What are you going to do?

We are engulfed in a lethargic, cultural, and co-opted Christianity- it surrounds us and we swim in its narcotic toxicity. Once we grasp this, we realize that our life as believers is to struggle to be authentic in our faith. The miracle is that our search for authenticity will remove fear, strip away co-optation, and bring us to our truest selves as children of God.
-Pastor Nelson Johnson

Andy and I receive the Conspire magazine and I read Nelson Johnson's entry this morning, which included this quote. It is a descriptive picture of what we live in on a daily basis. There are times when I am tempted to downplay this and think, 'oh, its not that bad', and then I am proven wrong when I meet a pastor's wife who is afraid of putting Jesus' name on a flier that will be passed out in a public school. It is all justifiable when I look at it in a worldly vision, but then I put on my Spirit goggles and I see what I am swimming in.

Then when I see clearly, the question arises, "What are you going to do?" If I really believe Jesus, then I will know that I am to stand in the gap, which is Grace and Justice. And the only way I can live that out is through listening to His Spirit (not my own ideas or any others', for that matter). I must pray, so that all of me will be emptied and His Spirit would fill me, giving me power and compassion in the gap of Grace and Justice.

This is scary. It affects my relationships and causes me to stand for something that is hard to see clearly. It causes awkwardness and the temptation to defend myself. At times, I look ahead and fear the lonely road in front of me. I'm not trying to be dramatic or fatalistic. It is reality; it is also full of Joy and Hope. The Spirit frees us from fear and sets our eyes on Truth, giving us the ability to walk in authenticity and vulnerability.