Living in God's Adventure

One of mentees from Homewood texted me a little while ago with a simple "What's up?" I know he was just checking in, as most of my mentees do each week, to see if we could get together. There is always a deeper question behind the "What's up?" The deeper question is, "What does God have in store for my life if we spend time together today?" Following Jesus is an amazing adventure, and over the past six years I've introduced all of my mentees to the adventure. When they spend time with me, they never know what to expect one from week to the next. I am passionate about God, and I am passionate about life. When I follow Jesus with reckless abondon, completely sold out to the radical, countercultural gospel message, then my mentees see God's light in me and they want to experience that light from God too. They are drawn to God, as all of us are, even though they may not know that is what they are expriencing. I don't know what my mentees and I will experience next time we hang out, but we all have great expectations for what life will bring.

This is how I want to live life every day. All of us were designed to find amazing adventure and purpose in God's grand adventure of life. We were made to take risks and live in God's transcendent purposes. When I live that way, as if every day is all about an unpredictable adventure with the Lord, then my wife is drawn into the adventure, my children are drawn into the adventure, the church I lead is drawn into the adventure, my mentees are drawn into the adventure, my friends and nieghbors are drawn into the adventure, and even my enemies can be drawn into the adventure. Every day requires me to reject safety, comfort, and materialism in order to embrace the radical message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. God's great adventure is experienced through downward mobility, not the upward mobility that the world has so carefully crafted for Americans. We find life when we die to our selves and fully embrace God's grand narrative. Yep, this is shaping up to be a good day.