Have you had moments in this COVID-19 era when you’ve felt a little crazy?…. If you have, you’ve got plenty of company. The Bible, and Jesus, tell us that a certain kind of craziness is actually a sign of the greatest wellbeing!
Jesus is accused by people, and even His own family(!), of being insane, and needing locking up, because He is devoted first, above all, to doing the will of God His Father (Mk 3:20-35). But Jesus says that only if we do likewise, will we truly belong to God’s people, and have salvation and fullness of life!
It might seem ‘sane’, ‘common sense’, or ‘reasonable’, to be devoted to preserving the existence of our church, and be conservative with our resources. We can be tempted to ‘keep our heads low’ in these days of negativity towards the Bible and the truth of God, not expect too much, just focus on ‘looking after our own’, and ‘keep things going as long as we can’.
By contrast, it might seem utterly crazy to believe and act as though God is going to renew and grow our church, and enable us to love and connect with all ages, kinds and ethnicities of people in our community outside the church. It may strike us as over-the-top optimism to change how we do things at church in order to be hospitable and welcoming to outsiders, to freely use our resources aimed at evangelism and growth, and to pray for and expect it.
God our Father’s will is for us to hold out the Gospel of Christ to our lost world, and make disciples (Mt 28:16-20). Let’s get a little crazy about that!
Grace and cheers, Jonathan.