Truth.

So tonight I started reading Radical by David Platt. Woah. I literally read 7 pages and already had to stop and think for a minute. He said something that really hit me.

"I couldn't help but think that somewhere along the way we had missed what is radical about our faith and replaced it with something comfortable. We were settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves."

That's the problem with the American church today. We are so concerned about ourselves that we are missing the whole point of why Jesus came. He came to reach the lost, broken, abandoned, and hurt. To love them, unconditionally. To show them His love. 

I think alot of the time we tend to not treat people like actual people. Just because they don't have a job, a home, or haven't showered in awhile doesn't mean that we shouldn't love them. They are people and more importantly they are God's children. Just like you and I. 

This is my point of view and I am not saying every single believer out there is like this, but. I think alot of believers do the "believer" thing. Go to church on Sundays, hang out with strong Christian friends throughout the week, and maybe go to church on Wednesday nights. Now I am not saying anything is wrong with that, in fact I think it's great to do those things. But the problem I see, is that we just keep getting feed and we aren't turning around and feeding others. We are being greedy and selfish. We think that someone else can go serve the homeless, or go to a foreign country to preach the good news, or someone else can help clean up after the church function, etc. 

God has called us to go out and share His love! To every single person! Time is running out and the end is near. So many people are lost in this world, and we as the Church are sitting here not doing what we could be doing. So many people look at the Church, whether good or bad. Eyes are always on us! So shouldn't we be loving on the people that we encounter? Just pouring out unconditional love and helping in every way that we can?

Now I also think that so many people take this to the extreme. & what I mean by that is that people tend to sugarcoat Biblical truths and twist them to fit their lifestyles. Yes we should love people, even when they don't believe what we know and believe is true. But we are in no way allowed to change what the Bible says. The Bible is black and white. No grey areas! We, as foolish humans, make grey areas so we can justify what we do. We need to stop being so concerned about creating that warm fuzzy feeling for people in church. We shouldn't be concerned about whether our friends will accept us or the number of people we have in our church service. Christ didn't call us to be popular or to be liked. He called us to preach His word and to love His people. 

Just look at the life of Paul. First He was persecuting the Christians! Then he became a believer and went and spread the word. He was in jail who knows how many times. He was persecuted, and you know what? He didn't care! He continued to preach the Word and love on the people. He gave them the black and white truth. 

No more grey areas. Just black and white. & just unconditional love. Like the love He gives us.