A while ago and friend of mine showed me an intriguing video of Peter Rollins called I Deny the Resurrection. You should check it out!
But, tonight I am thinking about the way we deny our calling to live as the light of the world. Jesus has sent us to burn with the light of His kingdom. But, we forget so quickly. Our families and our communities not to mention our churches would vibrate with life and the power of God’s love if we allowed Him to own our hearts.
We can choose to be different. We can decide to actually do what the Holy Spirit says to us through His word. Let’s face it, we are addicted to epic ideas about what the future holds and what the next great move of God might be like. But hearing or reading about what “might be” is not enough!
To God, the only thing that matters is faith expressing itself through love. James exposed the lunacy of hearing but not acting on the word of God.
Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like. But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.
James 1:22-25 TM
God help us break out of the prison of denial and embrace courage to act on what we hear!