We’ve all been there. You know the feeling... You’re with your friends, your “Christian” friends - you’ve all been Christians since your first breath. Every thing’s going swell, everybody’s laughing and talking. And then someone does it. They actually bring up Jesus Christ. ... yeah. Everything gets quieter. Everything gets... awkward. It’s that... “Did you really just bring up God?” silence. It’s that “I just got out of Bible class, why are you bringing this up AGAIN” silence. It’s that “What does this have to do with our conversation?” silence.
I find it odd when I can be on a “Christian” campus, with a majority of “Christian” students and peers, yet the Christ I see in the Bible seems so distant at times. We talk about “not putting God in a box,” yet we daily compartmentalize our lives so that there’s no overlap between friends, school, church, and the Lord. According to an extremely respected spiritual thinker and mover, “Everything is spiritual.” So, why does spirituality not take an ACTIVE role in our lives today? I don’t mean reading your Bible a little bit in the mornings, or praying before a test, or even just praying in your room and spending time getting to know God. I mean living every second of every day as if you’re living in the Kingdom of Heaven. Because we are! When we accept Christ and He lives in us, we carry the Kingdom of Heaven inside of us! It’s the crazy-awesome beauty of Christianity! Yet we live out our days like God isn’t a part of and doesn’t care about my entire life... second by second. All of it. What good is the Christianity we cultivate in our rooms, if it never let it flow into and consumes our lives? What does it look like to be an active follower of the Lord Jesus? Whatever it is, I don’t think it’s what we’re used to seeing...
Who are we fooling? Who are we trying to fake? Is it each other? Is it the world?... Is it Jesus? I hope that none of those are the answer. I hope that we’re not hiding anything. One of my favorite texts is Romans 1:16, and it says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone...” So, if this presence of Jesus Christ in my life and His gospel is the power of God to save, then why don’t I live and breathe that every day? How important is it to me?
I want to make it more important to me. I don’t want to fool anyone anymore... I’m tired of being good. I want to be Christian. I want to be consumed... Consumed by God. Consumed by Christ and His heart for this broken, hurting world. I’m not sure how to do that, but I’m pretty sure that is not my job. That’s God’s job... He’ll get me where I need to go. I just need to desire it, ask for it, and be ready to hand whatever He gives me. No matter how awkward it is. And THAT, my friends... will be hard.
