Culture and Christianity were not meant to coexist without conflict. By definition, they cannot agree. The rise of one often coincides with the decline of the other. And in the meantime, we’ve been convinced that we can be both followers of Jesus and proponents of the culture. They told us we could have both. They lied.
This is all Kingdom work. We are on assignment.
And yet, Jesus still cares about what makes us cry. Whether we’re triggered because our ice cream cone fell on the sidewalk or we’re just overflowing with grief over the life we thought we’d have, He cares.
On the other side of our five senses, there is battle raging. We can’t always see its soldiers, but we can experience the impact of their weapons. Scripture declares that no weapon formed against us will prosper. But does that mean they won’t wound?
Commitment has a cost, and in our conversations, we’ve always focused on our commitments to Jesus. Scripture is very clear that we have to count the cost of choosing to follow Jesus, but I wonder… is it possible to know how expensive this pursuit is really going to be?
Does the cost account for inflation? Years, maybe even decades later, are we still willing to pay?
We don’t have to heed every bit of instruction just because it sounds like wisdom. In fact, this may even lead us astray. Remember the Garden of Eden? The serpent was crafty with his words, wrapping his lies up in truth. Or consider Jesus in the wilderness. When Satan quoted scripture to Jesus, he wasn’t lying. That was actual scripture; it was just misused. So how do you know which voice to heed? When the serpent sounds like God and the Devil memorizes more scripture than you do, how do you figure out who is telling the truth?
Do you face impossible tasks?
Do you dream dreams that only He can bring to pass?
Are any among you sick? Hurting? Lost?
If the enemy is blatantly putting evil on display for the world, how much more should we expect the miraculous power of God to shine in the midst of darkness?
I wonder, what is God speaking into your life at this very moment that doesn’t seem to make sense? Could it be instruction for the promise He is still bringing to pass? A reminder that it’s coming, and when it does, you need to be able to care for it well. Listen up, friend. It will make sense soon. The instructions He gives now may very well be the source of your fruitfulness then.
I recently got a new phone, and like nearly everybody else, I wanted to get it for as cheap as possible (since when did the cost of a phone exceed the cost of my monthly mortgage? Who approved this?!) Getting the discount meant I had to trade in my old phone, but before sending it back, I had to perform a factory reset. Wipe it completely clean and remove the sim card in order to make it useful for someone else.
And now I’m just wondering… how many of us could use a factory reset before the new year? Would we be more effective if we got rid of the old sim card, so to speak, before embarking on something new?
More importantly, how do we get there, spiritually speaking?
What if this year, we took the time to pause. To reflect. To remember why the baby laid in a manger, only to grow up and hang on a cross. It was for us. Just to be with us. Just to give us the chance to say yes to Him, so that we could begin a life with Him. This year, let’s not only recall what He’s done. Let’s recall the memories of time spent together, of relationship with God.