I’m tired of watching life happen to me. The best laid plans seem to always go astray. The many desires I have to accomplish more and more crowd out any peace that should be in my head. Where is the peace of Christ? Why this frustration and restlessness?
Have you been there? Welcome to life in the Western world. Convenience is at our fingertips, achievement is ours to obtain. We are free to pursue any and everything this world has to offer. Stop for a moment and simply ask, “At what cost?” What have we lost in our hurried, results-oriented culture? Look around your neighborhood; observe the affluence regardless of income. What have we become?
As Christians we are called to live differently, we are called to a life of humility and love. We are called to peace and selflessness. Does your life reflect these attributes? I know I have a long way to go when measured against these core principles. We are supposed to be a peculiar folk, but instead we have learned to blend right in. We have become Americans (if you’re a U.S. reader, if not fill in your own nationality) at the cost of being Christians. We have lost our first love, in fact I believe we’re in danger of losing love altogether.
Christianity was never meant to be proper people attending large brick buildings where they are entertained for an hour or two each week before going back into the day to day drudgery of the “real world”. We are to be a people in community with one another every day, and every day we are to be about serving the needs of those in our cities and our world. When was the last time we left our church buildings and immediately began planning how we were going to love and care for the sick, homeless, widowed and orphaned? More likely we start planning the grocery list or what our jobs will require of us over the upcoming week or even worse, what football game we will watch that afternoon. Christianity as a whole has become hypocritical and pharisaical. I cringe at the thought of what Christ would say of my life in particular and the body of the Western church as a whole. We have become complacent, self-centered and blinded to those around us.
So how do we stop reacting to what comes at us in life and instead start dictating what our life will look like? How do we quell the restlessness in our souls? We get back to being the church Christ called us to be. We return to our first love, Christ, by imparting His love to everyone we meet. It is virtually impossible to find yourself frustrated with life when you are walking in step with Christ, doing the things he has commanded us to do. Are you frustrated? Serve Christ by loving others. Does life keep slamming into you? Take a break and find someone to love. Do you want to impact the world? Look like Jesus and love your neighbor, serve their needs. Are you sensing a theme? Life is easy, we’ve made it difficult. Love Christ, love others. Nothing else matters.