I See Fire and that is How We Should See the Christian Life

It was not merely for entertainment that Bunyan expressed a walk with Christ as a pilgrim’s journey, nor was it for Tolkien who illustrated the Christian life with a quest through Middle Earth, neither was that the case for Lewis who captured it with fighting battles alongside a mighty Lion in the land of Narnia. Bunyan, Tolkien, Lewis, and others chose tales of daring adventures because such an adventure is the reality of the Christian life.

I am afraid that only a few would agree with that reality. What about you?

Have you been taught that the Christian walk is an adventure?

Have you experienced it for yourself?

As a kid and young teenager I thought Christianity was so booooooorrrring! A life following Christ — was enduring a sermon, singing old songs, not having fun, and following rules. It was saying no to fun and avoiding any excitement. I thought following Christ made someone weak, and that it kept someone from experiencing life. Then I got out of the pew and experienced a personal walk with Christ myself. I also began to learn about Christians who have come before us — those who laid down their life and gave everything for the cause of Christ.

I began to find that following Christ was like falling into a rabbit hole, transporting through the back of a wardrobe, and leaving the shire.

Even though I have experienced a bit of the adventure and do believe that a walk with Christ is definitely such a journey I find myself forgetting. I’m afraid that Bunyan’s picture in “Pilgrim’s Progress” is not the image western Christians have in their mind when they think of Christianity. Even if they do view an adventure to be had it is reserved for someone else.

I am a huge music fan with quite the eclectic taste. The other day my careful “thumbs up” and “thumbs down” on Pandora led me to Ed Sheeran’s “I See Fire”.  The song is from the soundtrack to one of the Hobbit movies. Immediately I fell in love with the song with lyrics like: “If this is to end in fire then we should all burn together watch the flames climb high into the night” and “And if we should die tonight then we should all die together raise a glass of wine for the last time.”

The song conjured up images of a band of brothers giving their lives to what they believed in. It drew pictures of danger and excitement.

Instantly thought what if we sang this at church. Minus the parts about the “eye of the mountain” and “Durin’s sons” wouldn’t be amazing if the collective voice of the church rallied to face the fire together.

Now I doubt our worship leader is going to go for it and my congregation may not be that keen on singing Ed Sheeran, but I wish that we could regularly view our walk with Christ as an adventure. I wish we would see our mission of the Gospel like the quest of the dwarfs and hobbits to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the dragon. I wish that as followers of Christ we would see the reality of the exciting life in Him. I wish we would see fire for that is how the Christian life is meant to be lived.

 

 

 

 

 

Jake McCandless

Jake McCandless is a pastor, author, and speaker for Prophecy Simplified from Arkansas. Through Prophecy Simplified Jake seeks to bridge end-time prophecy to everyday life in the lives of Christians across the country. His first book, Prepping for Our Spiritual Doomsday, releases spring of 2017 with WND Books. You can find more of Jake’s writings at his sites www.prophecysimplified.com and www.graytotebox.com, as well as, in regular columns for Almost an Author and the Baptist Press. Jake enjoys the outdoors, but more than anything he would rather be on a date with his wife Amanda or playing Barbie’s with his daughters Andrea and Addison.

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