'It should be different than this,' I shouted to my kids as we once again ran out of the house in order to get them to school on time. I don't know what your house is like on a school morning, but my house is rarely calm, even when we seem to have plenty of time. Perhaps we should be living as if we don't have all the time in the world.
'It should be different than this,' I shouted to the teens who were probably only half listening by this point in youth group. The topic was evangelism and the list of usual suspects were being thrown at me. I've heard them all. 'That's the pastor's job.' 'I'm not very good at sharing with my friends.' 'All my friends are Christians.' 'None of my friends want to hear about it.' 'I have a sore toe.'
None of the excuses are good ones, mind you. What it comes down to for us is deciding that we need to do what God has called us to do. 'Go and make disciples' seems pretty straight forward (Matthew 28:19).
I believe it comes down to our desire to make a real difference instead of what Mark Steele referred to as a 'flashbang', all noise and no lasting affect. Or, as Mark Mittelberg wrote in The Unexpected Adventure, 'Cultivate passion and excitement for the unexpected adventure, and you'll be amazed at how you can stir up your church to become a more spiritually dynamic and contagious place.'
In order to cultivate passion, we'll have to work on it. It won't come as easy as the next Facebook status update. Much like writing poetry for that girl you like, you might have to get creative or ask your mom what rhymes with pretty. In the end, we need to remember that God has left this job to us and no one else.
It should be different than this. Perhaps we should be living as if we don't have all the time in the world.
'It should be different than this,' I shouted to the teens who were probably only half listening by this point in youth group. The topic was evangelism and the list of usual suspects were being thrown at me. I've heard them all. 'That's the pastor's job.' 'I'm not very good at sharing with my friends.' 'All my friends are Christians.' 'None of my friends want to hear about it.' 'I have a sore toe.'
None of the excuses are good ones, mind you. What it comes down to for us is deciding that we need to do what God has called us to do. 'Go and make disciples' seems pretty straight forward (Matthew 28:19).
I believe it comes down to our desire to make a real difference instead of what Mark Steele referred to as a 'flashbang', all noise and no lasting affect. Or, as Mark Mittelberg wrote in The Unexpected Adventure, 'Cultivate passion and excitement for the unexpected adventure, and you'll be amazed at how you can stir up your church to become a more spiritually dynamic and contagious place.'
In order to cultivate passion, we'll have to work on it. It won't come as easy as the next Facebook status update. Much like writing poetry for that girl you like, you might have to get creative or ask your mom what rhymes with pretty. In the end, we need to remember that God has left this job to us and no one else.
It should be different than this. Perhaps we should be living as if we don't have all the time in the world.
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