The following is a quote from the jacket of the new Telecast CD "Quiet Revolution." I've never really cared much for their music or lyrics. My mom actually lent me this CD and pointed out the liner notes. So she really gets the credit here. I still don't care for the CD, but this short note of Josh's ties in with a lot that's been going on lately. Those things will eventually become posts here, but, for now, enjoy the note.
"Hebrews 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
We want to change the world. We want to feed the poor. We want to care for the orphan and the widow. But I can’t help but wonder why it is, in the flurry of our countless activities and programs, why the vast majority of Christians still find themselves leading defeated lives. These causes we rally around – which are great things – may get done, and even effectively, but something seems to be missing.
I recognize this in my own life. It’s much easier to serve God than it is to know Him. It’s much easier to imitate than it is to be the genuine article. I am not Jesus and my feeble attempts at white-knuckling up Jacob’s ladder have always ended in absolute frustration. G. K. Chesterton’s words ring so terribly true: “Christianity is not tried and left wanting, it’s found difficult and not tried.”
At some point on the road of Christian effectiveness we have become so effective at changing the surface that the interior can go untouched and frankly, unnoticed. “Lord, I’ll change the world but please don’t change me!”
Is the root of this problem simply that we live with a cross-less Christianity and a Christ-less center?
We need a Quiet Revolution where we come before a holy and perfect God and say, “Lord, crucify in me everything that is unworthy of You. I accept the cross not only as a place where you died once but where I die daily.” Only then will we really live.
We need a quiet Revolution where the saving life of Christ so permeates our being that Jesus Christ Himself is allowed to Be Himself in us right now. And that equilibrium would be restored to our lives that we would once again find our center.
Jesus is not looking for decisions. He is looking for disciples. There is a lot of talk about the kingdom on Earth but pray we would begin to understand that to speak of a kingdom is to speak of a King. We must give the world not a weak imitation of what Jesus did but a tangible expression of what He is actually still doing in and through redeemed, surrendered vessels.
Are we ready to count the cost?"
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