There are 24 days until we are back in the US of A. And I don’t do well with endings in general. I get super reflective, in my head, and just in general super sad. But endings are a part of life. Things end, bad things end, and really, really good things end. And this race has been really good, freaking hard but truly the best experience of my life. As I reflect, I have realized I have done some outrageous stuff in the last nine months, and I don’t think I have told you all many of them.
- The coolest thing (in my opinion) that I have done is jump off the fourth-highest bungee jump in the world: 700 and something feet. She was high, and I was terrified, but I lived.
- Star gazing in a hot spring in Thailand.
- Hitchhiking in Cambodia to get anywhere. Once, we fit eight men in a single tuk-tuk.
- Hiking Acatenango in Guatemala, which is a volcano (I did that today, which is what sparked this blog.)
- Hiking through the Jungles in Thailand through waterfalls.
- Hiking the mountains of Lesotho carrying so much crap.
- Eating dog in Cambodia (Sorry to everyone who is offended by this.)
- Jumping off a bridge in Cambodia, which the locals specifically said don’t jump. The water is too shallow.
- Tattoos I have a lot now—sorry, Mom. Love you!
- Living out of a tent for a month and a half and not smelling like a dead animal.
- Beating a bunch of Cambodian forty-year-olds at soccer after our sixth attempt.
- Riding an elephant in Thailand.
- Spreading the gospel in every country, we have been to.
Nowadays, number 13 is outrageous, and it is by far the scariest one. Being comfortable is a very American idea. Getting out of your comfort zone feels scary. But we are not called to live in fear. The Christian walk was never promised to be comfortable. In fact, Jesus said we will have to take up our cross daily. I am going to go as far as to say that living comfortably is unbiblical. If we are called to live like Jesus, he didn’t have a house. I am not saying sell all your belongings and move to Uganda. (Mark 10:17-31)
If our hearts have “luxury” as god, we will fail the great commission. It is all about our heart posture if we are ignoring the call to be missionaries (which comes from Jesus and applies to every believer ever) Mathew 28. Then our christian walk is worthless. At a very basic level truly loving someone the way Jesus did is uncomfortable. Putting someone before yourself, that is in direct rebellion to our flesh nature but we are called to put off the flesh.
Now, you CAN be uncomfortable in Knoxville. You CAN go to Costco and tell everyone about Jesus. You CAN start an intercity Bible study for men. America needs Jesus more than anywhere else. You don’t have to go to the Middle East; our neighbors in the suburbs of Farragut need to hear about Jesus. Ecclesiastes teaches that the things of this earth are dust. So it is good that we are not dealing with things of this earth. There are souls around us damned to hell, and we have the cure.
I am not saying that anyone reading this is not living their life uncomfortably for Jesus. But the American church as a whole is not and as American Christians we have a responsibility to put our foot down. And that is Uncomfortable. The true Christian walk is the narrow road and it is so hard. But it is good.
I love you all see you very soon.
-Drew McKinney
P.S. If you get the title reference, you are my best friend.
