Too long have followers of Jesus settled for religious compliance and inoffensive comportment. Too long have rank and file Christians delegated the dangerous life of following Jesus to the professionals, believing them best suited for the radical engagement with the world that Jesus models. Too long have we believed that the highest goal of Christianity is conforming people to good behavior, getting folks to follow the rules, making people nice.
Now is the time to raise our danger quotient.
Now is the time for us to move from bland church drones into followers of the living Christ who are potent for the purposes of God and a mortal threat to the enemy of our souls (Sellers, 2012, p. 1)
In my journey of restructuring my life into a community (extended-family) on mission, I’ve started reading the book fresh off the press, entitled: The Dangerous Kind by Graeme Sellers. It’s a book that I’ve been waiting a while for, and it’s been well worth the wait. Being the dangerous kind of Christian has been a key message of my friend Graeme, and the timely print of his words are resonating along side of where the Lord has been leading me. He writes,
For years most of our Christian activity has been church-centered, and our service to God was weighed by how much we did on behalf of our local fellowship. We’ve contented ourselves with being somewhat moral, going to church, and helping our church become more successful. This is a far cry from being dangerous. Our understanding of God’s activity and call must expand beyond the wall of the local church. Becoming dangerous entails moving from church to kingdom in our thinking and acting (p. 5).
Western Christianity has been built on an interventional mentality of church, where the clergy mediates on behalf of the church – a far cry from the invitation of the carpenter from Nazareth. Rather, the incarnational approach is what we’re invited into. Where we ragamuffin humans are beckoned into an adventure of carrying the Good News of Jesus the Christ into a hurting, broken, and often cynical world. The mission can’t only be only for the church professional – it be belongs to the Church – every body in the Body. He goes on,
In these days having excellent ministry skills is not enough. Attending conferences, reading books, and holding 24-hour prayer meetings are insufficient. All of these can be helpful, but none are adequate for the task at hand. The task is dangerous living, existing from the radical missional call of Christ, risking everything for the sake of the King who called us out of the darkness into his marvelous light. It is a hazardous enterprise because we do not go forward unopposed (p. 5).
And that is the invitation.
Now don’t worry, I’m not going to blog every chapter. Graeme’s words may show up this week, though, as I make my way through the book. I do recommend the book, though. It’s time for the Church to be the good kind of dangerous instead of the bad. Dangerous to the Enemy and ignited to make an unyielding incarnational proclamation of the Kingdom of God. To see His Kingdom come and His will be done…
Reference:
Sellers, G. (2012). The Dangerous Kind. AZ: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform.