What does an authentic Christian walk without all the religious stuff look like?
Deuteronomy 10:12-13, 16-20 “And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? …Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt. Fear the LORD your God and serve him.
Rob Bell writes in “Jesus Wants to Save Christians,” God is searching for a body, a community of people to care for the things God cares about. God gives power and blessing so that justice and righteousness will be upheld for those who are denied them. This is what God is like. This is what God is about. This is who God is. To forget this, to fail to hear the cry, to preserve prosperity at the expense of the powerless, is to miss what God has in mind. At the height of their power, Israel misconstrued God’s blessings as favoritism and entitlement. They became indifferent to God and to their priestly calling to bring liberation to others. There’s a word for this. A word for what happens when you still have the power and the wealth and the influence, and yet in some profound way you’ve blown it because you’ve forgotten why you were given it in the first place. The word is exile. Exile is when you forget your story. Exile isn’t about location; exile is about the state of your soul. Exile is when you fail to convert your blessings into blessings for others. Exile is when you find yourself a stranger to the purposes of God.”
Delirious? Sings “We Will Break the Silence” in the background: “This is the fast that I am after, to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace. Free the oppressed and cancel debt. What I am interested in seeing you do is sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes and sharing your food with the ill-clad. Do this and the lights will turn on. No longer the kingdom of comfort but the kingdom of heaven …” (Delirious?, IS 58 MSG)
Lord, forgive me for where I have been going through the motions yet failing to live the gospel, caring about what you care about. I have felt like I have been living in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Yet in Deuteronomy 11:13-14, you promise that when we obey your commands and serve you with all our hearts and soul, you will send your rain on our land in its season. I have no one to blame but myself for lack in my life. Thank you for your faithfulness and your Words of life. Let Your kingdom come and Your will be done in my life.
Rob Bell writes in “Jesus Wants to Save Christians,” God is searching for a body, a community of people to care for the things God cares about. God gives power and blessing so that justice and righteousness will be upheld for those who are denied them. This is what God is like. This is what God is about. This is who God is. To forget this, to fail to hear the cry, to preserve prosperity at the expense of the powerless, is to miss what God has in mind. At the height of their power, Israel misconstrued God’s blessings as favoritism and entitlement. They became indifferent to God and to their priestly calling to bring liberation to others. There’s a word for this. A word for what happens when you still have the power and the wealth and the influence, and yet in some profound way you’ve blown it because you’ve forgotten why you were given it in the first place. The word is exile. Exile is when you forget your story. Exile isn’t about location; exile is about the state of your soul. Exile is when you fail to convert your blessings into blessings for others. Exile is when you find yourself a stranger to the purposes of God.”
Delirious? Sings “We Will Break the Silence” in the background: “This is the fast that I am after, to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace. Free the oppressed and cancel debt. What I am interested in seeing you do is sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes and sharing your food with the ill-clad. Do this and the lights will turn on. No longer the kingdom of comfort but the kingdom of heaven …” (Delirious?, IS 58 MSG)
Lord, forgive me for where I have been going through the motions yet failing to live the gospel, caring about what you care about. I have felt like I have been living in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Yet in Deuteronomy 11:13-14, you promise that when we obey your commands and serve you with all our hearts and soul, you will send your rain on our land in its season. I have no one to blame but myself for lack in my life. Thank you for your faithfulness and your Words of life. Let Your kingdom come and Your will be done in my life.
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