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Over the holidays I discovered something, or more accurately, someone, new. Long-time fans of said person will roll their eyes and think, how could you just be hearing about her?! to which I will now say, “I know! Where have I been?” Under a rock, clearly.
But right before Christmas I crawled out from under my rock and purchased a copy of For the Love by Jen Hatmaker and, after finishing it, proceeded to devour every book she’s written like the sugar cookies and cinnamon rolls that I only make at Christmastime for obvious reasons (my scale will rudely testify as to how many of those goodies I actually indulged in this year). I laughed, I cried, I looked like a lunatic laughing out loud all by myself in the pickup line at my kids’ school. Such were the emotions I experienced while reading her words. And then I came upon a statement that stopped me cold.
Here’s what she said in 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess: “At some point the church stopped living the Bible and decided just to study it, culling the feast parts and whitewashing the fast parts. We are addicted to the buffet, skillfully discarding the costly discipleship required after consuming.” (p. 172). Ummm, yikes! That made me a little uncomfortable. Okay, a lot uncomfortable.
She went on in Interrupted to say, “There will never be enough knowledge to fill the cracks of Christian maturity without the fruit of selfless service manifested in our lives.” (p.228) All of this got me thinking about all of the consumption I’ve done over the years, the countless bible studies, the Christian books I’ve read, not to mention all the Bible reading, and how much of it has actually changed me–made a real impact on the way I live my life. I asked myself, do I really live it? And my honest answer was: just the convenient parts. Just the parts that don’t require me to get messy or be uncomfortable, or that make me feel good about myself.
So in response, I’m declaring 2016 to be the year of living it! No more sitting belly-up to the table, shoveling it in, and then walking away and leaving it all at the table. Don’t get me wrong, studying and learning are important (how else will we know what to do) but I don’t want to be guilty of knowing what to do and not doing it anymore. This is the year of being uncomfortable in the best possible way. Of doing the hard stuff. Want to join me?
Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
Erica Barthalow 
Wow – this is great. I’m guilty of a lot of study but not nearly enough application. Thanks for the insight. I was just thinking the other night that I hadn’t gotten a blog from you for a while and I missed them – glad you’re back!
Hotdog! This is exactly what Gregg and I have been discussing during the 21 days …. I am guilty as well of over-consuming and not enough living it out, especially when it’s uncomfortable. How awesome that you would bring such clarity to the subject for your first blog of 2016. I’m going right out and get Jen’s book, not to consume, but to continue to be inspired to “live” a Holy Spirit led life, no excuses. I will join you in “being uncomfortable in the best possible way.” Thank you so much for always having a pearl of wisdom that speaks straight to my heart. So glad you’re back!
Jen always rocks me at the foundation, whether it be from laughter or spiritual enlightenment. Glad you two have finally met. Let’s chat sometime about what you’ve been reading!