The Update

-Luke Trouten
Yesterday morning, Kathy Collier told us about her trip to Africa and work with refugees there. She shared great stories and showed us tremendous pictures of smiling children, the slums, African animals, and the many people she met while she was there. The thing that struck me was the tremendous cost that came with being a Christian in the slums of an African country.

Here we set our Facebook status to “Going to church” and drive up to the front door. There they walk a mile to a bus so nobody knows where they went.

Here we can by shirts that say “Jesus is my best friend” at Wal-Mart. There their lives are in danger because of medal with with a Bible verse written on it.

Here we have to pay some money to go on a retreat. There the knowledge that they went on the retreat would be cause for them to be put to death.

Here, some people just get a little uncomfortable when they find out I’m a pastor. There, the Pastors in the slums are so unwelcomed by the slumlords that they have a standing death threat against them.They could be murdered at any time because of what they do.

I don’t feel like it’s every really cost me that much to follow Jesus. Here, being a Christ-follower has meant living in my car for a time, paying more for college than I had hoped, or earning less than my peers by taking ministry jobs.

That seems pretty lame when you consider the cost for following Jesus there is tallied up by the man attacked with machetes (scars across his face) or the man who is without a leg, or the girl who gets beat each day… all because they follow Christ.

I am blessed. I am selfishly thankful that I don’t have to endure the same hardships I heard about yesterday. But I don’t think I understand the value of my relationship with God, because the cost is not as steep for me.

I don’t know the secret to a passionate faith like the one you must have to risk your life for Jesus’ name… but I do know that Sunday morning I felt like a very lazy Christian, and that I need to change.