Quest 14 - Choose Your Own Adventure.
For the longest time I have had the idea to do a “Choose your own adventure” sermon series. I have no clue the content that we would go through or even how the logistics of that would work, but I do know that I have always loved those books. There are some aspects about them that really draw you in: It’s the pageantry, it’s the freedom, it’s the ability to peek ahead and see oh wait - that’s a bad decision.
None of those are the real reason that they are popular. The reason that they are popular is right there in the title. Adventure.
We, as humans, crave adventure. That’s why we love movies, video games, books, and other forms of entertainment - it allows us to escape the doldrums of our lives and jump into a different life. Our lives - the 9-5 grind, the rules, the regulations, the never ending schedule consumes us. We hate it so we spend time watching other people live the perfect adventurous life through social media posts… or so it seems. The truth is - for most - that adventurous time is fleeting and then it’s onto the next thing.
What if I was to tell you that you can have an adventurous life? What if I told you life didn’t have to be boring? What if I told you, you could start living this way today? It would be pretty sweet right? We all look for this answer. So I am going to give it to you.
Follow Jesus. It’s that simple.
If you look at culture however, the general consensus is that following Jesus is boring and that you are confined to a life of rules and regulations. People think that if you follow Jesus you have to throw on a suit, never smile, and are disallowed from doing anything dumb.
I can tell you from my own personal life - that Christianity is not boring. Part of the reason that I am in ministry is that I had so much fun hanging out with guys a few years older than me at church, that I wanted to show others they can have the same. There were moments of playing dodgeball in a gym with strobe lights going off, there was the time we tried to jump over a car via homemade ramp with a 3 wheeled kids car, there was the time my friends put staples into nerf guns and we tried to get it to stick in my arm…
Like I said, I did some dumb things. I chose that adventure.
I love that Mark asked the question, “Is Christianity boring?” because it’s incredibly relevant. The answer to that question is no… unless you make it boring. If you are treating following Jesus like clocking into church for a weekend experience then clocking out after… well I won’t lie to you, you will eventually get bored and find something else to entertain you. At that point it would be easy to find something to blame the church for to leave, but that’s not on the church. That’s a personal decision. Bluntly, there is some personal responsibility that each of us take on when we decide to follow Jesus.
You don’t have to do the dumb things I did to make it an adventure. There are a lot of themes of following Jesus that create that excitement. You just have to choose to do those things. I want to lay out a few of them for you.
1. Christianity isn’t boring because we have a community
A beauty of deciding to follow Jesus is that you have a built in community that you can be a part of. If you get onto a team, you all the sudden have a group of guys and girls that you can build memories with and go through life with. So much life is found in being in other people’s lives. I love to imagine Jesus and his disciples, many times we see them in the work field, but I love to sit back and think about how they had to be the tightest guys ever sitting around a fire, making fun of one another, and making memories. We have the ability to be in a group just like that!
2. Christianity isn’t boring because we have a mission.
Why do people love video games? Because you are put into a position where you are trying to accomplish a mission. It’s unbelievably addicting. I played like 4 hours of 2k this weekend once my wife and daughter went to bed. Did I gain anything out of that? No. But I was addicted to that grind. When we decide to follow Jesus we are suddenly given the greatest and biggest mission of all time: Grow the kingdom of God. Every single day we now have something to grow towards!
3. Christianity isn’t boring because we can learn.
Learning gets a really bad rep. The truth is that learning is a treat and gift from God. One of my favorite things that I will do late at night is throw on a headlamp and read a book in my dark living room. It makes me feel like I am in the movie The Mummy or something. We will literally NEVER know everything there is to know about God. Which means we never have to stop learning. Learning is such a gift because it’s allowing us to uncover and understand more about God and our excitement. Get your Indiana Jones on and learn!
4. Christianity isn’t boring because we can grow.
When we feel stuck, that is when we feel bored and stagnant in life. Growing, I believe, is different from learning in this situation. Learning is very internal, where growth is something that is external. When we follow Jesus, there is a growth process that occurs. We must improve ourselves to become more like Him. That means we have to train ourselves, put things into practice, and apply life lessons from the Word. That’s where growth comes from!
5. Christianity isn’t boring because there is joy.
Okay - this goes back to the dumb things I did. It’s an adventure because there is joy involved. When you can do things without the conviction of sin that follows… Man that’s the sweet spot. I have so many good memories in life and when I think back on them, I smile and I have joy. The boring, painful life is a life that we do not have to live anymore. When you begin to eliminate the conviction of sin in your life because you are participating in it less and less, there is a joy that follows because you are living the way that God has called you to live.
Christianity is not boring. I want to challenge you to take some self-inventory. Do you feel like your life is boring? Do you feel like your journey with Jesus is boring? If that is the case - make a decision today and choose adventure. It’s right there. Jesus is supplying it.