Let’s be honest, Lisa. Most of us reading this hope God won’t ask us to make a major move as He asked you to – but boxes come in all shapes and sizes. What are some of the boxes you see in yourself? What boxes do you see in the Church in America?

Oh wow, how much time do you have?  Ha!

The biggest box I find myself in, can’t seem to climb out of, is the box with the label:  God Will Love Me More if I’m Perfect.  I’m so flawed, that this mindset positively chains me down.

Some of the American church’s boxes have a lot to do with wealth and power.  If we are rich and powerful, it’s because God’s blessed us; conversely, if we lose any wealth or power, God has taken away His favor.  But I seem to read in scripture that neither of those things are what Jesus was about.  He seemed to do everything topsy-turvey. He didn’t use the government of the day to do His job for Him; He didn’t use man’s institutions as a barometer of God’s approval or disapproval.  One of the biggest boxes for many in the American Church is that they view their Kingdom citizenship through their American citizenship and not the other way around.

Another box is that the gospel has become therapy and not a path of obedience.  It’s misleading at any rate because living in the Kingdom isn’t easy and fun and you don’t always feel peaceful and happy.  It takes guts and commitment and sacrifice, but praise Jesus, He modeled the way and continues to give us strength, and yes, peace sometimes in knowing we’re about our Father’s business.

When God totally took you out of one environment and placed you in another, what held you together?

God’s assurance that He was the architect of the plan.  He made our path perfectly clear and to have stepped aside would have been nothing other than a quenching of the Spirit.  I knew that then and I still cling to that calling when I really don’t feel like hanging in there.  (Which is a lot!)

Have you discovered anything new about Jesus in this process?

He’s everywhere!  I used to think of myself as being “the hands and feet of Jesus” to a world that needed Him desperately.  But now, after Matthew 25 became so significant, I realize it’s a little bit different than that.  At the homeless shelter where I used to volunteer there were signs around the kitchen.  “If Jesus were homeless, would you give him something to eat?”  “If Jesus were pregnant and alone, would you take Him in?”  So I came to realize that Jesus is in every one of these people we are called to serve.  When we give a cup of cold water, we give it to him.  It makes people a lot more important when I see Jesus in their eyes instead of seeing Him in my own.

Is there anything else you’d like to share about this experience or advice for those of us who want to follow Jesus wholeheartedly?

Don’t expect it to be easy and don’t expect the world to stand up and applaud.  Chances are very few people will understand, but those who do become infinitely more precious.  But if God is calling you to live the radical Christian life, do you honestly have a good alternative choice?

Visit Lisa’s website at http://lisasamson.typepad.com/. For more author interviews see Paula’s blog at http://www.gracereign.blogspot.com or for book reviews visit her website: www.soulscents.us.