The discussion going on Mike Cope's blog yesterday is a hard pill to swallow. The big white elephant in the church, that no one is willing to talk about is, nondiscipleship. We are comfortable in our pews, away from the gore of real life. We might get our hands dirty, or even our fancy clothes might get smudged, if we make the short pilgramage to be in the lives of the "bottom of society."

My thoughts: we are absolutely wrong! Steve Holt called it like it is. Even at the highest levels of our body, (ie, the elders) we are not willing (myself included) to address the issues that surround the other 90% of our population that is not sitting in the pew of a church building on a sunday morning. And, the really sad part about it is, people need life, we have it, and yet we are completely unwilling to give it to them. What the hell is going on? And now, most people would be more worried that I just said "hell" than the fact that there are people who desparately need even a glimpse of hope in their lives. Something is not right.

So, how do we make the change in thought? First, I truly believe we have to be willing to listen to the call of God. Philippians tells us that we are to be interested in the ways of Christ rather than our own. I'm going to step out on a limb here and suggest that we are pretty good at putting on the mask, "pretending" we are interested in the desires of Christ, but when we really get down to it, we, I am not at all interested in feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, or those in prison, etc. I would rather pout about the fact that I'm only driving a 2004 vehicle instead of a brand new 2007.

It is time to do what we know is right! I know the right thing to do. I know what Christ's interests are. Too long have I just sat back and waited for someone else to do what I know I should be doing. That's not going to happen anymore. Christ has called me to a higher life. He told me to build up for myself treasures in heaven, not here on earth. How do we do that you say? Take a look at the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5-7. I don't think we'll find any plainer explaination anywhere in scripture.

We are Christians. We are compelled to live for the God who gave His son to die on the cross for ALL MANKIND, not just the few of us sitting in the pews on Sunday mornings. As Tony Campolo said, "The ship is sinking, we know what to do to save every single person on the ship, are we going to let them die, or share the life-saving news with them?" No more excuses. We are Christ's, slaves to Him. We do what he calls us to do. Put yourself last in everything, others come first, even those who are different, homeless, grouchy, intimidating, stubborn and whatever else you can think of. Christ did it, so can we! And so WILL we!