It’s a battle that’s been rolling around in my mind for the last 6 months.First, a little background information. We’ve all observed how spiritual isolation can foster hyper weirdness – compound cults are just one example. Now, I’m noticing how on the other side of the spectrum, hyper digital connectivity can bring about convolution and confusion.
It’s a privilege that in a typical month I get to listen to messages from Mark Driscoll, Andy Stanley, Steven Furtick, Bill Hybels, Craig Groeschel and others. But can so many messages actually be detrimental?Take for instance what happens when God seems to be speaking two seemingly mutually exclusive messages to His Church at the same time.
About six months ago I began to follow what God was doing in Francis Chan’s life. God has used Francis to challenge Christians with the truth that we’ve got to be willing to leave everything to follow Jesus. He has been a refreshing voice in a culture that easily gets complacent and resists change.
Then this fall we were blessed to have Christine Caine speak at our church’s women’s conference and Sunday services. She shared a good word about the importance of “Embracing Your Place.” You can listen to her share this message at another local church here. Now this is where the confusion could easily enter. As a Christ follower, do I need to leave everything or do I need to stay in my current place?
So here’s my takeaway. The most important thing we can do is to stay close to Jesus and be obedient to what He is asking you to do. Celebrate what He is doing in and through others, but remember that their model or methods is not the next step for you.Get to your next step by looking to Jesus first. For instance, you don’t leave your “place” or stay in a “place” to hear from God. You hear from God first about going or staying in a place. I’m afraid if were not careful we can easily elevate a place, a person, or even a method to the level of an idol in our life. Really, this is only the tip of the iceberg on how I’ve personally been processing this. I hope to have a couple more posts on how this has all sorted out in my life.
Here’s how Steven Furtick processed this same issue.
