In Praise of The Ordinary. Two links.

Two short pieces that sum up an important theme:
Christianity isn’t rocket science.  It isn’t the work of superheroes. It is a life of Grace and Spirit-filled living, a life that rips out your selfishness and stomps on it.  It’s hard. But it’s often not complicated.

So. Put down your “radical” banners and read the actual articles:

We don’t like Paul’s call to be radical because it is a lot easier to love the lost whom we haven’t seen than our wife who we see every day. We don’t like it because forgiveness is hard (4:32) and fornication is easy (5:3). We don’t like it because we would rather be known for doing something amazing than be obscure and keep the peace (4:3).  We don’t like it because he says a lot about submission and nothing about evangelizing the ladies at Starbucks. In the end, those calls to be radical aren’t radical at all. They are just a distraction.   The Christian life is not about going some place for Jesus or doing great things for him. It is being holy right where we are. It  is loving our brothers and sisters in our churches. It is being faithful to our family obligations.  It is working hard at our vocations. In a fallen world, if we do this,  we are being radical enough.

via How Ephesians Killed My Radical Christianity – Kuyperian Commentary.

My friend Hannah put up a great post earlier this week on a similar theme, which I also commend as a very good read. Plus, she quotes one of my absolutely favorite sonnets ever, so you have no excuse not to check it out.

God is inviting us to work in His kingdom. He is calling us to something more than this world can offer. But He is calling us first to Himself, to remember that He is the Messiah. Not us. And He is calling us to believe that those “who best bear his mild yoke, they serve him best.”

Even if they only stand and wait.

via They Also Serve – Sometimes a Light.