It seems to me that “we the church” have an issue. Now when I say we, I am not simply referring to a local congregation, but to the church as a whole. And perhaps to specify a little more, I probably mean the western church. It seems we have mishandled things a bit. You see, we have been charged with delivering the greatest message on earth. We are ambassadors of the Kingdom of God, Heralds of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Makers of Disciples for our King…but something has gone awry. This message, this charge has somehow been perceived by the world around us as something that is boring, petty, ineffective, irrelevant, etc. Where did we go wrong?

In the gospel of John, Jesus is speaking about the message of the Kingdom. He refers to himself as the good shepherd and even speaks of the sheep he has not yet brought into the fold that still belong to Him. In this passage he talks about what the message of the kingdom looks like lived out in the life of a believer when he says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” – John 10:10. Full life! Not simply life that holds onto some distant promise and isn’t fully lived out in the here and now, but full life now. Another way to see this comes from the founder of Methodism John Wesley. “By salvation I mean not barely according to the vulgar notion deliverance from hell or going to heaven but a present deliverance from sin a restoration of the soul to its primitive health its original purity a recovery of the divine nature the renewal of our souls after the image of God in righteousness and true holiness in justice mercy and truth.” In other words God’s salvation isn’t simply something for the age to come, but it is expressly for the world now.

I think this may be where we have mispackaged things a bit. So many of us desperately cling to our hope in the next life that we have forgotten we are called to live out that hope in this life in order that we might share it with those around us. As we grow in holiness we become engaged in acts of justice, mercy and truth in order that we might live out the words of The Lord’s Prayer, “Your Kingdom Come, Your Will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” If we are called to live in this fullest life that God has promised then the world around us should see something captivating, inviting, even enviable. Christians should be the last people on earth who are ever accused of being boring or petty. Our message is too important and our lives are an adventure to be lived out in the Kingdom’s calling…

So my charge to you (and me) today: I implore you to throw off the boring, to free yourself of sin that entangles, to embrace the unknown and live in the freedom of God’s Spirit. To know without a doubt that the life you have been given is the fullest, greatest most inconceivable life imaginable because the forgiveness and The Spirit you have received came from the Divine life that spoke all life into existence. May you know the message you have within you is greater than any word or story every spoken and share that life as if all life depends on it…because it does. Now go and be the image bearers of Christ in a world that desperately needs to see Him and the life He has offered.