Leaving The American Dream

I spent most of my weekend in the woods, making friends with different species of bugs, being kissed by mosquitos, and reading Radical by David Platt. The short book had much to say, and it got me thinking quite a bit. Platt focuses on how the American Dream, being comfort, security and luxury in worldly pleasures has distracted us from living out the full, radical and global purpose God has designed us for; being discipleship and mission. There were plenty of questions and thoughts that came from the read, but i'll share some of the main ones.

What is God's purpose for me? 
I think many times we hear people talking about "hearing their calling" or reasoning certain decisions because they "have not been called yet". Radical addresses this too, and it reveals that we now live in a society and culture where we make it seem as if only certain faithful, and super mature Christians go on missions overseas whilst the rest of us stay here, in the comforts of our sub-urban homes. I'll say that I have often felt this way, and the idea of missions has always seemed intimidating and scary to me. But as I think about "being called", I've realized that when we say that God has made us for a purpose, that purpose is already established; its not a calling to a purpose sometime throughout your life. Scripture makes that purpose quite clear in Matthew 28:18-20;

"Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." 

I love the example David uses when he explains that we've reduced God's command to just a calling; he says "I find it interesting that we don't do this with other words from Jesus. We take Jesus' command in Matthew 28 to make disciples of all nations, and we say "that means other people." But we look at Jesus' command in Matthew 11:28, "come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will tie you rest," and we say, "now that means me." We take Jesus' promise in Acts 1:8 that the Spirit will lead us to the ends of the earth and we say, "that means some people" But we take Jesus' promise in John 10:10 that we will have abundant life, and we say, "that means me.""

Our purpose is to go make disciples wherever we are, and we are to invite them into God's kingdom by bringing them the Gospel message, we are to teach them what it means to be a disciple of Christ.

So how can I use my gifts and resources for God's mission?
This has the be the follow up question to the first one right? But before this question is even answered, I think we must first recognize that God's mission is a global one, and therefore we must have a heart for the world. Reflecting on my own heart; I don't know how much of my heart is for the world, maybe i'm just blinded by all the luxury I am surrounded by, and maybe I need to be exposed to the needs of the world, both physically and spiritually, to really have my heart tugged, but I most definitely want to be praying for a bigger heart for the world, for the lost and for the poor.

Now back to using my gifts; I spent some time thinking about what I am gifted in, and what I really enjoy and have a passion for and I think the one thing that came to mind was how easily and how great my connection is with children. I see it when I interact with children, I hear it from parents and other friends, and I personally just love working with children. So I began to think about how this can be applied, how I could use this gift for the reaching the lost; would it be working at an orphanage? at Compassion Canada or World Vision? I may not have an exact answer, but I feel quite strongly that children are in the picture somewhere.

As for resources; we are constantly told that we are among the richest people in the entire world, which is very true; the fact that i'm writing this on a computer, in a home with a roof over my head and food in the fridge makes me extremely privileged. Radical always refers to the idea of moving away from the American Dream; not that we are to live in poverty, but rather we can give sacrificially (rather than casually and comfortably) and we can focus on the essentials rather than the glitz and glam. Platt poses this question,

"what if God gave us excess so that we could give more rather than have more?"

This can be practiced by living on a capped amount of money, or giving up a vacation, or selling and giving away the things you have that are unnecessary to those that need it. It made me think; "well I don't need a big house or fancy cars, and who knows, maybe if I end up staying single, I can just have a small place, live simply, and use what I have to build community, show hospitality, and give instead!" I found that under this light, the gift of singleness really does shine; oh the endless opportunities you can have as you are completely devoted to the LORD and His mission!

So what am I going to do about it?
Of course, in theory this all sounds great, but it really is a matter of being a hearer and a doer of the Word. Radical does suggest "The Radical Experiment" where one is asked to commit to five goals for a full year; a) praying for the world, b) reading through the entire Word, c) sacrificing money for a specific purpose, d) spending time in another context (ie. away from home) and e) committing your life to a multiplying community. I don't know if I plan on doing these five things right away, but there are a few things I want to put into practice.

Giving - I used to have a jar where I would put in whatever money I saved for my own use; for example, if I decided to go home and cook rather than go out, then i'd slot in 10-15$ for the money I saved. But maybe instead of a jar of money that is for myself, it'd be a jar for missions and for giving.

Prayer - I hope I can be more consistent in praying for my heart, praying for fellow believers and the church that we would all go out on mission, in different contexts and in the communities placed around us. Praying also for the unreached and unengaged people groups in the world. Maybe God will place a certain one on my heart for me to fully invest in.

Discipleship - Wherever we are, we are commanded to go and make disciples there. Discipleship is relational! It's quite sad that I don't even know my neighbours here. So I hope to challenge myself to show and share the life of Christ wherever I am, in Guelph during school, or here at home - whether it just be a friendly conversation or an invitation for dinner, we should strive to be the light of the world!

There are billions of people in the world who have not heard the gospel yet, and God intends to use The Church, being each and everyone of us to share and bring the good news to them! This is the mission we have been given, and it is worth leaving the American, or shall I say, Canadian dream for. Radical by David Platt does a great job at putting what we know and what culture tells us on it's head, and I encourage you to read it if you get the chance!