Great Quote!

It's hard to convince someone to be something you're not.

Think hard about that. Think about why you even want that for someone else when you don't want it for yourself.

This statement has really made me think. When I decided to post tonight, I had a totally different topic in mind, but after some prayer, I want to tell you part of my story.

I was so good at playing the Jesus game in high school it was unreal. In fact, if you had been around, and asked anyone from church, they probably would have told you what a GREAT PLAN God had for my life. Well--it would have been true--because God did have a great plan for my life, just like He does for yours-and I think I even believed it. It didn't change how I treated people. It didn't change my attitude or my actions. I'm sure that while some people at school would have described me as "nice" others would have used very different words. See, I didn't realize that you "live through it". More than faith in Jesus, I had faith in my peers--whether they were church goers or not. I wanted to be cool, to fit in, and to do what everyone else was doing, and if your schools are anything like mine was--Jesus was not exactly "cool". I mean, theres all those rules, and you shouldn't swear, or drink at parties, or dance provocatively....I remember after my junior year in high school I was at EC camp with our old youth pastor--and he totally tried to call me out. Instead, i walked away, because walking away is SO much easier (and lets be honest--so much cooler!!) that actually confronting the sin in our lives.

I watch some of you playing that same game. And I have news for you--I'm calling you out. You may not like it, but there it is. JESUS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN FITTING IN. You will "live through" being the kid who doesn't cuss, the kid who sits with the loner, the kid who just helps people. Oh, you'll get made fun of for sure--and to be honest--I was never really brave enough to do it for long. I had trouble explaining why faith was important, and in the end, more often than not, I caved in to the pressure to fit in. I'm not proud of it, but I can think back about how I wish I would have been, and I have regrets.

I have had people who have come to me, as an adult now, telling me that they had gone to church with me, because they "thought" i had something, and then realized I was just like everyone else. One person even told me that I made them hate church, because they didn't want to be like me.

The AWESOME ROCKSTAR CHURCH ME--disappeared on friday night at the football game or alone with my boyfriend on sunday afternoon. I am now calling you to the most difficult thing--don't be afraid of loving Jesus. You'll live through it. And you'll be respected for it.

Stop playing games with your faith. Stop talking about being the light in the darkness and just do it. You can make a difference in the lives of all your hurting friends, you just have to stop playing the game and realize that its about FOREVER, not about being cool on Friday night.

I will leave you with this scripture:

The world is unprincipled. It's dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn't fight fair. But we don't live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren't for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.

You stare and stare at the obvious, but you can't see the forest for the trees. If you're looking for a clear example of someone on Christ's side, why do you so quickly cut me out? Believe me, I am quite sure of my standing with Christ. You may think I overstate the authority he gave me, but I'm not backing off. Every bit of my commitment is for the purpose of building you up, after all, not tearing you down. 2 Corinthians 10:3-8 (The Message)