Make God mainstream in your life because you fit into his great story whether you realize it or not. You have kingdom purpose, eternal significance, and high destiny!
Hi, I’m Joni of, Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope.
You know, in their book, “The Sacred Romance,” which I read years ago, Brent Curtis and John Eldridge explain how, back in the Middle Ages, the cathedral used to be the center of everyday life. Church bells would mark the passing of the hours: morning, noon, and night. People celebrated Pentecost, not the opening of baseball season. Christian expressions like, "the year of our Lord," "oh pray tell," "God be with you," and "by Christ's blood" always peppered normal conversation, reminding young and old alike that their lives were entwined in this high drama greater than the daily events of their lives. Constantly, through the days, months, and years people were always being reminded that they were involved in the big story of God's redemptive purpose in the world.
But we don't live in the Middle Ages, we live in the post Christian era where God, and daily reminders of him, have been completely removed. I was reminded of this just recently when I went to visit the campus of Western Maryland College near our farm in Maryland; the college, in the last few years, has changed its name and all the crosses on the buildings and references to its religious heritage have been removed. Even the church on campus is no longer called a church; it doesn’t even look like a church! And I’m sure you can look around your own community and find evidence of the same thing. God has been extricated from our public life. In some communities, they’ve even banned the ringing of church bells. Nothing in the public square is supposed to remind us of the divine purposes of God. Nothing is to remind us that we fit into a larger story; the story of God.
Now, the transcendence of the divine big story has been splintered and subdivided into many smaller stories, seemingly without direction or purpose. Nowadays, we’re told in airports and the malls to reinvent our own stories; to rewrite the drama of our own lives. Oh, sure, tragedy still moves us to tears and heroism still lifts our spirits, but as the authors of “The Sacred Romance” explain, "We have no larger context in which to fit these events." Our culture is unable to fit all the fragments and pieces of individual life stories into any kind of a meaningful, larger framework. It's what happens when we forget the author, and the big story of his greatness, holiness, and sacrificial love. But as the authors of “The Sacred Romance” explain, “We have no larger context in which to fit these events. Our culture is unable to fit all the fragments and pieces of individual life stories, into any kind of meaningful, larger framework.” That’s what happens when we forget the author and the big story of his greatness, holiness, and sacrificial love.
And our culture is constantly telling us through movies, advertisements, books, commercials, music our culture keeps insisting that we are the captains of our own souls, without need, without dependence, without reference to the one who created us. So, if your life feels fragmented and random, and without direction or meaning, don’t listen to that lie from the enemy! If you’re a follower of Jesus, you fit, you have a part in God's great story, and every day of your life, whether you realize it or feel like it or not, every day is weighted with kingdom purpose, eternal significance, and high destiny. So friend, bring God back into the mainstream of your life.
Oh, and one more thing, when we serve the needy, we also please God. And it’s why I want you to go over to my radio page today at joniradio.org and ask for our Joni and Friends newsletter. It’s filled with opportunities for you to serve people with disabilities in the name of Jesus. That’s joniradio.org. And remember, you do have a role to play today in this fragmented and broken world as you walk in his will and speak of his love. It’s what his story; that is, history is all about.
© Joni and Friends