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Radical Living

What in the world is radical living? I hear this term tossed around in Christian circles quite a bit. Usually it is given in a way to encourage believers to live "the Jesus way". But what does that really mean? I think the image that comes in view is usually doing something heroic, doing something way beyond yourself, something certainly newsworthy that others will marvel at. But I'm not so sure if that is really how to live. I have thought a lot about this during my week, and I think sometimes we have no clue about what we try to say.

On my way to work, I pass a gentleman with numerous signs pasted on him that tell the world that "Jesus loves you, repent or you will go to hell!" He has a megaphone and seems to shout words, but I can never understand exactly what he says. Is that radical living or is that perhaps a bit obnoxious? I'm not sure if being a follower of Jesus means to draw attention all to me. . .

I have a very ordinary life, probably mundane in comparison with many, and sometimes I feel that I am not doing quite enough. But I think that's the great American myth that makes me feel like I have to have a life filled with adventurous activities and have acquired a host of accomplishments that everyone around me knows of. Somehow, I don't think that is the way of Jesus.. . His life was one of pain, sorrow, rejection, misunderstanding, and even desperate loneliness. For 30 years of his life on earth, he was just an unnoticed carpenter, tending to his family business. So maybe living radically means to embrace my pain, my wounds that I endure, and yet be faithful to love the smallest, the poorest, the neediest; and forget about being in the limelight or shouting from a street corner. Maybe, radical living is just being on my knees . . .

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