Stepping Outside of Conventional Wisdom
It has been a little while since I posted anything. One thing that I don’t want to do unlike many other blogs is continue to post content even if there is nothing to say. I figure that if you take the time to read these posts then why not make them worth your time otherwise both you and me are wasting our time.
During this lastest blogging reprieve, I have been re-engineering my fitness programs (I love extreme fitness programs BTW) but I have also been enjoying a time of self-evaluation and critical analysis. Since stepping outside of the conventional wisdom that Christians should go to church because that is the “right” behavior to engage in, I have had a chance for the first time in my life to think clearly without a lot of outside interference. Now that the dust has begun to settle and the noisy naysayers have quieted a bit, I can now carefully consider God’s will and His unmistakable direction in my life. Just yesterday morning, Sunday morning, as I sat in my living room with my family and my son’s friend, we opened our Bibles, kids and adults alike, and began working through a new lesson on Daniel I have been developing. The interaction and participation for a full hour was amazing and when the time came to openly pray as a group these kids had no hesitation for such an opportunity. Later I asked my 10 year old son what his friend thought of the our Sunday Bible study. “Dad, he said that he learned more in our Bible study about Daniel than he ever has at church”, was his response. He went on to say he wishes he could do that every Sunday. Hmm… and in response to that I say, “He can”! Truly my prayer is that we can gather with more and more Christians seeking to actively participate during our gatherings.
Folks, stepping outside of the conventional wisdom that as a Christians we should go to church is difficult because it means you must confront your own fears. Fear of what others will say about you, fear of how you will be treated both inside and outside of the Christian community and fear of what you will do once you have taken that step. I understand these fears first hand very well. Undoubtedly, you will suffer for such a decision but if you understand that going to church is lie that Satan has perpetrated upon Christians (see Lie #31) then it becomes a bit easier to critically consider what God actually has for you instead of what man says you must do. Before some of you cast all of this aside as rubbish please realize that I did not say Christians should not gather together. I have discussed this before in other blog posts so I will spare you the verbosity. Today, scores of Christians have pigeonholed themselves into being sermonized every week yet there is little to no spiritual growth in their own life. There are many good preachers that preach great sounding messages but Scripture is quite clear that good sounding preaching does not equal vibrant spiritual growth. Spiritual growth can only come through an intimate relationship with Jesus not from really good passive listening.
If you simply seek comfort and tranquility in this earthly life as a Christians, then remaining in the raft of conventional wisdom will serve you well – it drifts along peacefully as long as there are not too many waves. But panic and pandemonium waits those suddenly forced to swim should the trials of life overturn that raft. If you seek to have a meaningful, living faith walk then lay your fears aside and step out of the raft. For three years now I have been teaching this New Testament freedom in Christ in the small venue of my living room; yet, big things have been happening. Dozens of people have been profoundly impacted. Young and old, mature and immature, Christ’s Life dramatically transforms people from the inside out and He no doubt wants to transform you.
