Do you realize that throughout the world more than 200 million Christians live under the threat of persecution? In America, our Constitution still protects us and allows us to practice our faith freely. But, behind the scenes, the same hatred of God that exists in other parts of the world is festering in every part of our society. Insidiously, incrementally, and incessantly, the anti-God forces are at work trying to remove that Constitutional barrier. Not only do these factions want to dismantle the historic cultural values of this nation, they also want to destroy Christianity and Bible-based religion. Unfortunately, they have already found a degree of success in the name of secularism, and their efforts have caused many of us to back down and speak a little quieter to avoid ridicule. We don't want to be labeled as fanatic so we don't upset the status quo. We keep our beliefs to ourselves and live our lives safely and cautiously.
Is that what Jesus intended for us to do? Would He understand these kinds of responses with what we're facing today?
No and no. This morning, I read this verse: And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force (Mt. 11:12).
Jesus didn't live, die, and raise from the dead so you and I could live in security and comfort. He has called us to daily make a radical difference in this world where we live. But instead of making a radical difference, Christianity has often become docile, domesticated, and civilized. We have forgotten that there is a kingdom of darkness stealing the hopes and dreams and souls of a humanity without God. Instead of renegades, we've become conformists and allowed the anti-God forces to shake our confidence, faith, and impact.
It's time to change our course. In his book, The Barbarian Way, author Erwin Raphael McManus writes:
"We created a religion using the name of Jesus Christ and convinced ourselves that God's optimal desire for our lives was to insulate us in a spiritual bubble where we risk nothing, sacrifice nothing, lose nothing, worry about nothing. Yet, Jesus' death wasn't to free us from dying, but to free us from the fear of death. Jesus came to liberate us so that we could die up front and then live" (p. 48).
McManus challenges the body of Christ to become "barbarians" in each of our separate places. He says, "the barbarian way is about love, intimacy, passion, and sacrifice. Barbarians love to live and live to love. For them God is live, and their mission is to reconnect humanity to Him."
In this short blog today, I want to shake up your world. The prophet Haggai called it "stirring up the spirit of Zerubbabel" (Hag. 1:14). "Stirring up" means to awaken, excite, raise up, incite, arouse to action. It's the picture of a conductor tuning up a band of instruments, getting them ready to play a common song.
What's the call that God has placed on your heart today that you've been sitting on? Where has your heart guided you for a place to get involved? How have you hunkered back and failed to head out to the front lines and take your world by force? "The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force." Dare to take your world by force today. Be aggressive. Be confident. Be excited about what God is doing today.
And be a barbarian. Make your work for God the driving ambition of your life. Wake up excited about it and go to bed exhausted yet renewed by it. For it is then, and only then, that you will become part of God's select army taking the world by force.