in awe of him I become. The fact that he died for me is astounding. The fact that this God listens to my every word when I pray, teaches me when I read his word, and uses me when I post blogs online is amazing. If your passion is dying, perhaps it is because you have taken your eyes off God.

Our Churches are filled with “me worship”. If you listen to most songs you will find more references you the singer than to God. We have to get ourselves back to our senses. God is God. Get a grip on who he is and you won’t be able to stop thinking about him.

3. Take Risks

I was not made for comfort. I was made to risk myself for something. I was made to get out of the boat.

Far too many Christians are doing the comfortable thing. They sit in the pews never stepping out of line or drawing attention to themselves. But God has called us to be more then a bench warmer. If we were all honest, I think we would all acknowledge that there is this constant challenge within us to do something. That is how this blog was formed. God is challenging me to take a bigger risk in sharing my knowledge.

The more risks you take, the more God will step in on your behalf. Ask yourself: Do you have enough faith in God to risk being a fool for him?

4. Reach the Lost

Few things are as exciting as knowing God is using me to change someone’s eternity. We aren’t all called to place ourselves in positions where we can evangelise, but we are called to evangelise in the situations where we are placed. It can be as simple as asking someone what they did on their weekend and waiting for them to ask you back.

Remember: other people are just like you. They can be lonely, like you. They can hurt, like you. They can be excited, like you. We often find ourselves thinking about other people as though they were not people. But they are, and they need you to step in and help them.

5. Value what God values

The more I value what God values the more I find he is wiling to help me live my values. God values humility over pride. He values giving over receiving. He values risk over safety.

For a lot of Christians, their main concern is their self. They don’t take risks for God. They don’t reach the lost. They don’t give their time, effort, or money. They are more concerned with appearance over authenticity. If we are going to be God’s Samurai, we must be fighting for the right things.

6. Be Transparent

Don’t pretend that your relationship with God is going great when it is not. Be honest. The fact that you value that relationship more than your image is precious to God. The prayers of other’s can have a mighty affect.

Moving beyond Passion

One final point: passion should not be our goal. The mature Christian will read their bible, pray, reach the lost, and take risks whether they are passionate or not. We should live for God independent of our feelings and there are times where God will take away feeling to help mature you. Our goal must be living for God regardless of the circumstances. If you are waiting for passion before you act, that passion will never come.