Yet Christianity over the past two thousand years has moved from a tribe of renegades to a religion of conformists. Those who choose to follow Jesus become participants in an insurrection. To claim we believe is simply not enough. The call of Jesus is one who demands action. Jesus began His public ministry with a simple invitation: "Come, follow Me." His closing instructions to His disciples can be summarized in one word, "Go!" A quick survey of the modern church would lead you to believe His invitation was "Come, and listen," and His closing mandate would be summarized in the one word, "No!" The tribe of Jesus, above all people, should rightly carry the banner, "Forward."
This is the simplicity of the barbarian way. If you are a follower of Christ, then you are called to fight for the heart of your King. It is a life fueled by passion - a passion for God and a passion for people.
The barbarian way is about love, intimacy, passion and sacrifice. Barbarians love to live and live to love. For them, God is life, and their mission is to reconnect humanity to Him. Their passion is that each of us might live in intimate communion with Him who died for us. The barbarian way is a path of both spirit and truth. The soul of the barbarian is made alive by the presence of Jesus.
Risking everything to live free is our only hope - humanity's only hope.
How have we come to this sanitized view of the faith to which Jesus calls us? Somewhere along the way the movement of Jesus Christ became civilized as Christianity. We created a religion using the name of Jesus Christ and convinced ourselves that God's optimal desire for our lives was to insulate us in a spiritual bubble where we risk nothing, sacrifice nothing, lose nothing, worry about nothing. Yet Jesus' death wasn't to free us from dying, but to free us from the fear of death. Jesus came to liberate so that we could die up front and then live. Jesus Christ wants to take us to places where only dead men and women can go.
The original call of Jesus was so simple, so clean, so clear: "Follow me." He wants us to surrender our lives to Him and follow Him into the unknown. And if it means a life of hardship, suffering and disappointment, it will be worth it because following Jesus Christ is more powerful and more fulfilling than living with everything in the world minus Him.
So, can you tell I like the book? Definitely highly recommended. I'm about halfway finished with it.
By the way, the weekend was great, even though we lost. I had a good time with my dad. :)
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