It was the best of times it was the worst of times…

The lovely Mrs. Long (my wife) was at the Citadel Mall the other day. Sharing with me later, she related her feelings of uneasiness being there. There is a different class of people–a people we don’t usually surround ourselves with. She confessed feelings of superiority and disgust; angst and fear, judgment and defensiveness. Yet all the while sensing her own sin in it and how clearly we are called to love the very people she found herself surrounded by.

If you drive twenty minutes north, you find yourself at the other mall, Chapel Hills Mall. With the modern day yuppies galore, we feel comfortable again. We feel safe. We feel easiness again. We can simply forget about those other people–the people whose needs are too apparent. On the outside the people we see maintain the images we need to feel secure about our little lives. It’s very settling. Life has order again.

It makes us look around at the company we keep–the little bubble we maintain and even defend. It’s not to say that those relationships aren’t also important, but it does illuminate the fact that we’ve, whether intentionally or not, surrounded ourselves with comfort. The facade we require in order to want to engage people is worse than deceptive–it’s sinful. What cost would we have to pay to reach the poor and downtrodden–the apparently sinful and the stomach worshippers? What would we need to give up? Mrs. Long and I live in a neighborhood that is on the cusp of what you might consider the cultural divide in our city–the haves and have-nots–we find ourselves relating more to the haves–the affluent, pretty people.

As the stores and restaurants near us continue to close due to poor upkeep and the exodus of the wealthy, we sense the same draw–leave now before your property value diminishes too much. If you stay, your children are in danger of having to be friends with the dregs. There goes the neighborhood.

It’s nagging. But what does the gospel tell us?

Throw away your life for the the sake of gospel. Throw away all earthly things and cares for the sake of the gospel. Trust God with raising your children even in the midst of deep depravity for the sake of the gospel. We’ve been given one life to live and as much as I am often tempted to just view this world as a staging area for the next life with very little actual significance, I’ve been convicted that it’s much more of a proving ground–a time and a place to live with abandon in service of our great God. What else matters? Certainly not wainscoting and tile, stucco and hard wood. Certainly not home theaters and SUVs. These things are not bad or wrong. They are, however, distractions. They focus us on ourselves and our own little lives–pointing to ourselves as significant and worthy.

Don’t get me wrong. This post is not about money. God challenges each one of us to be good stewards of all he has given. The point of the post is what are we willing to pay in every way, not just monetarily, to live lives worthy of the gospel. It’s so easy to just make the gospel a pasttime. How can we make it the main thing? Lord, help me to make the gospel the main thing–that all other things would diminish in significance. May you alone be my satisfaction.

Amen.