You know it’s getting pretty bad when I’m watching reviews of camping equipment on the internet. Cooped up inside during the winter months makes me feel a little stir crazy. I just want to get out, away from everything, and leave pressures and stress of life behind me.
I’m particularly intrigued by all the folks sharing tips and tricks on off-grid living—setting up a house, cabin, or RV out in the boondocks with no running water, generating your own electricity, etc. Of course, all of these folks still manage to have internet access so that they can post their videos…
While I love the idea of getting out of the noise and busyness of day-to-day life, I know that’s no way for a Christian to live. A monastic existence may seem like a wise way to separate yourself from the cares of the world, but such a life can cut us off from others. That’s not good, because Christianity is other-centric—there is nothing about it that’s all about self. Jesus died for others, we are called to love others—the regenerated life is nothing without others.
Jesus prayed to his father, “I am not praying that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” He desires that we be otherworldly, while still living abundantly in this world—even with all the cares and stress it brings. This is how we witness.
That’s something to think about.
Westside Church of Christ 