Are you Radical or Nominal? – Part 1
Many of us believers have made comfort and convenience a priority while the glory of the King (the one who paid for us with His precious blood) is at stake. Many people are dying and the name of our Lord is not known to them; many in the world are being swayed to hell by the kingdom of darkness yet the task for us believers is to bring them the light of Truth that sets men free from the deceptions of the enemy.
Is it that many of us have grown cold, lukewarm or even become passive, living a predictable lifestyle that is no different from that which the sons of the world are living for? We have prioritized our safety adopting a routine life: going to the office and coming back home, going to school, doing business etc day after day as years pass while growing old yet nothing to show that was done for the glory of the King.
Is it not the time to petition heaven for radical believers in the body of Christ? We need to be made radical for the things of God. In a world where Christ is hated, shouldn’t we be passionate to make it known that we love that same Christ enough to die for His cause? Not because we desire death but because it is the natural consequence of our love for Him. It is demanded of us to give up our lives for Him “Brother will betray brother to death and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved” (Matt. 10:21-22). Of course it is not our choice whether to be martyred or not, it is as the King pleases and wills. But it is our duty to radically walk in obedience to His word.
It’s really a sad reality that many who call on the name of Christ have blended in with the world and compromised; wanting and desiring what the world wants and desires eg security, stable family, consistent finances. While these things by themselves are not sinful, they have preoccupied our lives to the detriment of our primary allegiance to the King. Walking down the road of self-preservation eventually leads us to a place where we become enslaved to desires which are normal to the world but abnormal to the kingdom. We have fallen so far from God that the heat which is supposed to emanate from the fire burning within us is no longer burning let alone being felt by others. Our desire must be to become the fuel for the fire of God: “dead wood” that God can use to ignite a fire. Just like Peter, John, James who was beheaded and all the disciples who chose not to love their lives on earth so should we deny our own lives pouring them into the purposes of the King.
Should there not be a cry from believers to be delivered from modern Christianity that looks nothing like what Christ intended? May the Lord create a burning discomfort in our hearts regarding the present lifelessness in Christianity that we have adopted and settled for. May He create a spiritual tremor that will shake us out of the place of vain contentment. We can’t afford to be comfortable, continue reading the scripture then go back to the same routine disregarding the truths that we encounter in His Word.
Mark Kolo serves as International Team Leader for Global Activation, a mission organization committed to mobilizing Kingdom change agents and catalyzing Disciple Making Movements
