The Call
Do you ever get a "taste" of it - a "hint", a "whisper"? We became Christians with much excitement, much anticipation and much relief. Soon thereafter, the excitement and passion of our liberation from eternal jail fades and we fall into a life of religious duty. Teaching Sunday school, serving as deacons, leading the charge for the men's pancake breakfast, etc. We fall asleep in the pews. Our minds drift. Our daily walk falls into averageness.

Eldredge says sometime in the midst of this we sense that "something is missing - there has to be more to all of this." He then says a voice calls out to us saying "Aren't you thirsty for more...Listen to your heart. There is something missing."

As we awaken to this "taste" it is hard to know what to do with it. In my own life, over the past year, this awakening has been calling me and rather than run from it or stuff it down, I have embraced it and in fact, have chased it. (That is why this blog is called "Chasing the Adventure"). I want more of it. I get fleeting tastes or glimpses of the passionate freedom I first felt as a new-born Christian and then it passes. Lately I have been running back trying to taste it again. As I have explored this and shared my observations with other men, I have had times where I've been beaten back. I've been called a "trouble maker" because I am challenging some of what the organized church is telling me.

For example, I heard a sermon where the Pastor said he believes there will be tears in Heaven when we first arrive and review our life. We'll shed tears over all the lost opportunities we had during life. We'll shed tears over eternal blessings we will miss due to these passed-by opportunities. Then, we'll enter into Heaven and take what reward God will give us and clearly, others will get greater rewards than us.

What? You've got to be kidding me. That is what all this about? We'll get our reward but our room in the palace won't be the luxury suite...we'll have to settle for a non-smoking king-sized room? To me, that implies I will spend enternity looking across the table at Mother Teresa or Billy Graham and I will forever and a day lament the fact that they dine on lobster while I eat rubber chicken. To me, it implies I will spend eternity with guilt strapped on my back because of the opportunities I passed by in life. Come on, you've got to be kidding me. What is that all about? That is the "good news"?

To me, it is a "works-based" faith mentality that permeates our churches. Where is the grace, where is the passionate freedom that came when Christ liberated us (equally) from the eternal prisons of our own making? I don't get what the preacher was saying but I do get the message of that still, small voice that calls out to me "there is more to all this...something is indeed missing."

Jesus isn't a warden. He didn't come and die to strap me through enternity carrying shame over the dollars I didn't give to His kingdom. Perhaps He will reward me for what I did give to His kingdom - for the time I invested and the money I returned and the lives I did impact. Jesus is the great liberator and He freed me of the bondage and dilligence that is seemingly required by the modern church. Yes, this is a radical statement and yes, it makes a lot of folks nervous and yes, it is rebellious. So be it. The Lord I love freed me from that and I want to taste all of what He has to give as much as I can.

Soar!