Christ has changed me. He’s renewed my mind, reorganized my priorities and called me greater than just another American woman chasing the American dream.
The call to walk into the identity that Christ has for us as children of God is available to everyone, no doubt.
The call for freedom and abundant life and this feeling of finally being loved at it’s fullest, finally being known at it’s fullest and finally understanding the purpose of life on earth is also available to everyone.
But do you want it?
I spent a lot of my life answering “no” to that question fooled by the mindset that I could and should do it all on my own. That doing it all on my own was better and seemingly more free.
When I finally started to understand that what Christ commands is actually the best for me, something happened in the spiritual that’s hard to describe.
I got stubborn. My faith got stubborn. And my distaste for disobedience also got stubborn.
It all became absolute for me. Christ is it. He is the point. He is the goal. Relationship with Him and deep love for others was all life was about.
And if that’s true. If He really is it. Then everything that He says, all the boundaries and commands, those are also it.
I had to try it.
My life became a series of “simple obedient” changes. It started with joining myself to a church body, putting mentors in my life and changing some destructive behaviors – right off the bat.
Sexuality – nope. Drunkenness – nope. Overspending – nope. Vanity – nope. The list goes on.
I dove in.
And hear me when I say that this radical faith that fell on me like a wave hurt some people in the process. My life became offensive. My choices became offensive. The trimming and shaving off of sin and sludge and yuck I had let cling to me meant purification that looked prude to the world.
But the gospel is offensive to those without the Holy Spirit. The word is clear that we will look like fools to those that don’t know Him. I know I looked foolish to many, especially quitting my job and running around the world with a heavy heart for those that don’t know Him and a zeal for people to understand the opportunity for abundant life with Him on earth.
Almost a month ago, still in Jaco, Costa Rica, the church we were serving gave us the opportunity to attend a women’s conference.
Different than any women’s conference I’ve ever heard of, this one was actually on point. It was an outcry to women all over the world to get involved in what Christ commands us when he says “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”
Remember when I had the revelation that Christ commands were it because I had figured out that He was it?
Well here we go.
It’s the reason I’m here. It’s the reason I continue to pursue missions. It’s the reason my life looks so reckless.
During the conference, the most influential part for me was an interview with a pastor from Iran. If you’ve watched the documentary “Sheep Among Wolves” – It’s that guy – the guy leading a movement of Iranian women in the underground church. Absolutely wild stuff. Please go on YouTube here and watch it.
He talks about this idea of simple obedience in this way that moved me. “Just go do it. Jesus says go and tell not come and see. What are we waiting for?” He talks about how as American Christians we are walking around all the time not engaging people that we know, that WE KNOW are dead.
Woooooo does that get me.
His story is really beautiful. He ended marrying a woman from Iran who came to Christ in an absolutely insane way. You can hear the interview here. He eventually brought his wife back to the U.S. wanting to give her a beautiful life. A few months in she fell into a depression. She had more than she’d ever had but an emptiness was all around her. She said, “Your people here are under a satanic lullaby of materialism – they think they have everything they need so they don’t need Christ; your churches are lifeless. Have they even experienced God?”
Imagine going from an underground movement where a bible is the most precious thing you can think of holding. Imagine meeting in secret and praying in whispers so no one will hear, because if they do – you’ll die and so will everyone else. Imagine the love of Christ being so beautiful, so life giving and so RIGHT that you are willing to risk your life to study the word, pray and tell others about Jesus.
“Persecution of the church keeps you clean,” he said. “Simple converts will run from persecution, Disciples of Christ will die for His name.”
I’m here to tell you that I am prepared to die for His name – because He’s that good. Because I believe what He says in His word is true and because I’ve seen Him work and I know He’s real.
And what got me here? Simple steps of obedience.
My next steps are to move more. I’m convicted to preach the gospel to more people, to share with more people I come into contact with, to use all my energy and resources to follow Christ’s commands and to avoid the satanic lullaby of comfort and materialism as much as I can.
If the man who died for me because He loves me that much is asking me to simply wander the earth and tell other people what I know about Him, I can do that.
Simple obedience.
I don’t want to be tidy. I don’t want to be buttoned up. I don’t want to live under the façade of looking the right way or sounding the right way. I want to be a messy, human, vulnerable vessel for the love of Jesus Christ.
He is SO worth it.
What are your simple steps of obedience? What is God asking you to do?
He’s IT you guys. Ask him.
