Saving us from "Being Good."

Recently, I was at a convention where I had a booth for Be The One. I wanted to talk with people about the orphan crisis and share with them the need for adoptive families. I also wanted to encourage those who have taken the first steps and were looking onto adoption. I had many individuals stop by the booth to see what we did and many admitted that they had thought of adopting. Statistically, 30% of adults have thought about adoption, yet sadly only 1% follow through for various reasons. With all the conversations on that weekend, the saddest one occurred with a father of two children. When I asked if he had ever thought of adoption, he said very matter-of-factly, I have 2 children and "we're good." 

 Many people think they are good because they have all the trappings of a good life: marriage, children, job, church, friends. However, if we want to be honest about our Christianity and what we are called to do, it is not to be "good." In fact, Psalm 14:3 says "there is no one who does good, not even one."  Jesus calls us to live dangerously. (What else could "take up your cross and follow me mean?) Those of us who have stepped out in one way or another understand that we are not here for ourselves but for the other billions of people on this planet. Only God is good. We are called to be holy (set apart for a purpose) as Jesus is holy. This can only be accomplished if we are doing the purpose we have been called to. We can never be good if our only measuring tool is how full our life is of activities or even of blessings.

I know there are many people who are serving Christ in various ministries and I love hearing their stories as much as adoption stories because they are moving in the direction of becoming more like Jesus. What I dislike hearing is Christians thinking they're good when in fact they are standing still; not following the promptings of the Holy Spirit. If you have felt that nudging in a certain direction, I urge you to do more than "be good." I urge you to pray that the God who is good will lead you into the good purpose he has for you.

 Be The One