This is often conveyed in the much-loved Bible verse: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). But I often find myself asking: “When can I have this full life?” At what point does my life plan get flipped on its head and I begin to live fully for God? When do I spontaneously move to Syria and raise people from the dead? Maybe I’m taking the wrong approach by assuming that there’s a specific light-bulb moment.
I find that these questions are intensified after Christian conferences, and this was certainly the case for me after going to Momentum last summer. During the conference I listened to some amazing preachers and found myself being so inspired, but also saddened as while they had been bringing many people to Christ, I had just been racking up hundreds of hours of education. I left the festival feeling slightly depleted instead of being hungry for a ‘Paul-esque’ life.
Since then I have been continually questioning my life plan, and whether or not it’s God’s plan for me. I am currently studying at Exeter University and, don’t get me wrong, my daily walk with God is developing my faith – but I want to help the homeless and live a ‘radical’ life for Jesus. But can I do that while I am at university?
After all of these wavering views I have come to the conclusion that we all have our specific paths in life. No matter where we are, we are all called to advance God’s kingdom. Whether that’s at work, university or volunteering at your local church – we are all serving God. I think one problem within the Church is that too often we compare ourselves and install a fictitious hierarchy. People view this hierarchy and assume that if we aren’t saving the world through mission that we are somehow less ‘radical’ Christians. This view is inept when we look at the Bible, as it’s pretty clear that ultimately God ignores hierarchies. This is clear when we see that Jesus spent the majority of his time with sinners, prostitutes and social nobodies.
God has called us all to glorify Him in our everyday lives. The problem is that often we spend time sowing seeds for the Lord, but we don’t always reap the harvest. This lack of short-term achievement can leave our lives seeming anything but radical as we contemplate life after a night out or a win on Fifa.
We, as Christians, love to throw this term around, but what does ‘radical’ actually mean? Its definition is: “Relating to the fundamental nature of something.” So here’s my conclusion: if in our lives we relate to the fundamental nature of God by adopting the golden rule to ‘love your God and love your neighbour’, we are living a radical life.
I am praying that after my years at university I will transform the journalistic world in his name, therefore living a radical life. Pragmatism of my theoretical theology was always my downfall.