Car Bombs and Faith

In my inability to stay focused on the task I'm working on, I just looked at my Yahoo news page.  Listed there was yet another car bomb attack in some foreign land.  It seems that every day there is a new bomb delivered by someone who was prepared to die for whatever cause they were bombing for...and they did die because they delivered the bomb.

Understand, I am completely naive on the extremist perspective of life.  I don't know what makes them tick.  I don't know if they are forced into being destruction delivery people or if they freely choose to be a dying sacrifice to the cause.  I simply know that the news continually has report after report of such people blowing up other people for a reason.

As I was reading, my mind ran a little, which it happens to do quite often.  I wondered if Christians, while not into car bombings, had that all in, willing to die capacity in their faith?  I'm would guess the car bombing people have some struggle getting people to sign up for the job.  But what about the other things they need help with?  In the church, it is sometimes a challenge to get people to sign up or commit to anything.  Even the simple things like shaking peoples hands at the door once a week.

It seems we have an attitude like this:  Yes, God, I love you and I revel in your grace!  You want me to do what?  No, I can't do that.  I have this going on or that going on.  Billy needs this so I can't give that money.  I don't have time for that because it will interfere with my golf.  My vacation will be during that time.  I need to save money for it rather than give to this initiative that the church is doing.  I can't get up any earlier to make it to church to pray before worship, God.  Sunday is only one of my two days off.  You know that.  Those two days are my Sabbath....

I am no more innocent of this type of attitude than anyone else.  I am just as good as the next person in justifying my faith so I don't have to fully commit at times.  We all do.  We are human...or at least that is our excuse, which is pretty poor if you think about it.

When will we allow our faith to take root in our souls?  When will we get and understand Paul's call to be a living sacrifice in Romans 12?  What would the church look like if we got that and lived it?  If we traded our worldy stuff and wants for things of the Kingdom?  We can read in scripture and see what the disciples were able to do.  What more could we do?

We are called to be living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God (Romans 12).  Jesus tells us that if we live out life following his actions, we will be persecuted, which could lead to death, just as it did for him and many of his disciples (Matthew 5:1-12).  Paul tells us to live is Christ, to die is gain (Phil 1:21).  In living or dying, the idea is that we are sacrificing our person, self filled lives to live out the Kingdom of God.

May that thought not leave your mind for hours.  May it make you squirm and struggle today.  May it challenge you to make changes in your life so that you are living it out.