I'm really failing at titles today...

A few weeks ago, we did a responsive reading  of Ephesians 2 in church. As the congregation read our part, I found myself suddenly in awe of how extraordinarily DULL we sounded. We pronounced the words slowly and almost in a monotone. We followed along and said our part when it was our turn, and waited in obedient silence as the pastor read his parts. As we droned on, it seriously struck me as completely ridiculous...

At what point did Christianity stop being revolutionary?

When Jesus was beginning his ministry, He walked around and preached the gospel. And people dropped EVERYTHING they were doing and followed Him. Even those who eventually had to go back to their daily tasks and lives went back CHANGED. Even in their families and workplaces, they did not keep quiet about this Jesus they had seen and heard. And so news about Jesus spread all over and many others came to hear Him preach.

At what point did Christianity stop being revolutionary?

I'm currently in a Bible study going through the book of Acts. We read Acts 1 for tonight. In verse 6 of this chapter, Jesus' disciples question Him - "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" Jesus responds by saying that it is not theirs to know. Then He tells them, "...you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (verse 8). Reading this, two things really struck me: first of all, these disciples could hardly wait for Jesus to bring the Kingdom to its full measure on earth. Granted, they were definitely confused about what this meant, but the point is they were positively *aching* for it to happen. Second, to a large extent, the disciples FULFILLED this command to be witnesses that Jesus gave them despite that at this time, traveling to "Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" was HARD.

At what point did Christianity stop being revolutionary?

I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. It seems like this question has been coming up in my mind over and over again over the last few months. I don't know if it's just a problem with Western Christianity or what...maybe we've gotten too comfortable living in nations that don't persecute us...but I mean, come on!!! At what point did Christianity stop being revolutionary???

I think most Christians have a time in their lives when Christianity finally hits them as really revolutionary. This is usually at the time of conversion. Their sin hits them for the first time in a real way. They see their own guilt. And then they realize that *GOD* died so that they wouldn't have to. And it's incredible to them. Fast forward a few years or even a few months, and so much of that disbelief and awe and sense of worship toward a God who loves us so much even though we have never done anything but spit in His face, is gone. That's just one of the most heartbreaking things I've ever heard.

Now, I'm not saying I haven't done this. I have. I still do. I've been in a Christian school of some kind for the last 13 years of my life...and it's really easy to lose your sense of wonder when you spend all of your time hearing arguments about predestination vs. free will, and to what extent is or isn't communion a symbol, and eschatological debates . I guess I just kind of feel that, like the church in Ephesus, so much of Western Christianity has lost its first love (see Revelation 2:1-7). We go to church once a week, we even go to Bible studies and Sunday School. We tithe. We help out as greeters or ushers in church every now and then. We even go on short-term missions trips. We can even quote Scripture! - we can rattle off John 3:16 or whatever else at breakneck speeds, but in a monotone, and without giving a passing thought to the words we're speaking. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." At what point did the message that this verse encapsulates stop being revolutionary? At what point did we stop realizing what this meant???

But so much of the time...the message of the gospel has stopped being revolutionary to us. And that's so tragic. I don't know what else to say........looking back over this post, it seems SO depressing. But I guess my thought here is....it doesn't have to be. Just as in Revelation, we read that the church in Ephesus could be redeemed by listening to what the Spirit was saying, so also can we be redeemed from this tragedy by rediscovering the revolutionary nature of the gospel.