Story "Does being challenged spiritually just mean being told to do, in a louder, more convincing and more persuasive way, things that we've heard and agreed with hundreds of times already?"
There is nothing wrong with that per se. There is nothing wrong with evaluating our lives and being reminded of things that we should be doing.
But Jesus did say Mary chose something that was better than what Martha chose.
Of course, that story in Luke 10 is not telling us to simply stop looking at our behavior or get out of serving, but what I think is latent in the story of Mary and Martha is that growing and abiding in Christ is more about who we are in God's eyes and how we value His presence, than it is about what we do as servants and what we do to fix ourselves.
That Mary Martha contrast is what we actually need to be challenged in in undergrad as this is probably the largest step a lot of your have ever taken out of your childhood Christian environments. We need to be challenged in the way we perceive who God is, how we view who we are, what we think He expects of us, and how we and God relate and interact.
Yet those sorts of foundational, soul-shaking paradigm shifts are precisely what we tend to skim over or avoid or even be hostile towards, because we think we have that figured out by now and we're scared to be seen doubting or wrestling with such things. Just as with that CCFer I talked to that first frosh week potluck, we Chinese Christians tend to gravitate towards environments and paradigms that push us to go harder, but not necessary deeper
Because Chinese! Working hard defines our race, and our spirituality.
If your spiritual environments, whether it be church, or fellowship, or a mentoring relationship, is urging you to work and serve and learn and strive but not moving you into deeper personal revelation and experience of intimacy with God, you are not being challenged to grow there.
Story "It’s either God or I’m having a psychotic episode"
I am not telling this story because i think the spiritual gifts are really important or that being pentecostal is the thing to do, but to say that it is unlikely you are ever going to grow and go deeper with God if you are already busy sticking with what you agree with and feel safe about.
In Acts 17, Luke describes a group called the Bereans. They were Jews living in a foreign Roman city. As with all the places Paul visited, he testified about Jesus, and it must have been earth shattering for the Bereans. Clearly it was earth-shattering enough for the Jerusalem Jews to crucified Jesus.
Yet the Bereans did not attack Paul, nor did they let it go in one ear and out the other, they did not reference their rabbi or teacher and let them dictate whether Jesus was legit. If they had done that they really would've missed out, just as I would have if I went to the prophetic conference with a closed mind, closed heart and just laughed everything off as coincidence or sheer luck, and chose not to follow up on that encounter.
When you explore, have an open mind, truly wrestle with what you see and experience. Often times God building you up will require Him shaking you to the core and laying down a deeper foundation. Let Him take you deeper than the safe and the familiar, do not be afraid to stop and wrestle.
So explore, go and see. Wrestle, be taken deeper. Lastly, speaking of the Bereans, Share, do it in community.
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