Dear loved one,
I write this because I believe that i owe this to you from the outset. I want you to understand my heart, my life, and the implications of where i'm going. I have thought long and hard about this...and by rational, emotional, logical, and experiential testing I have humbly come to where i'm at now - I am a Christian. Not the "I-attend-church-and-i-have-to-or-else-God-might-get-mad" but that "my-life-soul-mind-have-been-radically-transformed-Christian. I have not been coerced into this decision nor have I randomly picked some worldview that might benefit me. If you know me enough by now...you know I like to think through things. I am a Christian for so many reasons that we'll talk about later...but I can't be anything otherwise (trust me, i've tried).
But here's the thing...if i'm going to be in your life and you in mine, there are implications to me being a Christian.
- My purpose in life is Jesus. So like the way i think, live, spend money, raise a family will for the sole purpose of living like Jesus. And it's more so a response to what He has done in my life rather than me trying to follow a bunch of rules. I will be passionate (by faith and reason) about the one I submit my life to. And i'm going to want you to be on that path too.
- I won't shut up about what I believe. I'm not going to force you to believe what I believe, but I won't back down from what I really believe to be true. I will always try to line things up with Scripture. It's just what I believe to be true and because I believe it's true, i want to be consistent in the way I live and teach. If you're around me, my promise is that i'll always be teaching you what Scripture says.
- I cannot guarantee you safety in this life. Actually i can guarantee you that if you're going to be with me, we'll probably suffer - physically, financially, emotionally, and spiritually. If i'm doing a good job following Jesus, then suffering will be inevitable for you and me. We might be imprisoned, tortured, mocked, outcasted, and killed for what we believe and how we live. I'll probably bring you along to places that won't be easy or comfortable for the sole purpose of sharing Jesus and ministering to the Christians.
- We will NOT gain the world. We won't go after things that sparkle or people's approval of us. In fact, we'll probably do what is completely counter-intuitive and provide for people who hate us, who have nothing to give us in return, and we'll give our possessions away instead of saving it for this lifetime.
- I will actively correct you and rebuke when you're going off...not because i think i'm better, or that i hate you...but because i want the best possible life for you detailed out in Scripture. I know i'll be wrong at times so i'm going to need you to be patient with me.
So this is me and who i am. So do with me what you wish...You can fire me, leave this relationship, ignore me, join another youth group, stop following me...or you can learn with me, follow me, teach me, trust me and do this life with me. But this is who i am. So dear friends, family, church, future spouse, youth, church, and whoever...you have a choice as to what you would like to do with me. I just want to be honest from the start. So...what will it be?
