6/3 - 2 Corinthians 5, Part 2

At a recent bible study, a question kept circling in my mind: Is there anything that we can do for God that could really be considered radical? By radical I mean something above & beyond the call of duty. I think that's what holds me back at times. When the thought of giving some absurd amount of money (relatively speaking of course) or selling my house or switching to a much lower income career to have a greater impact....when these thoughts come to mind, I can very easily convince myself that I'm trying to do too much, it's probably not what God has called me to, or that my wife wouldn't enjoy the ramifications of such decisions. I throw my wife in there a lot, takes the pressure off of me...works pretty good actually ;-). So I'm reading a chapter this morning from Crazy Love about the lives of believers who we would consider radical. These folks were giving up everything to serve in poor countries, dedicating their lives to the homeless, adopting children, refusing salaries, witnessing in hostile areas....you get the picture. It would seem that these folks get verse 14:

"For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again."

Would I consider what these believers were doing to be radical? Absolutely. But I imagine that if you were to ask any of them, they'd probably say, "No. It's the least I could do. Christ died for me and the least I can do is live for Him." What a wonderful place to be. In light of all the comforts I have, I still do a lot of living for myself. This gets back to this theme of having an eternal perspective - realizing that all we have here is temporary and that spending our energy on things with longer-term (eternal) impact is far more profitable. I've got a little growing to do guys. This isn't news to me or anything, but this chapter has only further highlighted that point.

So in verse 17, Paul talks about anyone who is in Christ is a new creature and all the old things have passed away. The study notes in my bible explain: "old value systems, priorities, beliefs, loves, and plans are gone. Evil and sin are still present, but the believer sees them in a new perspective, and they no longer control him...The believer's new spiritual perception of everything is a constant reality for him, and he now lives for eternity, not temporal things." So I suppose that through this study, I can thank God for shaping in me a right perspective. Of course it won't mean much without action (James 2:20). Well, [deep breath] here we go...