This week I have been thinking a lot about two words: Uncomfortable and Belong. I kind of feel like this could be a long post. So I will give you the first part today (just to chew on and get you thinking) and the next part later.

Everyday we wake up, brush our teeth (hopefully), some shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, kiss our families goodbye, and head off to our schools or vocations just in time to catch the proverbial roller coaster which we all call “life.” Sometimes it is an “up” day and sometimes it is a “down” day. But no matter how “up” or “down” our lives may be, there is one thing that we should constantly strive to keep “up:” (whatever you may want to call it, be it our faith, or our spirit man, or just our spirit). The Bible references many times to be “in” the world but not “of” the world. So from this I would make the call that we have to see that which is carnal as carnal and that which is spiritual as spiritual and deal with it accordingly. I am not saying that sometimes these two elements do not cross paths but I do not think that our carnal lives should dictate our MOTIVATION in our spiritual lives. They are one but separate.

To give you an example of what I am writing about I will make this statement: We should not have to have youth camps, or worship services, or retreats, to keep our faith alive, to keep our faith growing and moving and changing. God is not JUST at camp. I am not saying that these events were not and are not important in our lives. Because for how many of us was it a youth camp or a worship service or a retreat the point that jump started our faith and got us back on the right track? As young Christians these are the events where the relevance of God shows up in lives. As Christians we NEED these things. But as we mature in our faith, if we want to mature, these things can no longer be the pinnacle of our faith. Do not get me wrong, they are still VERY important and God still moves in these services whether young or mature in faith. But if we do nothing in the time between them, how should we expect to grow?

We can no longer live our faith out from one special service to another special service. Just barely getting by. With no MOTIVATION in between. Just barely sticking with it.

Now I am sure that after reading that you have lots of thoughts and maybe some questions. Good. Think about them.