The Magic is in the Margins
I wonder what we're missing out on when we simply choose to live as the average believer with a mediocre spiritual life in tow?
The magic is in the margins. In my observation, the average believer in Jesus chooses to live a very average Christian life—one that consists of a little bit of faith and prayer, a little bit of Bible reading, and of course, a little bit of "church" for a couple of hours on Sundays. But I highly doubt believers were called to be average in their walk with Christ. We're called to a deep belief and trust in God and to deep faithful obedience to Him. This kind of deep lifestyle is supposed to permeate every part of our being. If someone were to cut us open, we're supposed to ooze out Jesus.
I believe we're called to the margins of spirituality—to the extremes. We're supposed to be outliers in a world that refuses to worship God. In the Gospel of John, Jesus mentioned that His disciples were "hated" by the world because they were "not of the world" (see Jn. 17:14). I don't think the disciples would be the target of hate by the world if they were simply like everybody else in every way. They would just blend in with the crowd and live a normal average life. But that's not what they were called to and it's not what we are called to either. Our identity and uniqueness in Christ stands in sharp opposition to what the world is like and how the world pressures us to live. Living in the margins of spirituality means taking our walk with Christ to such an extreme and seriousness that the world is baffled by our strange behavior and way of life. We will inevitably look quite out of place in the world and we will perhaps be hated and persecuted for it.
But here's the reward of choosing such a life: amazing things happen when we choose to live in the margins of spirituality. The magic is in the margins–where there is extreme faith, extreme prayer, extreme trust in God, extreme belief in God's Word and promises, and extreme obedience with the help of the Holy Spirit. Our lives will no doubt be very different than what they are today should we decide to take the things of Christ very seriously. Jesus lived in the margins of spirituality and so it's no wonder that amazing things happened around Him. His spiritual practices, faith, and obedience were incredible. And as it turned out, it took incredible faith—more than the average, for sure—to believe that you could raise somebody from the dead, cast out demons, and heal physical illnesses with a word and actually do them.
I wonder what we're missing out on when we simply choose to live as the average believer with a mediocre spiritual life in tow?
Barnabas the Monastic
Servant of Christ. Husband. Dad. Modern Monastic. I have a wild ambition in life: get as close to the Lord Jesus Christ as I can while on earth. I explore and integrate ancient Christian monk wisdom in modern everyday life. Lives in Canada.
