Passive Christianity....no more!

       It is not a good thing for me to write when I am feeling frustrated....but here I am...writing. I am so tired of people walking around saying they love Jesus but unwilling to ever live the way that He has called us to live...different form the world. We want BOTH worlds. We want to raise our hands in praise on Sunday morning and on Monday evening curse the person who cuts us off or gossip about the person we don't like. You CANNOT have it both ways....we live in such a world that says," don't discourage....say only encouraging things. Only tell each other positive things."....so we walk around unwilling to call out sin. We might hurt someone's heart if we do that! So we are willing to let someone live their entire life in sin and away from the heart of God because we are afraid of offending them. I am not saying that we should rant and rave and bible thump everyone around us! I am saying we should be living a life that is SO different from the world that they LONG for what we have! I am saying that we should dress, watch, listen, talk, act, and think DIFFERENT from the world....because they should be wanting what we have....not the other way around. Yet, over and over, I see us...the believers....acting as though we are "missing out" on SO many things because we "have" to obey God....this makes me angry and frustrated! We have a different standard from the world because we have a relationship with the Creator of the world. Out of that relationship flows a love and longing so deep within us that we are willing to walk into fire, into a lions den, into a stadium in Rome full of death, just to be closer to the heart of Christ. We have had a moment that is so profound in our lives that we fully understand that we do not live for ourselves but for the One who died and rose for us. We understand that this world is completely deceived into thinking that movies, music, and money are somehow fulfilling to us,...and we should GRIEVE this! When was the last time your soul was truly grieved over people dying and going to hell? When was the last time you fell to your knees in despair because there is so much sadness and hopelessness in this world and WE HAVE THE HOPE and yet the world will not accept it? When?!? I fear we have lost the ability to grieve the lost because we are to busy grieving what we are "missing out on"..... This needs to stop. This needs to change!! I am so sick of hearing every excuse in the world why we SHOULD participate in the worlds music, clothing, dating games, ect....and believers actually getting angry and upset when someone asks them what is so different about them than the next "good person" in the room? Our Christianity has become about being good....and not about walking holy. I want nothing to do with this "good behavior"! I want my family far away from it....it is strangling and deceiving so many of us! There is a HUGE difference between being good and being holy.....but so many of us do not know the difference. I recently asked several adults, college students, and youth what the difference was between being holy and being good....most said that being holy meant you thought you were better than everyone else, or that being holy meant you had no fun in your life.  and that being good meant you were kind to people and respectful of them even if you didn't agree with them....sigh....seriously. How can we be a holy people if we don't even know what it means? How can we live a life that is different than the world if we think we miss out on so much "fun"?

      We want to claim the promises of Scripture when it is convenient but we don't want to obey the commands when it keeps us from watching, listening, or talking how we want. We want the Scripture to be our little encourager....not our sword. It is SO frustrating! The Bible is NOT an option for your life! You CANNOT live a holy life without being in the Bible. The end. Period. So why do more than 87% of believers say they have a huge struggle being in the Bible consistently?!? We don't have that problem watching the latest movie or knowing the latest song....or owning the latest fashion. Because those things MATTER to us. They are important to our every day lives and we make sure we KNOW them....but the Scripture?....it is left for those moments when we are dying or struggling or going through a crisis....but otherwise....it just needs to stay quite. This breaks my heart....in deep ways....ways that cannot even be expressed because I don't know the right words to describe the brokenness. I just know it is grieve worthy. And it needs to change. Now.
           My dear friends....His love for us is worth living a life that is different from this world! His plans for us and His dreams for us....beyond what we are capable of understanding. Why we long for the things of this world, just reveals to us even more just how little we understand about our eternal home and this world....the moments we spend here....they are just a breath....here....then gone. We are living as though this is it. And we are far, far off base.
       There is Heaven. There is our eternal kingdom full of radiance and beauty. Clear crystal waters cascading into stunning, rolling waterfalls. Walls built high with jewels that we cannot even imagine! Streets of gold leading up to a castle that our King reigns from....streets that are paved with the footsteps of Abraham and Joseph....Ruth and Esther...Peter and John the Baptist! These streets are lined with the joyful praise of our sisters and brothers who died for speaking His name! The skies are full of light that shimmers and the rushing of angels as they go to and from their work. This is a real place. This is where one day we will live. And yet....we live like it is pretend. A great thing to believe in but not something we are really willing to change our life for.

           If only we could truly understand just how all this plays out....one day we will...and I fear the road is far less crowded than we think....God calls us to be CHANGED. He calls us to live a HOLY LIFE. He calls us to be DIFFERENT. And I can't help but wonder how many of us have  really and truly given over Lordship of our heart to the King....because when the Holy Spirit Himself comes and dwells WITHIN us, we our drawn to HIS things. We are pulled from within to the heart of WHO DWELLS WITHIN US. If we are not....if we are not willing to give up everything and walk to that fiery furnace, or lions den, or ride out the storms of Job, or stay in the prison for years like Joseph....if we are not willing to be crucified, killed or tortured because of our great love for Him....but let's take it even simpler....what if we are not even willing to turn off a tv show, put down a book, change the music station? What if the King of Kings asking us to live a life that is Holy by being modest, or watching what we put into our ears, eyes, and minds....what if that is asking to much of us? Really?! After all that He has done for us! How can this be to much? Why do I hear more and more people claiming to be believers, justifying why it is OK to watch movies with porn or listen to songs that speak with bad language or how is it OK to wear clothing that exposes more skin than most undergarments? Why is everyone so concerned with justifying the WRONG behavior but no one is fighting for the HOLY behavior? I just don't get it.....and I have tried...and tried....but I want to live a life that is DIFFERENT! That the world...those who do not know Christ....look at me and long for what I have. I want the Holy Spirit to live so loud in my life that everyone around me knows that Christ is ALIVE and that He is REAL and that there is SO MUCH MORE than the hurt and pain of this world. We are NOT a perfect people....we will never be.....I make no such claims....but as one of those who has been touched by the King....as one who has had much sin and been redeemed by a Savior who has looked upon me with great mercy and love....as one who has personally seen what God can do with a life of hopelessness.....as one who has felt deep despair and rejection only to be cradled in the arms of the King....as one who was blind with hurt and anguish and was given sight into beauty and redemption....how can I NOT be different from this world after these encounters?!
 We MUST be! We MUST stand apart! We MUST be willing to live for Him in EVERY AREA OF OUR LIFE!
       So friends....seek HIM. Pray. USE HIS WORD. BE DIFFERENT.