Hi Wikkid Person,
I've struggled with the idea on and off about what Jesus really wants me to do with my life, and more specifically if having a career and a home and hobbies and toys are a part of that.
I can't help but look at what the early church people did, and wonder why more Christians don't do that, namely me.
Maybe I just have a misconception of what the church was like, but I get the impression that the disciples, and Paul's gang just traveled around spreading the word.
Do I think everyone's called to do that? Probably not. But does that mean some people are "called" to live a more comfortable life than the Paul's of the world? I don't know.
I fear that it might simply be a faith thing. I'm afraid that if I just had the balls to give up everything in my life but a walking stick and a shirt on my back - then maybe I'd find what Jesus wanted me to do - because that's what they did in the bible.
Sure, it's hard to compare the cultures of then and now - but I don't think Christianity is culture exclusive - and Paul and company didn't do what they did for some kind of cultural reason - I think God wanted them to do that.
Anyways you see where I'm going with this. I'm afraid that my desire to have a nice comfortable first world life is actually me just not having enough faith to jump in to this wholly surrendered type life we see in the New Testament.
What do you think about all this? Is first world Christianity just a big comforting rationalization that we can go on living our luxurious lives? How do we not do that if it is?
Regards,
Uncer Tanty
I've struggled with the idea on and off about what Jesus really wants me to do with my life, and more specifically if having a career and a home and hobbies and toys are a part of that.
I can't help but look at what the early church people did, and wonder why more Christians don't do that, namely me.
Maybe I just have a misconception of what the church was like, but I get the impression that the disciples, and Paul's gang just traveled around spreading the word.
Do I think everyone's called to do that? Probably not. But does that mean some people are "called" to live a more comfortable life than the Paul's of the world? I don't know.
I fear that it might simply be a faith thing. I'm afraid that if I just had the balls to give up everything in my life but a walking stick and a shirt on my back - then maybe I'd find what Jesus wanted me to do - because that's what they did in the bible.
Sure, it's hard to compare the cultures of then and now - but I don't think Christianity is culture exclusive - and Paul and company didn't do what they did for some kind of cultural reason - I think God wanted them to do that.
Anyways you see where I'm going with this. I'm afraid that my desire to have a nice comfortable first world life is actually me just not having enough faith to jump in to this wholly surrendered type life we see in the New Testament.
What do you think about all this? Is first world Christianity just a big comforting rationalization that we can go on living our luxurious lives? How do we not do that if it is?
Regards,
Uncer Tanty
Dear Uncer Tanty,
I hope you're not just wanting me to play Devil's Advocate, so you can toss this whole conundrum away, given the doubt-tools I can supply. I believe that you can do and "be" Jesus to people wherever you are, and that there's really no need to leave our homes or the continent to do it properly. And I think you should. Not just tell people about Jesus. But add healing and help and words of brutal honesty and insight into the world to he that hath ears to hear.
That being said:
We are not apostles. The job of the apostles was to spread the message to a world which had not yet ever heard it. The apostles were a small group, originating from Jerusalem, with Paul added later as "the apostle to the gentiles." That's not us in any way. In the bible, the people who weren't apostles (e.g. Priscilla and Aquila) clearly had homes and businesses and spent their days working. So I think there's precedent for that. Even Jesus didn't go around preaching and stuff as a young adult. We presume he was working as a carpenter with his dad. Imagine going to him and saying "Jesus, aren't you wasting your time? Isn't it comfortable to work with your dad, eat your mom's cooking and sleep in your comfy bed in Nazareth? Shouldn't you be wandering the countryside getting rocks thrown at you, preaching, fasting and being tempted by Satan, on the run from Pharisees and Romans alike?"
It would be a bizarre thing to say. Very devout-sounding, and all, but...
We do not live in a pre-Christian world. We live in a post-Christian world. That makes the situation different. If you go to India or Africa today, you can find Christian churches all over the place. Some of them were built before New York City existed. You have to look pretty long and pretty hard to find any part of this planet where no one's ever gone before, to talk about Christ. Not saying it shouldn't be done, just saying that the initial mission the apostles were on has happened already. Has been successfully accomplished. Christianity has gone out into the world, taken root, sprang up, and in many cases been subverted and coopted.
We don't actually know very much about how the 1st Century Christians really lived on a daily basis. We have that stereotype, of them with only a walking stick and a shirt on their back, but this doesn't seem to be the whole story. That doesn't seem to be the only thing they ever did, or the only way they ever lived. They had houses and stuff. Peter seems to have had a wife. Paul seems to have lived here and there, and even sewed tents for money on occasion.
We can't assume that, were we to "surrender" and listen to God, that He'd immediately ask us to sacrifice all hopes and dreams, and go to Africa. We don't know what He'd want. And sometimes I think He mainly makes big plans known to big people, and the rest have to just keep plugging on, doing what good they can. And I think we should plug on, doing what good we can. Would be nice to think we have a life planned for us by God that will need to have a new book of the bible written about it. I don't think we all do. Try it, try it, Sam I Am, I say. Live a life. Invite God to inspire it. Don't assume that random urges to go to Africa are Him speaking at all. There's a great deal of peer pressure in churches to do "show mission" work of various kinds, for brief points in our lives. Paul White, the "Jungle Doctor" of the various books I read as a kid, wrote fictional books about being a missionary, and had a fictional radio program about being a missionary, to inspire us all to be missionaries, for his whole life. How many years was he a missionary in Africa? Two. He lived the whole rest of it in Australia where he grew up. Writing books and doing his radio shows. And he felt fine with that. Felt he was making the right decision. And maybe he was.
Not saying it's never a good idea. Just saying that the idea that, if we all listened to God, we'd all be walking out of work and our homes for the last time tomorrow? Might be a bit off. Might be what I charitably call "Church Crap."
Not saying it's never a good idea. Just saying that the idea that, if we all listened to God, we'd all be walking out of work and our homes for the last time tomorrow? Might be a bit off. Might be what I charitably call "Church Crap."
So I'm going to say that you need to examine those First World Guilt feelings pretty closely and ensure that it's God who's putting them there. They can come from any number of other places.
What you call "a faith thing" sounds to me like a courage thing. Faith tends to inspire you, and give you ideas and direction. Courage is required to follow that leading. If you're not feeling that kind of leading, it's irrelevant if you have the balls to follow it. Would be like wondering if you have the balls to be a martyr, when there's no sign God needs you to be a martyr right now.
Not saying it's an easy question. Not feeling qualified to answer it.
Wikkidly yours,
...that Wikkid Person
Certified Wikkid since 1998
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