JTTurner.Net

Probably the most odd realization that I have come to over the past few months, and more specifically the last few weeks, is the dawning realization that comfort in life can often, if not most times, yield few positive and productive results. My brother, who is a pretty smart guy, and another really smart guy at conVerge, Caleb, have been discussing recently on blogs, facebook and in general discussion the stark reality that the reasons we, the American Church, are dying is because we’re far too comfortable. Being a Christian is far too easy…at least the Christianity that the American Church has been marketing; what Caleb has so aptly called “nominal Christianity” (check out his blog at www.calebturner.com (no relation :))) . Prima facie this seems odd…afterall, as Christians in America we have often lauded the fact that we are free to worship who we please and are still free to pursue all the great advantages of the “American dream.” But interestingly, through history, the true Church..the true Christian life never seems to actually flourish in this kind of setting. Roger, my brother, touched on that on his face-book page. It’s an interesting thesis…and one I’m starting to believe. Are we wrong in this?

To add to this is a discussion that I had with my wife before we fell asleep last night. It started off as a conversation about not worrying about what a future “career” might be and our discussion that “career” isn’t important so long as we are always strategically positioning ourselves to spread the gospel. Obviously we must do our best in whatever job we find ourselves in, but the jobs are only a means to an end…a strategic way-point in our mission to further the Kingdom. This is precisely backwards from what most American Christians will say, even my family has never told me that and they’re all authentic believers. This is where I believe that Caleb’s post hit’s the nail on the head…the movement we are trying to reestablish in conVerge is a call to repentance to the Church…more specifically the American church. The American dream has triumphed over the necessity of the gospel and has been a distraction. Look at the Apostle Paul. The man was a tent-maker. Why? It afforded him the opportunity to evangelize and move about on his mission. He wasn’t a professional missionary nor did he have a “career” path. He worked a job as a means to an end..and that end helped change the last 2000 years of history. Well, like I said…the conversation only started this way. Soon it traveled into our wonderings of whether conVerge could be a real, lasting movement. I believe it can and will be. And like all movements, it will be very difficult to overturn the cultural milieu and setting we find ourselves in. After-all (like we keep saying) no one will disagree (Christian’s that is) that the mission of Jesus is paramount and the priority. However, it is one thing to get someone to agree; it’s entirely another to get someone to act. To get someone to actually move with God. To change their life, to drop their careers, to reorient their entire life for the mission of Jesus. I’m in the process of doing it. Six months ago my only thought was to finish my MA, go get my PhD from Notre Dame (Go Irish!) and teach philosophy of religion the rest of my life in some cake university job. Sure, I’d share the gospel and defend the faith every time the opportunity presented itself…but…look at that! “Presented itself.” What the heck does that mean?! No, no, no!! Part of the mission of Jesus implies that we put ourselves in the way of the mission…to put ourselves strategically in position to spread the gospel to the unbeliever and bring other Christian’s to the knowledge, the true knowledge and practice, of the Gospel.

That’s one difficulty. That’s the less “scary” part. But what about the other scary parts. What about real persecution? I’m not sure how many of us in conVerge, let alone the entire body of Christ, understand the actual perils of missional living. We need look no further than the thousands upon thousands of brutalized, tortured, and murdered martyrs who have fought valiantly to keep the Truth, His Gospel, going and bring real people from the grips of Hell. The ironic thing about this type of persecution, however, is that…I’m willing to bet anyway… it would in a sense “galvanize the troops.” I’m not saying that persecution is something we need to hope against hope for, but I think there is a reason that scripture says to count yourself blessed when it occurs.

Perhaps “plague” is too strong of a word to describe comfort, but I really believe that if we look to the very first Christian movement (the actual first Christians) they were more than willing to bring on some discomfort in order to save real people from a real, eternal, Hell. They were in stark contrast to the rest of society…we are not. So, how about we do just that…make ourselves uncomfortable, put ourselves out there, sacrifice our lives and wants to the mission of Jesus. How can we not…people are going to Hell. Is your 401k more important than that? Your “career?”

This was a bit rambling…but, any thoughts?

-JT