I had the pleasure and privilege to be on a retreat last weekend with students and young adults connected to the Wesley ministry I lead here in Miami. The theme of the weekend was “Radical Faith”…and it was really challenging. For starters, preparing the messages and discussion points for these young adults about what “radical” faith actually looks like made me feel….well, not very radical. Then to be on the weekend and share these messages and lead these conversations…and then talk with several who were challenged and moved and “messed up” by various things…I felt doubly humbled and convicted that much in my life was much closer to “comfortable” and “complacent” than anything resembling “radical”. And all of that has had me thinking this week…
One of the video clips we used on the weekend was a 4 minute youtube clip entitled “Weird” by Francis Chan (a preacher and author). In the clip, he basically makes the point that, when taken in the wide view of church history, the last few decades of “church” as we know it in American culture…what Chan calls the “consumer age” of church…have just been weird. Weird that people could be part of the church for years and never actually lead anyone to Christ or disciple anyone. Weird that parents would think it was someone else’s job to disciple their kids or witness to their neighbors. Weird that people (who are generally so ignorant of the Word and doctrine) would be so picky about what preacher to listen to or what style of music to sing in worship. Weird that believers in the richest society in the history of the planet could be so consumed with wanting more. Weird that, somehow, entire generations of Jesus followers could come to believe the community of church was primarily about meeting their needs rather than about God’s mission in the world…
I’m so tired of Christians in this country being weird, probably myself included. And I’m afraid my life and my commitments don’t embody the kind of faith and trust and abandon and sacrifice that we might call “radical”…but Jesus seems to simply expect…
Hmmm Lord….I feel some changes coming on…
