In the aftermath of Christmas busyness, I keep thinking of purpose. A rested vision. A steady heart. Actually, I keep thinking of Jim Elliot.

He was the one who wrote that fiery paragraph I memorized a year ago: “We are so utterly ordinary…conscientious objectors, spiritual pacifists in this battle-to-the-death with principalities and powers…. Meekness must be had for contact with men…but brass, outspoken boldness is required for the comradeship of the Cross. The world cannot hate us, for we are too much like its own. Oh, that God would make us dangerous.”

Yet the real power in that paragraph was not Jim Elliot’s use of vocabulary and word-pictures, but how he lived out that declaration. He sacrificed his life.

In my own life, I wonder how that quote translates. What would it mean for Hannah Farver to become more than a “spiritual pacifist?” What actions and sacrifices would be required if I became “dangerous?”

Let’s see if I can pare down that question into even more specific terms: what steps would I have to take in order to maintain a steady heart—a focus set only on Christ, His Kingdom and His fame? What sacrifices would I need to obtain that outlook and keep it there?

Francis Chan’s book, Crazy Love, shared stories of modern day people who have taken those steps to live decidedly for Christ. I remember vividly one story told of a twenty-four year old woman, Jamie, who decided to travel to Tanzania with $2,000—all her savings. Her goal was simply to serve where needed and return home only when her money ran out. In Tanzania, Jamie met a woman who was dying of AIDS. The woman had a baby. By a miraculous turn of events, the child hadn’t inherited AIDS from his mother. As Jamie cared for the baby, providing it with formula, she soon began to love the child as her own. When the woman died, she gave the child to Jamie. With adoption papers and a young child, Jamie returned home. Since then, she has married and her family has moved back to Tanzania for mission work.

Jamie filled a need. She gave everything she could out of her own slim pocketbook to help the widow and the orphan. She boldly left her safety in God’s hands and did what she felt was right.

So what does Christ-centeredness look like in the day-to-day? How does a Heaven-set vision play out in our living?

It’s December 29^th, and time for New Year’s resolutions. I’m still trying to figure out how to word this one, but the intent, I believe, is clear. Christianity should be zealous, and our love should be bold. Christian living isn’t the practice of gauging our faith against the compromising-Christian, and feeling superbly “spiritual” through the comparison. It’s pursuing passion nothing short of the kind that echoes the servanthood of Christ; it’s understanding that faith without works is dead.

But works with faith? That is real living.