My New Year's Resolution: To Be An "Ordinary Christian"

Did you make any New Year’s Resolutions? I generally don’t make any formal resolutions, but I tend to be more reflective in January. How was my last year with the Lord? What is God calling me to do in the New Year? Are there any changes I need to make to facilitate my spiritual growth?

These are the kind of questions I ask myself in January (and often in August, before the fall ministry season begins). And as I reflect on them, some new ideas and directions often emerge. The one that has surfaced for me this year is based on a book I read at the end of last year by Michael Horton called, Ordinary (Zondervan, 2014). Horton is concerned that we North American Christians are always looking for the next big thing, when God most often uses the ordinary things to grow us spiritually and change the world.

What sort of ordinary things? Things like the weekly communal worship service; daily Bible reading; the regular administration of the Sacraments; loving our neighbors. He argues that God prefers to use the ordinary means of grace, like the spiritual practices mentioned above, to form our faith. 

But being “ordinary” is not popular today. It takes a lot of courage to become an ordinary Christian in a culture that celebrates the extraordinary (i.e. the beautiful model, the successful business person, the talented athlete, etc.). But as Horton argues, God most often works through ordinary things to change us. Christmas provides a prime example: God becoming human through Christ. The irony is that as we seek to be “ordinary Christians” God uses us to do extraordinary things, like give hope to the hopeless. So, if I had to pick a New Year’s Resolution, I would say that it is to be an “ordinary Christian.” 

I wonder what would happen if we all decided to become ordinary Christians this year? Care to join me?