Exile

I want to move on from the whole “alien, sojourner, exile” thing. But, I just can’t yet. It’s still weighing on me. I think it’s one of those things that we as Americans just don’t embrace well.

We have become comfortable in our position on top of the cultural food chain that we ignore the reality that everything has changed. We now live our lives in exile. Our faith is odd and weird to those around us. We are relics from a time gone by.

If you’re a Christian you live cross-culturally every single day. We too often think about cross-cultural ministry as something missionaries do overseas. But, it’s just not the case. Over the last fifty years American culture has changed. In many ways it has changed for the better. We have progressed in some important avenues. In other ways it has changed in ways that make it hard to be a Christian.

As I learn more about the first century Roman Empire, I realize that we share much with the early church. Wherever they gathered they had language in common with those around them. Yet, they differed in their core beliefs and worldview from their neighbors. They lived in a “spiritual but religious” age, so do we. They lived in an over-sexualized culture, so do we. The early church had to wrestle with a moral climate that it was at odds with.

They lived under a empirical regime that sought to control every aspect of life. As do we. The empire under which we live is less 1984 and more Brave New World. We live in a time where we “protest” on Facebook. Entertainment and media distract us from the realities of our world. Ours is an empire of entertainment and comfort.

What I love about the early church is that they didn’t seek to gain control of the system. They used the system they found themselves to advance the message of the Cross. They lived in faith, following Jesus with one another in community. They proclaimed, taught, and acted. The early church lived on mission.

My prayer is that we would do the same thing. I hope beyond hope that we too would live on mission proclaiming the gospel, teaching the gospel, and acting in response to the gospel.

What if the American church could say, with the Apostle Paul,

But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. (Acts 20:24 ESV)

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