A big international church invites people to pay for a night of worship in a well-known venue in central London. Big name speakers, big name singers. It sounds exciting. Many will pay to sing and dance, then go home, buzzed up.

Next day, they'll wake up and go to the office. Will anything have changed?

Jim is a Christian in his mid-thirties. He knows that Christians should live out their beliefs and is inspired by Christian community living. He knows it will cost him though, so he prefers to live just like every other middle class person. Comfortable, unobtrusive, going nowhere.

Writer Rick Warren says about the Christian church: "Many have amputated the hands and feet from Christ's Body and kept only a big mouth."

Christians have a bad reputation of being "all mouth and no trousers" when it comes to living out what they believe.

It's sad, and it's in direct contrast to the instructions of the apostle Paul, who wrote "The kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God's power".

Let's be specific. The early church shared their possessions. They were persecuted because of their uncompromising testimony. God worked miracles among them. They were radical non-conformists, refusing to bow to the gods of their age. They were a church of the poor, not a bunch of shiny happy materialists. They abandoned selfishness to live out Kingdom justice and power.

How about you? Are you ready for a little less talk - and a lot more action?

---

What's being said