Shouting the Gospel with My Life

One of the things I love about my life here in Mbarara is that I have a lot more free time to read, which is something I love to do, but had very little time for in the midst of all the reading I did for my classes in college. I'm not sure why, but somehow I could never fit in reading for pleasure when I was bogged down with reading my textbooks, a biography of some historical figure here and there, and of course the random other books that professors love to assign. So I've really loved being able to read so many different books while I've been here. I've fallen into the trap of being in the middle of 3 or 4 different books at a time, but thankfully right now I'm able to concentrate on reading one of my favorite books in the world.

If you haven't read The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne, then please stop reading my weak attempts at writing, and go read his incredibly powerful book. I read it for the first time last summer, and it only made me more passionate about mission work than I already was, and I'm convinced this book had a lot to do with me actually stepping out and committing to come to Uganda. It's an inspiring book, and it makes me want to be so much more than I am right now. It's for sure not an easy read, only because you can't walk away from this book without being challenged to make some necessary, but incredibly difficult changes in your life. I know that I was challenged and convicted of my own lukewarm Christianity last summer when reading it, and again now as I'm reading it again. This guy is onto a real kind of Christianity, and this books makes me excited about living more radically for God. Ok, I'll stop the free advertisement for the book and get on with my thoughts, but seriously, I recommend checking this one out.

Something happened yesterday that kind of goes along with the part of the book that I've been reading, and it's got me thinking a lot about my life and the way that I live out my faith. In James 2, we're told that Abraham's actions made his faith complete. Our faith in incomplete unless there are actions that accompany it, and this is something that I need to be reminded of daily. Yesterday, my daily reminder came by way of a random Ugandan that we ran into in town. D-rae and I were waiting outside of Gigi's restaurant to talk to her, when this young woman walked up to us. Instead of the usual Ugandan greeting of "How are you?" this woman just looked at us and said "Praise God." She then turned and walked off. This obviously caught Des and I a little off guard, and as she walked away I joked that the way we sat there on the curb must have just showed our love for God and our commitment to follow him.

Unfortunately, all too often in my life, that is all that is...a joke. People usually can't tell just from interacting with me that I'm a Christian. They don't see the noticeable difference in my life that I am called to have as a follower of Christ. They don't see it because it's not there. Over the years I have become way too comfortable with being comfortable, and way too fearful of being different. I've become satisfied with life as an ordinary Christian rather than thirsting for a life as one who is radically in love with God. I've spent way too much time conforming to this world, all the while fighting the transformation in my life that God wants and desires to give me.

In his book, Claiborne uses the old quote "Preach the gospel always. And when necessary use words," under a heading entitled Shouting the Gospel with Our Lives. This quote inspires me and reminds me of just how rarely I preach the gospel by the way I live. I think back to when I was in high school. I wonder how many of my classmates heard me proclaim my faith at the weekly Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting, but questioned if those were empty words when watching me fail to love my neighbors in school everyday, one of the basic principles of the gospel that I preached. People have a hard time understanding God because they have a hard time understanding the hypocrisy of God's people. I cringe at the times I've been a stumbling block to those around me simply because my actions didn't match up to my so-called faith.

What a beautiful thought that the primary way of sharing the gospel should be with my life rather than with my lips. My faith can be most real and most effective by what I do rather than what I say (or write). I want my life to shout the gospel. I want to run into strangers on the street and after spending a few minutes together, have them not only questioning what is different about my life, but finding themselves so attracted to it that they can't help but want to find out more. We are called to be different, and I pray that the difference in my life is evident to everyone that I meet. Jesus lives in me, and I want others to see him, instead of me.