Radical

A couple of months ago I was called a "radical".  The who and why of it is irrelevant.  The core reason behind it, however, is.  You see, I've made a conscious choice to live differently and sometimes that doesn't go over so well, even amongst those who call themselves believers.  The reality is this:

I believe the Bible.

I know, I know.  That's not some Earth shaking, new concept you're just now hearing from me.  So stick with me for a minute, I really do have a point.

Just because people say they believe the Bible doesn't always mean they live out what it says.

Shocker, right?!!

Hardly.  This is old news.  People have long been saying they believe God's Word yet fail to follow it (Pharisees anyone?).

The gist of the matter is that when God's word says that what proceeds from our mouths should be wholesome (Eph. 4:29)...

I believe Him.

When He says that pre-marital sex is wrong and that the marriage bed should be kept pure (Heb. 13:4)....

I believe Him.

When He says that He is the Author and Creator of life and that He knit us together in our mother's womb and that all life is precious, even from the time of conception (Ps. 139:13)....  Guess what?

I believe Him.

When He says that you will know other believers by the fruit of their works (Matt. 7:16).....

I believe Him

When He says that drunkenness is wrong (Eph. 5:18; Prov. 20:1)...

I believe Him.

I hope I'm not stepping on any toes here.  That's not my intent at all.  I don't take this matter lightly.  It's not something I use to judge or look down on others.  Please hear my heart in this.  You have to come to the conclusion that if you are going to say you believe His word, then you had best be living it out.... even when it's hard..... even when people disagree with you.

But there's another element to this.  Initially, I was 'pleased' with this comment.  I thought: "Wow.  I live in such a way that someone has taken notice."  Despite knowing that when it was said it wasn't meant as a compliment.

The reality is that the more I thought about it, the sadder I felt.  It's pretty sad when the sole requirement for being a 'radical' is that I live a pretty decent life:  I don't drink, smoke, make a habit of using bad language, we waited until we were married to have sex, we attend church, we serve and volunteer.....

Yet, you know what?  It's not enough.  Nothing will ever be enough.  It doesn't matter how good you are (or me for that matter), we're still utterly dependent on His grace.  It's this realization that causes me most every day to feel like I should be doing more.

When I think of someone who is "radical" I think of Francis Chan who freely abandons so much for the sake of the gospel.  I think of Katie who gave up everything, moved to Uganda and has adopted somewhere around 14 children.  I think of the people giving up their summers, their time, their money to go on missions trips.  I think of people like John Piper and John MacArthur who are so saturated in God's Word that I wonder if they couldn't just quote the majority of the Bible to me.  I think of people like the Duggers who have 19 kids and make it seem so easy.  I think of people like this.

People who seem so different from me.

Surely in light of great exemplars like this, I can't see how I'm a radical.

The thing is, I'm working on it.  Each day is a new day for me to improve.  For me to recklessly abandon it all for the sake of Christ (you thought I'd say "for the sake of the call", didn't you?  Come on, admit it all you Steven Curtis Chapman fans - :)  ).

So while I might be a radical to some, I hardly consider that to be the case.

But I desperately hope that one day it will be true.

Why?  It's simple:

Because I believe Him!