food for thought - on missing out

July 29, 2011

I've noticed a lot of nonchristians' reasons for not being Christian is that it feels like they don't need it. Their lives are pretty good by worldly standards and they seem to have it all: fun & prosperity. They see Christianity as a limiting factor with its rules and what not. We who are Christians however realize Christianity is definitely not a limiting factor, but what gives us the full freedom and potential to enjoy life the way it was meant to be. Not having material success, not caring for money, not doing the worldly activities the rest of the world enjoys means nothing to us; we're not afraid of missing out because we've tasted and experienced life with Jesus and it is so much more than what the rest of the world thinks we're missing out on.

But then within Christians there are the conservatives and the liberals (in lifestyle). I was recently reading up on the Duggar family (look them up! 20 kids!!!! haha) and how their whole family abides by a godlier/higher standard: no unwholesome TV, no unwholesome music, no dating - just courtship, homeschooled, etc. My first reaction was "WOW! They're seeking to live their lives entirely by Biblical standards, no compromise! That's amazing and admirable." My second reaction was "I wonder if they're bored & have no fun..." When I think about 'no unwholesome TV or music" or "homeschooling", I've realized I have this wrong mindset of thinking that they're missing out on something that I have. They're missing out on the entertainment I get to enjoy, they're missing out on a "normal" social life, they're living in a bubble, they're not able to enjoy the things I enjoy that the Bible doesn't really forbid. But I'm realizing my mindset is totally wrong, completely influenced by the carnal standards of this world, and very similar to how nonchristians react to Christians. What if they're not the ones missing out, but I am? To never have polluted their minds with the entertainment of this world, to have their minds entirely set on God and His Word and His standards, isn't that much more like the life God would like us to have? A life free of this world and all the things it throws at us to hinder us in our walk, a life completely consumed and saturated with Him.

So often when we think of those "super godly" Christians, we have this mindset of admiration, but we'd never think to make an effort to be like them because subtly, we think they are missing out, and we don't want to miss out on the things we have in our hands right now. But just like how for Christians, we don't care if the rest of the world thinks we're missing out on their fun because we know having Jesus in our life makes it so we realize we're not the ones missing out, but the ones living a life of true enjoyment and purpose, so maybe it is with those "super godly" Christians as well. They've experienced something that makes them fully convinced and content with what they have despite what the rest of the world and other Christians seem to be implying they're missing out on. Maybe it isn't them who are missing out on entertainments and cheap enjoyments, but we Christians who have one foot in the world, and one foot in God's kingdom that are missing out on a life so consumed and saturated with God's presence and His word that everything else the world can offer is but trash that no one in their right minds would consider as something to be 'missed out on'.

let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. (Hebrews 12:1b)

If we knew what was hindering us, wouldn't we quickly throw it off? The danger is when we don't realize we're hindered but instead sit and enjoy it thinking "it's not like God said I can't do this or that", "I read my Bible and go to church and pray....", "it isn't wrong...", "those Christians are admirable but I don't want to give up my fun...."