Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Radical Christianity: What does it look like?

I recently read an article about radical Islamists and started wondering what radical Christianity might look like. I'm not talking about the crazy, Westboro, Crusades or Inquisition kind of radical. I'm talking about the follow the teaching of Jesus kind of radical; the Mother Teresa, give your all for love kind of radical.

How much would the daily life of today's church going Christian have to change to be a radical follower of Jesus? What are the changes that I need to make to become a radical follower of Jesus? Does it mean that I tell everybody what Jesus teaches in the Bible? Or does it mean that I need to learn and practice what Jesus teaches in the Bible?

As a radical follower of Jesus, how much would my Facebook posts have to change?
Would my blog posts need to change?
What about my everyday speech, language and conversations?
How would my financial habits need to change?

I think of what I have saved towards retirement. Though it is not a great amount, it is a nice little nest egg. Somehow that story of the rich man that built bigger barns to hold his wealth when his life was about to be taken comes to mind and I wonder if I should have been doing more about sharing my blessings with those in need and less about storing up my stuff for the future.

I look at how we treat those around us that have different beliefs and behaviors that model their beliefs; how we treat "the sinners" and the "unclean" around us, and I see Jesus forgive without condemnation and touch a leper.

WWJD

It's been a few years since What Would Jesus Do? was a popular question to ask. Maybe we should get serious about asking it again.
The book In His Steps was written more than a hundred years ago and examines what could happen if we became such radical followers of Jesus that we experiment for a year, always asking, "What would Jesus do?"
It's a good read. You can download it for free here.

Even if you are not a follower of Jesus, I would encourage you to read what He teaches in the Bible. Just read the first four books of the New Testament. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; these are the books that follow His life and record His teachings. (The links take you to chapter 1 of each book. Use the next arrow > at the bottom to advance to the next chapter.)
If you have questions, feel free to e-mail them to me. My address is in the "about me" section to the right.

Let's start being radical followers of Jesus!

John <><

No comments: