Peter and I have been asking that question a lot recently. I posted this to Instagram last week:
Recently I have been asking the question, “Is there evidence of Jesus in my life?” The answer can be a bit scary, but we always have room to grow. Right now, I can pursue Christ by repenting of my sin, asking him to help me see the people in my life who need love and helping them, serving my husband and children rather than the other way around, letting go of distractions and things that block my relationship with Christ, reacting thoughtfully and apologizing when I don’t, and waking up with a mindset on others rather than on myself. God changes the world through small acts one person at a time.
This question has been asked in response to reading the book Radical by David Platt. The book discusses taking back our faith from the American Dream. He talks a lot about how our wealth and comforts in America can block us from Jesus. The book also discusses that 4.5 billion people in the world don’t believe in Jesus. By this standard we should be really busy trying to make disciples of all the nations as Jesus instructs us in the great commission. Many times, we are not very busy making disciples because we don’t have an urgency because we are comfortable just living our lives.
Peter and I have been guilty of this and we also went/are going through a “crisis of faith” as David Platt describes in his book. We are not sure what this looks like for us. We do know that we need to be wiser about what we spend our money on and we need to do a far better job of spreading the gospel.
There was an analogy in the book that I keep thinking about. The SS United States was a troop carrier designed to carry fifteen thousand troops during times of war. The SS United States ended up mainly being a cruise liner that carried 2,000 passengers. This is supposed to represent our lives. As Jesus followers, we are supposed to be on mission. We are supposed to carry 15,000 troops rather than 2,000. It is way more comfortable to be on the luxury liner than the troop carrier, but our mission here on earth is not comfort. Our mission here is to tell the 4.5 billion people that don’t believe in Jesus (and are inevitably going to hell) about Jesus and his saving grace.
Phew, this has caused some difficulty for us in the way that we think about our lives. Our main goals now revolve around how we can be on mission, like the troop carrier. How can we live our lives for Jesus rather than getting lost in our own comforts? I think the answer is different for everyone, but it is our prayer that all of you would wrestle with this question just like we are right now.
Peter wrote a song about following Christ using the verses that David Platt used in his book (Luke 9). The song is called Follow Me. I love that Peter does his processing through song. It is so insightful and then we get to listen to it over and over again.
I am thankful that I have a partner in life that is willing to wrestle with these questions. We would recommend reading this book, but at the very least we hope that you will be praying that Jesus would lead you to those he wants you to tell about him.
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