Far too often, we reason ourselves out of doing kingdom work. "There's not enough people here, so we're calling the match because we won't be effective enough..." "I can't visit those people tonight, I've got a very important meeting about the future addition for our church building..." "I'm not sure how I feel about that activity. We've never done anything like that before, and it's not 'okay-ed' in the Bible, so we probably shouldn't do it..." "Someone might get offended if I meet this person on their terms, so I probably shouldn't even bother with them..."

Sound pretty ridiculous? I've heard these arguments and many like them already in my short time here on earth. Heck, I've probably used most of them...

Not enough people show up for a service project and we think it's a failure. God thinks it's an opportunity and we should be thinking the same. Too often we have so many meetings or non-kingdom related activities that we miss or even ignore opportunities God gives us to share His story. Jesus told Peter, "If you love me, then feed my sheep." Same is true for us. I think many times we spend more time talking about how to feed the sheep rather than actually feeding them... The bible seems to have become a rule book rather than a map, showing many different roads to the same destination. Remember what Paul's argument about the body? We all are members of one body, each member having it's own function? Some teach, some preach, some prophesy, some speak in tongues, etc. We all have different functions and if we sit around waiting for someone to show us where the bible "okay's" our actions, albiet, kingdom related, we are watching strikes go by. How many religious people of his day did Jesus offend while he ministered to his Father's flock? Jesus ate with tax collectors, he went into sections of cities where no good religious person would go and I know for a fact that he met people where they were in life. He didn't expect them to be living on His terms for him to share any good news with them. That came later, after they saw he really cared about them as a person. He was willing to meet their needs...

See where I'm headed here? The age of reason has done a number on us. We can talk ourselves out of pretty much anything we don't feel like doing. I think it's time to model the extreme life Jesus lived and called us to live alongside him.