From “Filled to Be Emptied: The Path to Liberation for Privileged People” by Brandan Robertson
The gospel of Jesus is about striving to become more like Christ. The commands of Jesus are about working with God to bring about renewal and redemption to the world. The Christian life is not meant to be a continual basking in the grace of God, waiting for the Holy Spirit to do some magical work within us to make us more righteous. No, it’s about a commitment to continue to strive to make Jesus’ vision of our lives and the world a reality in our sphere of influence. It is true that you cannot follow Jesus perfectly, and yet his invitation to never stop trying remains.
This is the difference between a Christianity that is primarily rooted in theology and one that is primarily rooted in practice. Again, there is a good reason that nowhere is the New Testament are we given a systematic theology or doctrinal statement – that was never the primary goal. We are told repeatedly, however, how we are to organize ourselves and how to practically live out the subversive, sacrificial way of Jesus in our day-to-day lives. This is the true worship that God has always desired, as beautifully stated by the apostle James, the brother of Jesus, who said, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (Jas.1:27 NIV). It’s a religion of compassionate action and a religion of resistance to the wisdom and ways of the systems of this world.