Although I’m certainly not the most traditional person out there, I would have to say that I am actually reasonably conservative!
Take my “looks” for example:
· Nothing shouts “conservative” like consistently wearing black trousers and polo shirts (wooly jersey for winter).
· Check out my glasses—SOOO predictable!
· As for my haircut—it’s the same one I’ve had my whole life!
And it’s not just looks:
· I have a reasonably conservative evangelical theology (although I prefer to call it orthodox because it sounds cooler!)
· With regard to marriage, I believe it is between one man and one woman, and that it is a life-long commitment—that’s seen as quite conservative these days.
· 1 wife, 3 kids, 1 mortgage, 1 Nissan (how terribly unimaginative!)
However, when I probe a little deeper I find this external conservatism actually disguises my true nature—I’m a Christian radical.
Now you have to be careful using a label like “radical”, however it’s actually quite a good description of the Gospel and the life that Jesus calls us to live. Far from being predictable and conservative, at the core we are called to be radically transformed and to live lives that put it all on the line for the Kingdom of God.
The Christian life is actually very challenging! Frankly, it’s risky!
Here’s an anonymous quote that resonates deeply with the radical in me:
Take my “looks” for example:
· Nothing shouts “conservative” like consistently wearing black trousers and polo shirts (wooly jersey for winter).
· Check out my glasses—SOOO predictable!
· As for my haircut—it’s the same one I’ve had my whole life!
And it’s not just looks:
· I have a reasonably conservative evangelical theology (although I prefer to call it orthodox because it sounds cooler!)
· With regard to marriage, I believe it is between one man and one woman, and that it is a life-long commitment—that’s seen as quite conservative these days.
· 1 wife, 3 kids, 1 mortgage, 1 Nissan (how terribly unimaginative!)
However, when I probe a little deeper I find this external conservatism actually disguises my true nature—I’m a Christian radical.
Now you have to be careful using a label like “radical”, however it’s actually quite a good description of the Gospel and the life that Jesus calls us to live. Far from being predictable and conservative, at the core we are called to be radically transformed and to live lives that put it all on the line for the Kingdom of God.
The Christian life is actually very challenging! Frankly, it’s risky!
Here’s an anonymous quote that resonates deeply with the radical in me:
To live is to risk dying. To hope is to risk despair. To try is to risk failure.
But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing and is nothing.
They may avoid suffering and sorrow, but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live.
Chained by their certitudes, they are as a slave, they have forfeited their freedom.
Only a person who risks is free.
Let’s take some risks and find the freedom God has for us in Christ Jesus our Lord!
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