America, Martyrdom, BMW’s, & Jesus.

When I became a Christian, I remember going online and googling where, as a Christian, I was most likely to be martyred, because…

… I was literally trying to get martyred.

I mean it made sense to me, as a young, passionate, over-zealous Christian (yeah I was that guy, don’t hate). I was reading through the bible for the first time, for myself, and I came across the text in Revelations 20, it said:

I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) – Revelations 20:4-5 (NIV)

I mean, in my mind, I thought, “why would I not seek martyrdom if I can reign and be with Christ for a thousand years?”

To me, this was a no brainer.

It wasn’t that I was unhappy, or depressed wanting to seek “suicide”.

It was that I was in love, over whelmed with having encountered something unexplainable.

I obviously did not end up going over seas to some isolated island and getting martyred. I instead, felt called to stay in ministry here in the US.

I fear sometimes that I’ve become domesticated.

I fear that this passionate, over-zealous, in love Christian I once was… is no more.

I’ve realized even more, that (for me) to go over seas and get martyred would have been the easy way out, I realized that staying here for the past seven or so years it’s hard to live out the NT gospels, and truly emulate the life of Christ in the context of the American church, that theologically claims to be so pro-Jesus, but yet practically seems very anti-Jesus.

I mean what if Jesus meant what He said, when He said, “It’s hard, for the rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven?”

If Jesus lived in American in our present day…

… What would he drive? Would He drive an Audi or BMW?

… Where would he live? Would He live in a two story home?

… Who would he hang out with? Would He hang out with only His demographic?

If you were to take your life, and put it next to the life Christ describes and asks of His followers in the New Testament Gospels, would there be any comparison between that and the life you’re currently living?