How serious do you take being called by God? Or have you ever thought about how you are called by God? It's a big deal to realize it and conduct yourself in an intentional way...let me explain.
During an American history course in college, we talked about the explorers that "discovered" things on the continent. Many of these men brought with them their religious beliefs. Some of them brought symbols- crosses and displayed them proudly: having someone process with a cross in the front of their expedition. They encountered native people, introduced them to their religion and their crosses. Then they introduced other things- disease, war, violence, greed.... Soon the native people began fleeing at the sight of a cross- it was no longer a symbol of grace but one of hate, death, and destruction.
Now, the details are a bit foggy for me and I can't seem to find my notes to double check, so forgive me if that's not a complete, accurate description. But it seems to me that the explorers hadn't taken seriously what it meant to be a follower and bear the mark of Christ... or maybe they had gotten swept up in the things of this world. But sometimes, we're not all that much different from them. We wear crosses as jewelery, we openly profess Christ as our savior and model for life...and then we lie, hurt, cheat, steal,... the list goes on.
I've often poked fun at Moses for questioning God. After all, who is he to think he knows better than God? But maybe he was just realizing what a huge responsibility it is to be a part of carrying out the will of God, of freeing humanity from their helpless state. I wonder if we approached being a part of the body of Christ in the world more carefully if we could avoid giving the wrong impression of what Christianity is about? What if instead of asking WWJD, we asked "How is this going to help or hinder the message that God is trying to speak to others through me?"
Just some thoughts. Thanks for reading. Go. Serve. Love.
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