Die! Give me some space. That is definitely not my standpoint.
Today I am where I am because of a divine work that has began in me. People came around to ask about the realness of my faith. "Is a girl involved?" "Do you have time for yourself?" These were some words I frequently get in the kind of environment that I stay and work in. There simply isn't enough people who are serious about their faith. The regular church-goers were probably too busy trying to design the next best soul-winning strategy or the next most hipster evangelistic event, so much so that we gradually lose touch with "reaching the one". It's a very foreign concept to most, despite the irony fame of the quote from one of world's leading lover, Mother Teresa.
I'm not saying that I have gotten it altogether, and I'm probably being very self-righteous and judgmental by saying all that I have mentioned. That is the problem today- we create a sphere of false inclusion and exclusion and render many hard but essential truths, taboos to be avoided at all cost. So much so that even a genuine raising of concern has little room for accommodation. People simply refuse to listen, people simply refuse to reflect, people simply refuse to think, people simply DO NOT want to change (myself included).
"Myself included" is the other problem. Too often people come around in eternal wrath to rain down fiery condemnation, and conclude their remarks with "myself included". Self-condemnation does not create any acceptable kind of grounds for mass-condemnation. Die! Give me some space. That is definitely not my standpoint.
We live in a world of extremities. On the one hand we have many casualties limping from hurts and licking their wounds since eons before, on the other we have die-hard daredevil exploring every new possibilities with little to no regards for calculation of risk. By no means are these easy hurdles to overcome, and I say my piece for having gone through my fair share of these bitter things. Yet, it is precisely this kind of difficult situation which leaves us to have only God to look to and lean on.
When we talk about letting go, when we talk about putting down our baggages, when we talk about moving forth in faith, this is precisely what we are talking about- to become serious about our faith. Only by taking our faith seriously, then are we willing to make changes, then are we willing to leave our comfort zone, then are we capable of embracing a cause much bigger than ourselves. Serious doesn't mean no fun, but it definitely means that our faith should receive the kind of attention/priority true faith warrants.
Through history, we have a few spiritual giants who went out in full faith, and rocked the world with a hard conviction built upon solid faith- Martin Luther King was like that, Mother Teresa was like that, Jim Elliot was like that. But it doesn't have to be that few giants, because looking at what these people have done ought not to distract us from recognizing the One through whom they had been empowered. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at works amongst us, and that should be enough encouragement for us to practice radical love. Imagine with me, a city of Martin Luther, a country of Mother Teresa, and a whole world of little Jesus. Follow me as I follow Christ- isn't that a logical extrapolation, 2000 years on, the multiplication of Christ ought to have taken a huge leap forward, already.
Yet, today the challenge goes beyond people not hearing the Good news. Many heard and rejected, because of misrepresentation, because of lies and deceptions, because of apprehension, because of competition from false idols (pursuits), because of self-absorption, because of perceived wisdom in rationalization, because of self-satisfaction...
When we talk about letting go, when we talk about putting down our baggages, when we talk about moving forth in faith, this is precisely what we are talking about- to become serious about our faith. Only by taking our faith seriously, then are we willing to make changes, then are we willing to leave our comfort zone, then are we capable of embracing a cause much bigger than ourselves. Serious doesn't mean no fun, but it definitely means that our faith should receive the kind of attention/priority true faith warrants.
Through history, we have a few spiritual giants who went out in full faith, and rocked the world with a hard conviction built upon solid faith- Martin Luther King was like that, Mother Teresa was like that, Jim Elliot was like that. But it doesn't have to be that few giants, because looking at what these people have done ought not to distract us from recognizing the One through whom they had been empowered. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at works amongst us, and that should be enough encouragement for us to practice radical love. Imagine with me, a city of Martin Luther, a country of Mother Teresa, and a whole world of little Jesus. Follow me as I follow Christ- isn't that a logical extrapolation, 2000 years on, the multiplication of Christ ought to have taken a huge leap forward, already.
Yet, today the challenge goes beyond people not hearing the Good news. Many heard and rejected, because of misrepresentation, because of lies and deceptions, because of apprehension, because of competition from false idols (pursuits), because of self-absorption, because of perceived wisdom in rationalization, because of self-satisfaction...
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