Good morning,
“I wonder, then, why the last thing Jesus told us was to go into the
world, making disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey all that
He commanded. You’ll notice that he didn’t add, ‘But, hey, if that’s too
much to ask, tell them to just become Christians- you know, the people
who get to go to heaven without having to commit to anything’.”
— Francis Chan
What does ordinary look like today in Christianity? The look is not good. The ordinary Christian life in our world today is characterized by a lack of commitment. George Barna recently revealed some alarming research that best describes the lack of commitment I am referring to in Christianity.
He states:
“More than three out of four self-identified Christians (78%) strongly agreed that spirituality is very important to them. Yet less than one out of every five self-identified Christians (18%) claims to be totally committed to investing in their own spiritual development. About the same proportion of self-identified Christians (22%) claims to be “completely dependent upon God.”
The truth is that everyone alive in this world today is surrendered to something whether it be self, others, things, or Jesus. What scares me and keeps me up at night sometimes is that I am afraid that a lot of people in our churches today have never understood what it means to repent and receive Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. I am concerned that they have never come to grips with what it means to be committed to Christ.
The ordinary Christian experience today also refuses many times to stand up and make a difference in our world. Many times, as Christians, I am afraid we are too content to live in own little bubble and be concerned only with what seems to impact our existence. Our world desperately needs to see us live out our Christianity by standing for what is right and standing against what is wrong. More than ever, our world needs to see authentic Christianity that does these things and loves like Jesus.
What do our Christian lives look like? What are we surrendered to? What are you committed to?
Do not miss what Jesus had to say about this in Matthew 7:21.
“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will
enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually
do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.”
Let’s not settle for the ordinary when God has called us to live for so much more!
Have a great day!
Rick Calloway
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