Mediocre Christianity

I left the post office a little while ago and since it was near closing time, one of the employees was saying goodbye to a co-worker. She told him, "Have a great weekend. See you next week." To which he glumly replied, "Yeah, we'll do it all over again next week."

Whoa. The resignation in his voice caught me. We'll do it all over again next week...

How many Americans feel the same way every Friday afternoon? How many dread Monday morning each week?

I thank the Lord that I'm not one of them.

I remember praying over and over as a teenager that the Lord would not allow me to just become a mediocre Christian. I told Him that I didn't want to be the kind of believer that just went to a job every day and church on Sunday and never impacted anyone for the Kingdom.

I'm sad to say that for a while, I was that person. But then the Lord answered my prayer and He invited me on an amazing adventure with Him! For the last couple of years, Stephen and I have followed Him along a path that will eventually take our family to Italy to plant churches. It hasn't always been easy, but it has definitely been anything but routine. And I wouldn't trade it!

I know that the journey we are on will bring hardships along with it. In fact, a friend told Stephen this week that God had revealed to him that we would face great persecution in Italy. When he shared this with me, I was, understandably, a little upset. Then Stephen asked me, "Does that change anything?"

No, it doesn't.

Jesus stated over and over that His followers would face persecution. In John 15:20, He said "A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also." That's not really a very popular scripture in most American churches, but that doesn't make it any less true.

Last night, a dear friend and her son came over for dinner. She is called to minister in Africa and we talked about the spiritual warfare she had experienced on previous trips. She told us, with tears in her eyes, that she would gladly give up her life if it would bring people to faith in Jesus. I was so inspired by what she said and then I realized that I agree with her. Psalm 56:11 says, "I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?" If I can bring glory to God through my death, then I am willing to do that. After all, it will just usher me into the presence of my Lord and Savior!

Now, do I expect to be martyred for the faith? Probably not. Will I be persecuted? Absolutely. As my husband says, you can't march into the enemy's camp and expect them to just welcome you with open arms. Satan has held strongholds in Italy for thousands of years and he is not going to allow us to come in and start tearing those down without some retaliation. So we are going to pray hard and trust God to show us how to fight our enemy, because Italians deserve the chance to know the Truth and we want to help give them that chance.  

Would it be easier to stay here and work a job Monday - Friday that pays the bills and make our Sunday morning visit to church each week? Of course, but I'm crazy enough to believe that God can and wants to work through my family to make a difference in the lives of Italians - not because we're special, but because we're willing.

I wonder what would happen to that postal worker if he prayed a crazy prayer for God to replace his mundane life with a God-sized adventure. How would his life change? Who would his life impact? I firmly believe that the Lord wants to take every one of His children on an amazing adventure! But so many are not willing to take the risk.

What about you?