Comfortable
As I am at a new internship I have been super super busy and unable to sit down and think, much less wright. So for that reason, and the fact that this piece is beautiful, gracious, and just freaking amazing, I’ve decided to do a “guest post” by one of the most Godly and gracious people I know. The following is a communion meditation written by my cousin and best friend, Tyler Shannon (@T_SHAN13).
Comfortable, simple, safe, lukewarm. These words pretty much sum up how I have spent much of my early walk with Christ. So comfortable and complacent in my faith to think that church attendance, quiet time, and good deeds would keep myself in good standing with God. Resting in the middle ground because I was afraid of how much work, dedication, and sacrifice was needed to have a relationship with Christ. I was hesitant to completely surrender my life to him because of what it would take of me. I was living under the false idea that I had to earn my salvation with God, until I discovered the beauty of his grace. A grace that pardons all sins, discounts the record book of all wrongs, and allows us to be seen as holy and blameless before a perfect God. We don’t have to be good enough because our faith in Jesus’s work on the cross, and his perfect love and grace is enough. Indeed, enough for total salvation. No matter how broken, lost, or confused the individual, God has the power to change each heart. This is true for every Christian. Ephesians 2:8 states that “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God”. This amazing grace and the work on the cross is all the reason for every Christian to live with a “dislocated heart”. A heart that desperately yearns to reach out to the lost souls. A heart that challenges ourselves to leave our comfort zones and be bold and outspoken for God. Chip Ingram states in his book Holy Ambition that a dislocated heart is “a heart that is more concerned with God’s agenda than with our own agenda. A heart that cares deeply enough to hear God’s voice & step out to do something with the power of the Holy Spirit.” We must leave the illusion that following Christ is easy and simple. Because if we are truly following the man who was persecuted and mocked for his faith, then why should we expect anything less? Philippians 1:21 says that “to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” A life dedicated to him involves leaving our own selfish desires at the foot of his cross and following him wholeheartedly no matter the persecution or rejection. Bottom line is, God’s not looking for the best, the smartest, the strongest, or the most capable people to do his redemptive work here on earth, he’s desperately in search of those whose hearts are fully committed to doing whatever it takes to fulfill his kingdom here on earth. He’s searching for the ordinary with the extraordinary belief that God will do extraordinary things through them. So as we partake in the bread and the juice today, remember the body that was broken and the blood that was shed for our salvation. May we give unending praise to the man upon the cross who exchanged the magnificence of heaven for the dirtiness of earth. The man who suffered the unimaginable and rose again to allow us to live as the righteousness of God.