Recently, I read a book entitled "The Barbarian Way" by Erwin McManus. I would highly recomend this book to any and every person who desires to be a genuine follower of Christ but get ready to be challenged because this one caused me to think. McManus's major theme in this book is the idea that Christianity has become way to civilized. We have wrapped God in this neat little religious box and explained him in our nice little systematic theologies. Not to demean theology but in many ways church has become ritualistic and mainstream and I would agree with McManus that this is producing a large degree of boredom in our seats and pews. He is calling for Barbarian believers who refuse the boredom of civilized religion that is stuffy and fake. I would have to agree with him and long to be a part of a group of believers who are more passionate about Jesus than being religious and ritualistic. Don't get me wrong here. I am thankful for the tradition in my life but I don't want to lose my sense of wonder about God and fall into fake and impersonal religious activity.
Needless to say, I found myself on the plane to Mexico being confronted with this incredible question posed by McManus: God would you ever put me in danger? My initial response to that question was absolutely not, God is my heavenly Father who loves me, died for me and is supposed to protect me from all harm. However, as I reflected on the pages of scripture and thought about John the Baptist who was beheaded, Stephen who was the first martyr recorded in scripture, the disciples who faced horrible deaths all because they followed Jesus. As I thought about the many missionaries like Jim Elliot and Steve Saint who went into hostile situations with their families to take the message of salvation to people only to give up their lives trying to love people to Christ. As I reflected on specific scriptures like John 16:33 which says, "I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace, in the world you will have trouble, but take heart because I have overcome the world. I realized that Jesus would not only put me in a situation that was dangerous, he would also require my life if it meant an advancement for the Kingdom of God. Then I thought, Great! I am going to get killed in Mexico this week. I was scheduled to preach in a Mexican prison and God was preparing me to make my last stand in ministry.
Well, God let me live through the prison experience and for that I am thankful. But it does seem to me that so many people by into the philosophy that the safest place to be is in the center of God's will. While I would whole heartedly believe that the best place to be is in the center of God's will, I also whole heartedly believe that the center of God's will is most definitely not the safest place to be. Right now I am burdened by the many followers of Christ who are bored because they are choosing a life of safety rather than living a life responding to the voice of God. It makes me wonder if the bored believers are really believers at all? I think that many of them honestly love Jesus, they simply have not learned to trust Him in their day to day lives and the result is that they miss out on an exciting life with the Lord here on earth.
Honestly, I don't know if I will ever have the opportunity to face death because of my faith in Christ, but I do hope if that ever presented itself in my life that I would willingly take that stand for my Savior. I do however long to be a barbarian believer and not fall into boring civilized Christianity.
What does a Barbarian Church look like?
