how real is real enough?

We are well taught Christians who live in a comfortable Christianity. Why don’t we run out the doors of church and scream the gospel from every corner? Why don’t we give our money to the poor and to ministries and just keep what we need? Why don’t we ask each other the hard questions and admit our weaknesses? Why don’t we persist with our non-Christian friends even when it’s hard? Why don’t we value the internal over the external with each other?

I want to suggest two reasons for this. Firstly - we don’t believe that it’s real, or we do believe but we’re not convinced. We live without urgency – forgetting the weight of the reality and the immediacy of the possibility of Jesus’ return.

Secondly – we’re fitting in to a Christian climate! We negotiate our lives under the prerequisite of whether or not we will be accepted by others and even other Christians.

But this should not be.

The reason we don’t do these things, I would like to suggest, is because we don’t have to. We’re looking for a pass mark from our Christian peers.

The average Christian doesn’t have to scream the gospel from the roof-tops, we just have to stop swearing. The average Christian doesn’t have to give dramatic amounts of money away; just some. We don’t have to persist with our non-Christian friends; just ask one to one outreach even and we don’t have to value the internal – its ok to make and effort on the externals and we expect everyone to look good enough.

There are those other things, those “extra” things that we could do to be distinction Christians, but they’re for the super keen, the high achievers. We do enough to get by.

And here’s where I want you to stop and think with me because I’ve been trying to reconcile the two.

Be honest with yourself when considering the above paragraph – we may be getting credits in some of those areas, be we’re struggling in others – others I haven’t mentioned and we know it. We’re apathetic.

Here’s my question – how can we, who live in such a reality (as mentioned) and deal with such a God (as discussed) ever be “doing enough”? The nature of our reality is eternal and infinite. Where do we find room to say “I’m passionate enough”? Joyful enough, loving, giving, caring, serving enough?

Enough to fit in with the other Christians perhaps. But why are we Christians? Because we each know and love the living God and it’s Him we’re trying to be like, not each other.

And so, brothers and sisters, I want to push us to push each other. To not get comfortable in our own conformity – but to remember and remind each other of our mind blowing reality in such a way that we never stagnate.

Not that it’s easy by any means, but I hope that you agree that it is important.