Escapism?

"Following Jesus is not to be romanticized through impressive Facebook status updates or photos of exotic places on our blog. Discipleship is often ugly, messy and painful. Faithful service will regularly lead us into dull labors and bewildering struggles that would make unexciting press. To romanticize social justice or cross-cultural evangelism is to promote an idealism that will be inevitably vaporized on the field, inadvertently leading to burnout and cynicism."

I took this quotation from a Relevant Magazine article titled, "We Need Boring Christians" by Andrew Byers. I believe it speaks the truth to a lot of passionate youth today. In an earlier post, I talked about realism and how life is not made up of a series of dramatic events, but rather, small, somewhat mundane experiences we hardly even take notice of due to their seeming insignificance. No matter where we go or what we do, everything will eventually become repetitious and ordinary if life, as we live it now, seems that way. We cannot escape the manner we perceive our existence. 


The Relevant article went on to say that if we struggle to be found faithful in the arduous, mundane day-to-day experiences in our lives now, we should not expect any different anywhere else we go. Locations may change, but circumstances will eventually feel the same. Usually, missions is not "exciting" in the way we might expect. It can be hard, challenging, and emotionally and spiritually draining. That's not to say it isn't important. It is of the utmost importance. Yet, we cannot go into international ministry hoping for an escape from our mundane lives. Our perspective for living should be to find interest and excitement in our "boring" reality. We don't need an exotic cross-cultural experience to feel on fire and passionate for Christ's calling. We can feel vibrant and purposeful no matter where we live, no matter what we do. 


Find great and meaningful significance in the small insignificances of life.