Rarely
have I read a more well written, personal, humble and honest account of
one’s struggle to follow Jesus well.
If you did not read this carefully last week, I am reposting this
guest blog for you.
If you did read it, it’s worth reading again.
Why? Because you need the hope and encouragement with which it
ends.
Pastor Jeff
I AM a Magic Kingdom Christian
By Megann Graf
My
husband found us the coolest place to honeymoon after our wedding.
It was a little private island off the coast of St. Vincent that
had 30 cottages build into its hillsides.
It was peaceful and beautiful and there was no TV or phone on the
island. In fact, in his
great sacrifice for this vacation, my husband would have to go to the
office each morning and get a photocopied print out of the USA Today or
NY Times, just to see who was winning in the March Madness basketball
tournament. But, other than
that minor issue, everything we needed was on that island.
There was fantastic food, a private beach, and, of course, each
other.
One day,
we decided to cross over the water and go into the island of St. Vincent
to see if we could find any souvenirs.
We took a boat across, and asked for our cabby from the airport
“Smokey” to take us into town. Who
knew that just a 5 minute boat ride away awaited a town so completely
different than our little private island?
The poverty was undeniable and the shops were virtually
non-existent. There were no
“touristy” shops to be found, I’m guessing, because there was
nothing in that town that they wanted tourists to see.
We made it out with two generic coffee mugs that said “St
Vincent” on them. We went back to our little island, glad that we were
back safely, feeling so out of place on the “other side” of the
island. We were back to
enjoying the luxuries of our resort, and eventually we would be going
back to our safe and comfy American home.
Yes, I
am a Magic Kingdom Christian. When
Richard Stearns says “most Magic Kingdom Christians don’t know much
about the Tragic Kingdom; in fact they go out of their way to avoid it.
That’s because it is terribly unpleasant, and even
acknowledging it takes them out of their comfort zones.” He is talking
to me. While that time
mentioned above was nearly a decade ago, I look at my life now and ask
“what has changed?” What
have I done with my years as a Christian that have taken me out of my
comfort zone? I’ve never
gone to a third world country, I don’t volunteer in the inner city, I
am probably the least capable person to even be writing on this chapter,
because I AM what he is calling out.
I’m not sure I could say I have made a radical change- because,
let’s face it, radical is a pretty strong word, and I’m a pretty
ordinary person.
Luckily
for me, I have read further along in Unfinished
then chapter 4. I know there
is hope that he mentions AFTER he calls me out on what I am lacking.
And, I think we have to be careful not get stuck in the Chapter
4’s of life. We need to
read on. We need to read ALL
of what God has for us. We
can’t just stop when we read all the things we are supposed to do and
say “nope, not for me, can’t do it, don’t want to, I’m done.”
We have to keep on reading. Because,
the fact is, while the Bible does clearly list many, many things that
Christians are supposed to do, it is also full of many, many people, who
were the least likely people to ever get an “honorable mention” in
the holiest of books.
I think
about Peter. Peter denied
Jesus three times . . . . three times!
He walked with Jesus, he ate with Jesus, he had living, breathing
conversations with the Son of God, he was a DISCIPLE of Jesus, and he
denied him. But, when Jesus
came back from the dead, he sought Peter out.
He came back to speak to Peter, in fact, the header above the
scripture in my Bible says, “Jesus reinstates Peter.”
He came back to tell Peter “You’re still in the game,
Peter!,” “Don’t stay here and wallow, Peter!,” he encouraged
Peter to keep moving forward – to read the rest of His story for
Peter’s life. Peter was
not supposed to stop in his “Chapter 4”, his destiny was not to be
“I denied God, and now there’s no hope for me.”
The story wasn’t finished.
“Go and feed my sheep,” is what he tells Peter.
He tells this to Peter AFTER his big mistake, AFTER Peter had
denied him. God’s grace
covered Peter and gave him the chance to move forward. I believe we have
something to move forward for too.
This
Chapter ends saying, “but the great mission given to us by Christ lies
unfinished. It is time to
relaunch.” I would
encourage you to do just that. Don’t
get stuck in what you haven’t done.
Don’t get stuck being overwhelmed by what you cannot do right
now. Don’t give up on
God’s plan and God’s people because you feel that it/they are
unattainable. You may be
making an impact on someone, who will go on to impact someone else, and
before you know, a little seed, that you may have felt was completely
insignificant, could go on to change many lives.
Never underestimate God’s power in your life.
Keep reading – He’s got so much more in store for us!!
For
more:
follow on Twitter @jefflampl
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