Or Be A Missionary to Albania
We've started a sort of half Christianity.
I don't know how it came about, I only know that's what it is now. The first Christians, in the Bible, sold everything they owned and pooled it together to support all the believers. Sounds a little like communism, but with Jesus as the head of the group, there is nobody taking more than anyone else. If we tried it today, it could very well work. But we couldn't have any of the half-Christians we seem to have now.
I should know, I'm one of them. I didn't sell all my things and donate them to the church. I have a family to care for, and the church isn't going to support me. Why should it? Anyone willing to sell off all their goods and donate to the church is a crackpot anyway, and we don't want to give those people any money.
Heck, they would probably call it a cult. It might even be a cult. The only thing it would lack is that sicko leader who does evil things to people and gets away with it. But sooner or later, that evil sicko comes around, joins the cult, and becomes a leader. Then, the money is gone, the children aren't safe, and everybody stops trusting.
I'm guessing that's what happened to the original groups.
Jesus gives us the ability to sell everything we own and go be missionaries, and live. He will provide for our needs. He PROMISES that.
The great tragedy is, only a few take Him up on it. And these are the few that I am absolutely sure have Jesus. Because if they didn't, they'd have quit.
Yeah, I know the rest of us are still Christians. We go to church, we pray, we do the things Christians are supposed to do. But I think we're a little too comfortable sometimes with where we are, and what we're doing. This comfort leads to all kinds of awful things. It leads to lots of denominations, I think. If everyone was busy sharing instead of fighting with each other about what Jesus really meant, we'd probably all KNOW what Jesus meant, because we'd be living it instead of just thinking and discussing it. When a missionary stops by our church, I listen just a little bit closer than I would to the pastor. I think, this guy really knows what it means to live with Jesus.
Nothing against Pastor, of course. He is definitely serving a purpose where he is. And I think he's starting to figure this out, too. He's leading a small drive for people to step up and create new ministries. I think, the more time we spend caring about each other as a church, the better an invitation to our church will be. And as we grow to that, I think we'll be seeing more of that missionary mentality, even if we are still in the land of plenty.
But everytime he says, "I'm not talking about selling everything you own and becoming a missionary to Albania" I just wanna scream out, "WHY NOT!"
But I'm still here, and I don't think I'm going anywhere anytime soon. After all, I'm comfortable. And a hypocrite.
For now.