Well this glorious week has come to an end! The pinnacle for me this week was the closing message by missionary Roy Comrie in which he exhorted the attendees to persevere through difficulty and to cling to the truth of the Scriptures and the love of Christ, even as we discovered that North Sudan had declared war on the South that very day. The call to serve is a very serious one that can have vast implications for the families that place themselves in harm’s way. Their love for other peoples and cultures, their love for God, and their obedience to a distinct and overt call in their lives have made them abandon six-figure incomes, comfortable homes and respectable reputations. These are normal, loving and capable people like you and I who are doing the unthinkable by trying to change the world for the glory of Christ. I will not be the same for having met them and am honored to call them “friends”.
As a result of this trip, I’m going to have to rethink this ‘American Dream’ thing some more. It seems to me that the payout that we get on our acquisition of ‘toys’ and status just doesn’t have the return on investment that we have been told is the truth. The pace we run as Americans just to sustain what we believe is the basic acceptable level of living is killing our joy and our love of life and others, not to mention our spiritual health and the reason we exist to begin with- which is to know and enjoy God forever. I know this-and so do you…
As a believing Christian who has already made somewhat of a commitment to limit my worldly pursuits, it has taken my stepping outside of my own culture to see my own excesses and weaknesses. What would it really mean to find a calling worth all of the comforts and securities I currently tell myself I can’t live without? Is there really such a thing as “treasure hidden in a field” (Matt 13:44) worth all that I call my own? Most importantly, would I be willing to act on such a calling if I truly believed God had such a mandate on my life? What if the way to true, authentic satisfaction is the way away from this subtle, presupposition we carry beneath the stream of everyday life we call the American dream?
I am convinced that when Christ said that He came that “(we) may have life and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10) he was speaking to the true joy and fulfillment that mankind was purposed and destined for: to know and reflect the image of God in our own lives and to see the greatness of God in Christ. May God make this true in your lives and mine as I have seen displayed in the lives of these joyous and free people this week…
Soli Dei Gloria- Bill