Crisis Mode

It's a Biblical truth that being a good follower of Christ means you must live in expectation of crisis. cf. the parable of the ten virgins, and building your house on rock. We're supposed to live in expectation of Christ's return, which will mean, without any undue drama, the end of the world as we know it.

It's like we're expected to live in bomb shelters. But still, you know, hang out with the neighbors.

I'm not saying that's undoable, or a bad idea. In some contexts, the end of the world is not presented as a bad thing. It's a party, and your job is to make sure you're ready when the party starts.

Regardless, as a Christ follower, it means that on some level, you are constantly, constantly, waiting for something catastrophic to happen. In all the senses of the word catastrophe.

The value of crises is that they are reliable dumbshit cleaners. Living in crisis preparation mode constantly reduces the number of useless choices you have to make in life. When your house is on fire, you don't care whether your peanut butter is chunky or smooth. And living with the idea of what you'll do if your house was on fire doesn't leave you with room to care if you're using a PC or a Macintosh.

I've been walking around with this idea in my head for a while, and it's good and right, but I find it annoying. Because sometimes I want to have a beach house, you know? I'm not coming out pro-sin, but could we maybe let our guards down and have that be okay.

There's more to this idea, and it takes a left turn into being a grown-up. It's about how becoming who God wants you to be is the ultimate maturity thing. But I don't have it figured out well yet, so I'm leaving it half-finished here.