I've been a Christian for many years. Most of my life I have at least given lip service to the Christian life. I have served in Women's Ministry since 2001, in worship ministry since around 1995 and in various other capacities at times. I have thought I had it figured out. I have believed that I knew what the Christian life was about.
However, the more time goes by, the more I realize that I know next to nothing. Just when I think I've figured something out about Christianity, God blows a big whole in my theory.
Ultimately, it's all about Christ. Of course, we know that. But what about Christ? It's about knowing Him and serving Him and spending ourselves for Him, in His service. That's the thing that grabbed me in Mexico. I watched the Coult family spend themselves daily in His service, in getting to know Him, in blessing and being blessed by His people. I watched them feed everyone who came along, offer a drink to everyone who came along, share Christ with everyone who came along. I watched them boldly present the cause of Christ to anyone who would listen. I watched them listen to Him and worship Him and pray to Him. And at the end of the day, they would go to bed exhausted in the service of Christ. And do you know what was most unique about all of this?
They were happy.
They live in conditions that we in America would consider abject poverty, with barely enough income to feed their family of eight. In a house made of rough concrete, the inside walls being made of plastic tarp and the doors of curtain. With no hot water, with limited water at all, with a leaky roof and a clothesline and a washer that has to be filled with a hose because it doesn't work right anymore. They subsist on a diet of beans and rice and a bit of fruits and veggies with a few treats thrown in here and there and very occasionally, a bit of meat. In the middle of a village filled with mosquitos during the hot season where temperatures reach above 100 degrees for about 4 months out of the year. In a land where they've had to completely give up their language and their culture to learn to blend into a foreign culture just so that they can have some credability with the locals. They feed their cats the scraps from their own table and the dogs as well.
They spend time daily praising God, studying His Word and going out among the local villagers and sharing Christ in a variety of ways. They spend themselves extravagantly, storing up treasures in heaven.
I think that is what it is about. It's about spending yourself for the cause of Christ. About forsaking everything else, all the comforts, all the seeming 'necessities' to give everything to the one who gave everything for us. About truly loving to the point of risking it all.
By the way, if you'd like to learn more about their family or are interested in supporting their mission efforts (and I highly recommend doing so as even if all you give is $10 a month, it would be a blessing) please visit their blog at The Coult Family. If you scroll down a bit, you'll find where you can make a donation. I hope you will!
