In the blue corner, we have Enthusiasm. He can get people pumped up and excited for anything - a prayer meeting, praise night, retreat, EVing, listening to a speaker, fasting, the next big revival. In the red corner, we have Anointing - Quiet and reserved yet dominant and powerful. He might not always look cool or ever draw a crowd, but he pierces through flesh and bones and infiltrates the critical points - heart issues, love, relationships, sacrifice, humility, life. Thing is, we're not in a boxing ring, we're on a battlefield. And whoever you side with determines whether you win or lose.
Are you living off the passion of other people, or do you have an undying, unquenchable passion that wells out of you? Or do you not have passion at all? By passion I mean the 'suffering' that leads to hope that makes way for Love. We know the true source of passion is Jesus Christ. So now what? At the end of the day, when you are on your own, what do you have left? The ministry you served at? The book of theology you explicated? The number of Christian books that you read or the number of verses you memorized? The number of people you've led to Jesus? The amount of sermons in your ipod? The times you shared your faith and struggles with brothers and sisters? Or maybe the guilt of not having done anything "Christian."
"When the music fades and all is stripped away..."
I am in no way ruling out or denying these things because I am a product of all of that and I continue to learn and grow through them. What I'm saying is if I believe that Jesus is the ultimate mediator, the Great High Priest, between me and God, why do I find myself in such deep reliance on these secondary sources of God, and rarely find the need (and the time) to spend time with God Himself - in His Word and in prayer? This is not a discussion of accountability or an undermining of community, but simply a focus on the personal relationship I have with God. This is not about new age spirituality or do-it-yourself meditation to 'get' God. This is also not a plea for single player Christianity for that would be an oxymoron. The more I count my blessings and the myriad of godly, biblical resources at my fingertips (internet/books/etc.), the more I realize that I've become complacent and calloused to what matters most. Everything is fed to me with a golden baby bottle and I never leave the stroller in the pretense of being 'protected' and 'provided.'
Let me go back to the First Love.
Every generation changes with time, but only God and His Word is everlasting. No matter how timely and timeless a book, sermon, or quote is - that's still them - what about you? What are you going to do with Jesus today?
Remix #9: Remixed to spend
No comments:
Post a Comment