Stretch

I have been reading a book entitled The Irresistible Revolution By: Shane Claiborne and it has really begun to stretch me. I have found myself reading in awe at how comfortable I am, in such an uncomfortable and unsettled world. I have found myself wondering how I can be so blind and when I am going to get a clue. A quote that stood out was:

"Rich stood up in chapel and said, "You guys are all into that born again thing, which is great. We do need to be born again, since Jesus said that to a guy named Nicodemus. But if you tell me I have to be born again to enter the kingdom of God, I can tell you that you have to sell everything you have and give it to the poor, because Jesus said that to one guy too... [and he paused in the awkward silence.] But I guess that's why God invented highlighters, so we can highlight the parts we like and forget the rest."

I don't believe we each have to give up everything to be followers of Christ, however I believe we cannot accept living life as everyone else lives. College has opened my eyes to this new form of living and bonding within a community. Being close to one another spending time in each other's space and understanding who we are. I have noticed it takes a great amount of humility to be in this communal living. We live in this world of which everyone must stand on their own two feet. They cannot be seen as one but as individuals, we don't take the time to look beyond the surface of who we are but we only take time to break each other down. I am noticing how easy it is to take on the ways of this world how to quickly accept the cultural norm, even if you do not agree with it. To me this is scary, scary to see how easy it is to fall into a default and not even notice.

I believe the only way to become change is by highlighting the whole bible, treating all of the words with equal importance. Loving one another and not looking back- for this is the only way that true change can come about by noticing fault and rising above it.