Devotion - Monday, November 12

Yesterday's LCM Sunday School Lesson continues to occupy my thinking and my prayers.  Session 3 in the "Animate" curriculum, the presentation was about living as Jesus lived.  It was about moving beyond boring Sunday morning sermons, and transforming Church into a place where we gather in order to practice what it means to be a disciple.

The materials spoke of the risky actions Jesus took; and encouraged us to think about the risk we might take - for Jesus.

In our conversation, we acknowledged the ever present danger of extreme thinking.  We think that the only options are to either continue living as we live, or to sell everything we have, give the money to poor, put on the robes of some begging order, and live off the good will of others.

"Wouldn't the whole economy collapse?"  Someone asked.

First, a few dozen of us making such a radical shift won't crash the whole economy.  If a few million of us began to make small steps in the direction of a risky following of Jesus, the economy would surely shift to meet the new market opportunities.  The folks who make Rolex watches might learn to also produce something less expensive but more useful to a wider range of persons.

The SCS lesson left me re-evaluating the choices I make every day about the life I live.  Have I become so comfortable in my lifestyle that I assume Jesus is comfortable with it, too. 

Do you know where the local free-food distribution center is?  Have you ever been there?  Or given two hours to re-stock food on the shelves?  One of the questions we asked yesterday is how many persons can we name who live below the poverty line.  One in eight Americans do.

Some analysis of Christianity suggests that it is dying.  The warning signs are pretty dire.  It is easy for an idea or a philosophy to be replaced by something different.  The reason the early Church could not be stopped is that the followers of Jesus knew that Christianity was a way of life.

Let's talk together about how we can make it our way of life.