Living like Jesus meant the things he said

Sometimes a small but significant truth sneaks up on you and completely shifts your paradigm. It changes the way you see God, yourself, and your life.

This has happened to me recently. I've been reading the book The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. I'm only about halfway through it, but it has really challenged me. For a long time I've been entertaining thoughts about why many Western Christians live such isolated lives bound up in consumerism and wealth. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed that obtaining more wealth and more stuff for yourself is not really the way Jesus encouraged people to live. Sure, we talk a good game about giving to people in need. We may even donate money to charities or items to the Salvation Army. It's even tax deductible, so we're helping others and ourselves. (Picture me rolling my eyes while I say that.)

But how often do most of us actually go out and intentionally place ourselves among the impoverished or homeless or suffering? Giving to charity is a great thing, of course, but it's also a very sterile, keep-your-hands-clean way of helping others. In the book I'm reading, Shane asks how it might change the world if Christians start living like Jesus actually meant the things he said. Instead of keeping ourselves as separated as we can from people who are in need, why not move out of our comfort zones and spend time among them, as Jesus did? If God incarnate chose to spend his time on earth living among the poor, sick, and suffering, why aren't God's followers doing the same? Somehow I don’t think merely living in the same world, state, or city as them is really what Jesus was talking about. He had relationships with people in need.

I am beginning to realize that in every human interaction I have, whether with family, friends, neighbors, or total strangers, there is something deeper going on. I can actually be used to show God's love to others. This isn't something I can do on my own, but God can use me. Being a Christian isn't just about eternal life, although that's a part of it. Simply "being" a Christian isn't a very fulfilling life, in my experience. But living out your faith by following Jesus' words... oh, it's challenging, it's uncomfortable, and it's not easy-- but it's good.

I want God to love others through me. I'm tired of being complacent. I'm tired of being your average American Christian. I'm tired of sitting inside these walls (literally and figuratively) instead of going out and actively loving my neighbor. As I've mentioned before, love is not just a cute little feeling you have for people-it's an action.

I pray that God will use me to touch others lives. I want God's love to be shown through me-- to Clark, to Elijah, to my family members, to my friends, to my neighbors, to people I meet at the store, to other people driving down the road (um, that one's going to be difficult for me), and definitely to the poor, homeless, hungry, and sick. "The least of these," Jesus called them. He did tell us that "whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me," and he went on to add, "whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me."

Please don't come by here and leave me a comment telling me that this is an interesting idea or a great idea. It wasn't my idea. In fact, even though I would (and do) recommend The Irresistible Revolution to anyone who's reading this post, it wasn't Shane's idea either. It was God's idea. And it's the way I want to start living my life. I can make all the changes I've been talking about in the past few posts, but if the intent behind it isn't to make myself better able to love others the way Jesus told me to, then even these changes are just a disguised form of selfishness-- making myself a better person so I'll feel better about myself.