Interesting

My family went to an outdoor Christian rock concert a summer ago.  We found a nice little patch of grass to set our belongings on and were sitting down waiting for one of our favorite bands to play.  That’s when I found myself “inspired” to offer this advice to my girls, “When you look for a man to marry someday make sure that he is a dedicated Christian man, is always looking to better himself, is willing to sacrifice for you and doesn’t wear medieval armor in public.”  

That last item triggered a response from 10-year-old Brianna, who shot a glance at me and asked, “Why?”  She didn’t have to clarify her question.  I didn’t have to clarify my answer.  She immediately
noticed the grown, adult man walking by us wearing a yellow full-length cape, fake chain mail, a sword, a sheath and a plastic helmet, all of which were pulled over traditional clothing.  The Nike shoes were a
curious addition to set.  This wasn’t Halloween.  This wasn’t Comic Con.  This was a concert.  

She stared in disbelief.  It was the kind of stare that only kids can get away with because the rest of us have been trained into sensitivity.  Her expression was a cute mixture of shock and questioning.  After sufficient observation had been made, she simply responded with.  “Oh… O.k.”  Thus endeth the conversation.  No further explanation was needed.

Our faith challenges us to be counter-culture, to “take the path less traveled” and to choose
righteousness over what is easy.  The way that individual Christians approach these challenges is incredibly different.  

I met a Christian man who wanted to see if he could live on less than 50% of his income so that the rest of his money could go to helping the less fortunate.  That’s incredible and uncommon.  A retired Christian woman has made the primary focus of her retirement building the church.  That’s passionate and uncommon.  One man gives away gifts on his birthday to celebrate his life because, “Life isn’t worth
living without these wonderful people in my life.”  That’s selfless and uncommon. 

Each of these Christians have chosen to live counter-culture lives that fulfill the challenge of the Christian faith in ways where people looking from the outside in, would call them “interesting.”   It may sound
redundant to state, but interesting counter-culture Christians cause other people to be interested in those Christian’s lives.

Because of this commitment to the Christian faith, people outside the faith want to understand more.  They are drawn to understanding the “why” behind the action.  They are engaged by the Christian’s lifestyle.  I want to challenge you to be interesting, to live the counter-culture life and to take the path less traveled, not just because of the direct benefit of your actions to others, but the indirect benefit to others by living an engaging, interesting life.  

Of course, you could just wear the “armor of God” to rock concerts… but that would just be weird.  

Pastor Travis Montgomery