The Radical Experiment – One year to a life turned upside down

The challenge is for one year, and it involves five components. The dare is, over the next year, to…

1.     Pray for the entire world; when the Lord was faced with the starving masses, the first thing He did was tell the disciples to pray. http://www.operationworld.org/ and its companion book Operation World by Patrick Johnstone, includes detailed information on every nation in the world including religion and the Gospel’s impact there, but also prayer requests. Work your way through the world as you work your way through the Bible.

2.    Read through the entire Word; as you know, or perhaps not, this blog began when I was finished with my Chronological Bible and didn’t know where you go, but knew I wanted more. I have stopped, reading It the way I did that year, but perhaps I could follow the reading plan provided in my new Lutheran Study Bible.

3.    Sacrifice your money for a specific purpose; the key here is sacrifice. Make it hurt. Notice what you’re missing or NOT missing. Technically, the Capital Stewardship Campaign was about sacrifice. I knew my sacrifice. I have managed not to buy a new car in the past year. But those funds didn’t go to the campaign, they went elsewhere and it breaks my heart. But NOT getting a new car isn’t really a sacrifice. I have a perfectly good one. I have three perfectly good ones. What can I give away that will hurt?

4.    Spend your time in another context; I love how this seems doable. The author is asking for you to spend 2% of your next year in another context. That 2% or 1 week of your year will actually greatly impact your other 98%. I believe that. Some people have the ability to give 98% in another context which in turn will impact their 2% at home. Which means that any level in between can be life-changing. I’ve always wanted to go on a mission trip. Timing is always the problem. Maybe I will have to look harder this year. And the money would to do it would definitely qualify as a sacrifice.

5.    Commit your life to a multiplying community. This is pick a church and stick with it. If you have a church, pick a community group and stick with it. If you have a community group, pick a small group and stick with it. Get your disciples ready and go. Here’s where I am lost. I have my church. I don’t know what my community is. The community that will take advantage of my gifts and talents and vice versa. The like-minded individuals that when put together, will spark and spur on. The chemistry to be filled with IT. It always feels like the group I’m with is more inward looking rather than outward. Like a group of sheep huddled against the world rather than out among the wolves. OR my passion is not inline with everyone else’s … but what is mine? Excuses, excuses, excuses.

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Matthew 9:36-38 (ESV)