Passion Week Challenge

"If you ask most people what Christians believe, they can tell you, ‘Christians believe that Jesus is God’s Son and that Jesus rose from the dead.’ But if you ask the average person how Christians live, they are struck silent. We have not shown the world another way of doing life. Christians pretty much live like everybody else; they just sprinkle a little Jesus in along the way. And doctrine is not very attractive, even if it’s true. Few people are interested in a religion that has nothing to say to the world and offers them only life after death, when what people are really wondering is whether there is life before death." Shane Claiborne, The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical, pg. 117 (emphasis added).

We are entering Passion Week, the week where we remember the events that led up to Christ's death and resurrection. I was challenged in church to give generously since God has lavishly imparted His generosity on my life. The speaker was not just referring to financial generosity. She was exhorting her listeners to show the world another way of doing life. She quoted a paraphrased version of 1 John 3:16-17 from the Message:

"This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear." (emphasis added)

In honor of Christ's sacrifice for me, I am assigning a "Passion Week Challenge" upon myself. The challenge is three-fold. (1) Select a Gospel and read through the events of Passion Week. (2) Specifically pray for God to open my eyes towards people in need within my sphere of influence. (3) Trust God for the means to meet the identified needs.

I want to show the world another way of doing life. I do not want to be responsible for making God's love disappear.

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