What If?

Those might be the two most dangerous, exciting, and overwhelming words in the English language.

"What if..." is what kickstarts visionaries, begins revolutions, and sparks new ways of life and love.

Thousands of years ago, a murderer was visited by a God in a burning bush who told him to return to the land from whence he came to free the people who had been enslaved there for centuries.  And the murderer dared to ask--after repeated denials--"What if I obeyed God?"

Still thousands of years ago, a prophet in the royal court saw God in a fantastical, vivid, unbelievable vision, where God asked the prophet, "Who shall I send?"  And that prophet dared to ask, "What if I said, 'Send me?'"

Two thousand years ago, God came to earth in the form of an unkempt, loving, healing, brilliant, divine carpenter who dared to ask the world, "What if you actually loved God and one another with as much ferocity as you clearly love yourselves?"

After that carpenter was killed, resurrected, and returned to Heaven, His followers dared to ask, "What if we actually followed what He said even though He's not here anymore?"  At which point the Holy Spirit came down upon them, and the Christian Church was born.

And throughout the next two millennia of the church's history, we have been in the dangerous, exciting, and overwhelming business of asking ourselves, "What if?"

And one of the best "What if" questions I have heard in quite a while actually came from, of all places, Twitter.

From the Twitter account of Russ, the senior pastor I served under for two years as a part-time associate intern at First Christian Church in California.

He simply asked what if "we cared as much about ending world hunger as we did (ending) the NFL ref lockout."

Damn.

It's a powerful reminder.  A look in the mirror that won't just fade instantly into the recesses of my forgetfulness.

What if I cared as much about building the kingdom of God as I do about my favorite sports teams winning championships, or my favorite television shows getting renewed, or my favorite restaurants building a location in Longview (ahem, Chipotle)?

Because sometimes I don't.

And I know I should.

I know it because that is exactly what that itinerant carpenter taught.

And God spoke through Jesus and said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will also be."

What if.

What if you cared as much about ending world hunger as you did about sports, or television, or a good burrito?

What if you cared as much about ending homelessness, or drug abuse, or violence as much as you did about, say, your favorite movies getting sequels?

Or...what if you cared as much about living and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ as you did about the NFL referee lockout?

It's not always easy to do.

But it's right.  Let that be enough.

What if...?

Yours in Christ,
Eric