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Dear Christian, please go to Best Buy -Jesus.

~ My flat screen TV is huge until I go to best buy.

~ My MacBook is new and ‘pro’ until I go to the Mac-store.
~ Toledo is huge until I visit New York City.
~ I’m dark skinned until I walk down African streets.
~ Your 65 pounds lab is huge until you’re run over at my front door by my dogs who combine at over 240 pounds.

Isn’t it crazy how context and surroundings can completely resize and change everything we thought about something?

You know, I think one of the biggest ways Christians can kill growth in our lives is to only focus on our surroundings.

You’d be surprised at how on fire a lukewarm heart can burn in a room full of cold hearts.

In the same token, you’d be shocked at how self righteous and prideful a heart can get in a little Christian bubble.

I know because I’ve been there.

I often go through seasons where I’m walking around with a spiritual swagger and a popped collar. Most if not all the time, It’s because I’m comparing myself to those I "think" I'm ahead of.

But then I go to Haiti, passion conferences or I read the book of Kings and just like that, what seemed like a giant camp fire suddenly becomes a match stick that's barely flickering. 

It’s the same feeling you get when you walk into Best-buy and realize your 720 HD 27-inch TV is nothing compared to the 64-inch 3-D TV.

I’m not asking you to feel bad about your faith or passion.

The moral of this blog post is we all need to be intentional about sharing life with people, situations and circumstances that will always challenge us.

It’s fun to feel like the brightest shinning star in a room. It’s humbling to feel like a little candle light in a stadium of blazing torches.

The former comes natural and leads to a sandwich of 'self righteousness' and 'pride' with a side of 'really content' and 'lukewarm hearts'. The later on the other hand pushes you to love more, risk more, trust more and shine more.

* Go on a missions trip.
* Grab coffee with someone who loves Jesus more than you.
* Go to a church or join a small group where you’re not ‘the man’ or ‘the woman’.

Do something with people that will help you realize that you're probably not as great as you think.
It's one of the best ways to ensure growth because as long as you're looking down at everyone, that's all you'll be doing. 

I'm not talking about beating yourself up with guilt and shame because you think everyone is better than you. There's no growth at the end of that road either because it's still all about you.

What I'm talking about is zooming out and realizing that the kingdom of God is so much bigger than you.

It's like my little baby. I don't want her to be forever content and happy to be crawling in a room full of younger babies who can barely turn themselves over.

I want my baby to look up with awe and inspiration at all the adults who are standing tall and walking around.

It'll take time and she doesn't have to feel guilt or shame because everyone else is walking but I do want her to be inspired to get up and walk. Let me ask you a question.

Do you see yourself as the brightest light in 'the room' or have you put yourself in places where you're being pushed by others who are ahead of you? 

Dear friends, let's not get worked up and puffed up about our sweet flat screen TV because we're comparing it to our neighbors tube TV. Let's go to Best-buy. Let's be inspired. Let's be challenged.  

Have you ever looked around you and felt like you still had a long, long way to go spiritually? Tell me about where you were and what happened.  

​What are some ways we Christians can challenge ourselves more?