I have been reading a book lately entitled "The Road to Reality" and it has given me a great deal to think about. It is written by K.P. Yohannan, the founder of Gospel for Asia. He travels around the US speaking in churches attempting to raise money for native missionaries in his home country of India and is pretty serious about condemning the North American church for our failure to live radical lives in service to Jesus Christ. He believes that we should be much more sacrificial in our support of third world missions, and that we should stop spending money on big buildings, extensive church education programs, and the mass amounts of Christian literature that can be found wherever you go in the world of American Christianity.
It is troubling to read, because I have been feeling convicted deep inside of my me-centered Christianity. Whether it be emotion-centered worship that characterizes one's faith or being involved in tons of Bible studies but never reaching out to the lost, I have always wondered at the Christianity that I have always known. Worship is so important, and Bible studies are so important, but if they don't result in an impassioned reaching-out to the lost, then what is the point? If worship doesn't transform our lives, if we don't allow God's Word to truly change the way we live, then what is the point?
That is the road I'm attempting to follow. Coming out here to what seems to be the heart of liberal America, I am going to attempt to live a radical life in service to Christ. What that will look like, I'm not exactly sure yet. But I want to be the hands & feet of Jesus so badly. I could sit in my own little world and contemplate the ins and outs of theology, questioning whether or not predestination is the way, or whether or not Christ is really physically present in communion, and where will that get me? Not very far. What good is the truth if I do not share it?
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