practical

Christians love practical.

Applicable, implementable, helpful, useful, unpacked, broken down, explained.

So what do we do when God isn't...practical?

Be convicted by your humanity every day enough to change, apply principles to your life and find out how that makes the most sense to you. But understand that God never wanted to be practical. It's not about molding yourself or your life through some kind of applied process to be more like Jesus, it's about falling so in love with him and following so closely that you hear his voice when he speaks and when he tells you what he wants to fix. If Christianity was practical, it would be a philosophy above all else -- a way of life and a means to some vague and undetermined end.

But thank God that Christianity is first and foremost a partnership with and a submission to a God who loves showing up and blowing your mind. Who loves being with you and showing you that even though he created the laws of nature, they truly don't apply to him. Who finds pleasure in speaking to you. Directly. If you'll draw close enough and learn how to listen.

That's not practical. When we focus too much on the process and not enough on the power behind it, we can completely miss God. The most incredible thing he does is SAVE us (don't ever let that be unremarkable or less than overwhelmingly unbelievable to you), but if you read the Bible past the life-applications you'll notice that he very rarely stops there. God doesn't really operate in the practical.

Basically -- live your life as though you have been empowered by a God who goes beyond what you imagine. Because after all, it's TRUE.

fine print

This material is provided for personal study or for use in preparation of sermons, Sunday school classes, or other oral communication. This material may be quoted in written form for noncommercial use provided credit is given to the appropriate translation. Please refer to specific guidelines for commercial use by contacting the translation's publisher.

This paragraph was written under the "Bible Search" section of a recent church website I visited. We can now only quote the Bible in writing if we credit the translation? Does that matter? Come on now. Let's be serious.

I never thought I'd see fine print like that!