Sometimes I compare what some may consider “normal” modern day Christianity to the Christianity of the Scriptures. You see, there is a vast difference between what I observe in the early church and what I see lived out today. Am I crazy?
- For desiring to see the glory of God literally fill this land like the waters covers the sea?
- For believing salvation to bring about TOTAL transformation?
- For believing the natural response of Christians should be that of selflessness?
- For believing the Church should be the community that provides for those who lack?
- For believing there is no greater knowledge than that which is found in Jesus Christ?
- For believing we should desire God even if we get nothing in return?
- For wanting my children to primarily focus on growing in Christ?
- For desiring to serve Christ in different regions of this world?
- For believing the Word of God to be true?
- For believing the Word of God to be sufficient and absolute?
- For believing marriage can only be dissolved by death?
- For believing that the my purpose in life is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever?
- For believing it is the parents’ responsibility for being the primary discipler of their children?
- For believing I need to spend more time in prayer?
I read the Scriptures and I come across someone like Apostle Paul. You can easily see a major difference in his life once he was saved. This is a guy whose original mission was to destroy the Christian sect and kill anyone that spoke of Christ. After his conversion, his sole purpose in life was to proclaim Christ to whomever and wherever. Incidentally, it seems he had no problem doing this even if it cost him his life. Imagine if more believers had a passion for Christ in the same way Paul did - WOW! If we all had this passion and understood our purpose as being rooted in glorifying God, then this world would indeed cause the earth to be filled with God’s glory. Imagine what kind of world this would be if EVERY Christian believed that the Gospel was worth sharing to all who didn’t know Christ. This is what sparked the growth of the early Church in the book of Acts. We have the same opportunity today. Especially, for those of us who live in the US. We have the means, the resources, and the finances to take the gospel to the nations. This is the essence of conversion: God does such a work in our hearts that, upon realizing that we have been saved from His wrath, our natural inclination should be to surrender all to Him and to have a renewed zeal to proclaim the good news to all. But look at the things that so easily distract us. Some of us are more interested in telling everyone about the new job we got as opposed to telling others about the importance of the Cross of Christ. If only we can see the sufficiency of the Word of God. We would then believe what it says and desire to live it out, even if it requires us to uphold our commitments (as in marriage), to make costly decisions (taking the Gospel to the nations), or to be unpopular (living a life centered on Christ). At the end of the day, I realize one thing: I can never spend too much time with God.
