| Epic: the dramatic story of heroes who conquer idealistic goals through great risk, tenacious idealism, and stalwart character; the stuff of myths, legends, and history lived by people who rise above circumstances and leave the world forever changed. | Mundane: the pathetic silence of cowards who capitulate to mediocrity through great apathy, passive entrenchment, and mindless compliance to the status quo; the stuff of average people, normal folk, and history, lived by people who are enslaved to circumstances and repeat the mistakes of their ancestors, fools. |
The Bible records the epic adventure of God in the lives of his children. Though the epic begins in the pages of this ancient book, its story continues to unfold as it is written across the pages of history and the hearts of the people who live it. Early in the story, mankind instigated a war of isolation and rebellion against God in the Garden of Eden. But God would not allow his beloved to remain enslaved to sin, Satan, and selfishness. He is the hero, marching over the battlements to set the prisoners free. He is the knight in armor, battling the dragons to free the princess in the high tower. And he is the Christ, come to bring peace between God and man through the sacrifice of his life.
Christianity is the consequence and continuation of this epic story, in which God rescues His lost children and transforms them into rescuers. Like Christ they stand for social justice, mercy, compassion, hope and love. Like Christ they stand against false religion, hypocrisy, legalism, pride, and vanity. The epic adventure for the Christian is that he or she may mature into the very nature and essence of Jesus, that they too will rescue people from the slow suicide of rebellion against God.
This adventure of Christianity is not about spreading condemnation, but compassion. It’s not about power-hording or political maneuvering, but about servanthood and meekness. Christians walk in Jesus’s shadow, living His lifestyle, and finding the thrill, risk, and adrenaline of danger that comes from following his steps. They litter the landscape of history as martyrs, saints, and heroes. They become legends that fan the flames of faith for the next generation.
What about you? Will you live an epic life of meaning, impact, and passion? Or will you fall into the cowardly but comfortable path of atheism, agnosticism, or religious zombie-ism? What is worth dying for? living for? sweating and bleeding for? pouring out your life for? Can you dare to dream that life has meaning? Can you dare to dream that you were designed for a purpose – a great, epic, heroic purpose? Or will you be content just to fill up space and time, perpetuating the bizarre world system? Are you willing to settle for that? Is that enough? Doesn’t something scream out to you in anxious hours, “there must be more?”.
Jesus initiated his public ministry with a declaration of purpose. He said he had come to announce God’s liberation, restoration, and triumph. Later, he said he wasn’t here to condemn or judge, but to seek and to save that which was lost. What was lost? People. People were lost from relationship with God and relationship with each other. Perfection, hope, compassion, mercy, holiness, love, and laughter were lost. And Jesus came to bring all of that back to life.
Christians stand up to do the same thing. He continues this ministry of resurrection through us. He empowers us and unleashes us to impact the world the same way He did. Our lives testify to this great adventure. Sure there are fools in Christianity. There are racists, liars, hypocrites, and all kinds of mindless buffoons. Sure it looks like the church is fake, flawed, flimsy, and fractured. But, that isn’t his dream. It’s our failure. None of us get it perfect, but in every generation there are those who strive with every fiber of their being to live Christ’s life. They are the remnant of real Christianity. And maybe we need you to help us get it right. It’s easy to condemn the church from the outside and the inside, but to actually experience the real-deal is worth fighting for, is worth dying for, is even worth living for. It is epic.
If you want an epic life, we double-dog-dare you to follow Jesus, but the choice is yours: epic or mundane.
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less traveled by,
and that has made all the difference.”
Robert Frost.