The Barbarian Way

One of my favorite books is The Barbarian Way by Erwin McManus. So many good quotes in this book it's overwhelming. He explains how the life of a Christian should be barbaric or be lived at a barbaric point of view. We as Christians are described as aliens because our way of living is unheard of. The way we give. The way we talk. The way we live. It's different. McManus explains this throughout the book providing examples throughout scripture and Jesus's teachings.

"God's will for us is less about our comfort than it is about our contribution. God would never choose for us safety at the cost of significance." Brilliant right? When we decide to become followers, we decide to leave our lives of comfort. We model our lives after the life of Jesus and his did not scream "comftorable". And I love the way he explains that God wouldn't choose safety for us at the cost of significance. Where would we be if people played it safe? I realize that sounds incredibly "original" but that doesn't make it any less true. Who wants to play it safe when you can have an adventure. That's the call of a disciple! "To be filled with the Spirit of God is to be filled with dreams and visions that are too compelling to ignore."

Ok here's a scenario. You're at your local Walmart and you hear of a person asking for money so they can get a ride home (feel free to input a different means of them asking for money). You decide you're going to help them out. So, you give them a $20. Nay, you're feeling generous. You give them $30. They thank you and they use it for its intended purpose.

Now, same scenario, different outcome. Instead of giving them $30, you take out your wallet/clip/treasure chest, or whatever the heck you keep your presidents in, and give them everything. Yeah, that's what I said. EVERYTHING. For sake of argument lets throw out some real numbers....$160. Not cheap but ultimately not a lot either. Whichever way you look at it, quite a bit of money given the circumstance. And all you say is, "Here, get yourself a ride home and use the rest to bless someone with." or something of the sort. That'd be ridiculous would it not? In fact, that'd be barbaric. But my how that person would think about that afterwards.

That's what I'm talking about. To live a life of a radical. A Barbarian. To live a life of adventure and excitement for our Christ is a life worth living. For "to live is Christ and to die is gain." And I know, would it be comftorable? Probably not. Would it be safe? Not always. But the fact you're living your life as a disciple...

what a rush.

Apealing? Maybe not to some. But I say bring it on.