Vince Antonucci is one of those pastors that I really identify with because he is regularly pushing people out of their comfort zones and gives you scripture to back it up. On his blog today he is listing some of his favorite bible passages. Click on the links above or check it out here. God isn’t calling you to be respectable!
Here is the passage:
1 Corinthians 4:9, “We have been
made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men.
10We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak,
but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! 11To this very
hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated,
we are homeless. 12We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed,
we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13when we are
slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum
of the earth, the refuse of the world.”
Here is what Vince has to say about it:
This is one of those passages that just makes me go, "What the heck?!?"
And the reason isn’t because of the passage, it’s because of American
Christians today (including me). Seriously, read this passage and then
ask yourself, "Does this describe American Christians today? Are we
fools, week, dishonored, hungry and thirsty, in rags, brutally treated,
homeless … the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world?"
If
not, does that mean something is wrong? I’m pretty sure the answer is
yes. God has called us to something that we are not. We have lost
something in the last 2000 years … and we need to get it back. We
need to ask ourselves: Why has being a Christian made me respectable,
when it’s supposed to make me refuse? Why has it made me dignified,
when it’s supposed to make me scum? Why are we trying to be wise and
strong, when we’re supposed to be fools who are weak?
God has
called us to live lives that are upside down compared to the world, and
somehow we have righted them and turned them so that they’re the same
as the rest of the world.
I have to ask myself: What needs to
change in my way of thinking and living? What do I need to do to make
myself a fool for Christ?
Maybe you need to ask that too…