milk toast

Do you like milk toast? Some people do. It gives a warm feeling. It gives comfort. It aids sleep.
Do you like whiskey? Some people do. It puts fire in the belly. So does red chili. Whiskey puts fire in the belly and in the eye. Whiskey is pretty fiery.
Most of vocational Christianity on display is milk toast. There are songs about fire, but they are not fiery songs. There are sermons about fire. Sometimes there are fiery sermons. Everyone is sitting down during them. Then the service ends, sometimes with a milk-toast song about fire. There was never any fire.
Why do they always serve milk-toast? It gives a warm feeling. It gives comfort. It calms down frayed nerves. They can’t serve whiskey. They can pretend to, but they can’t.
Events in The Bible are not milk toast. They are blood and fire. But stories are only milk toast, even if they are about fire.
Missionaries go to countries to spread the gospel. They feel called to. The Bible says to go, and they do. Sometimes they suffer hardship. Usually they are just missing their milk toast. Eventually they find it.
Missionaries have organizations to protect them. They plan carefully. They take enough money for food, shelter, maybe even a car. They usually have a return ticket home. They put their children in the best schools. They have nice quarters and good food. They start churches. Miraculously whiskey changes to milk toast. Many people say this is good.
Events like The Bible’s sometimes occur in missions. Usually they don’t. People often think the missionaries’ lives are like the heroes from the Bible. Usually they aren’t. People in the Bible were forced into their situations. They got the blood and fire, but they didn’t choose it.
Missionaries aren’t forced. They choose to go, but they don’t choose blood and fire. They choose milk toast. They want a warm feeling. They choose comfort over discomfort. They want calm and order. Why shouldn’t they? They are inclined to call their situation blood and fire, however. That is the problem.
They weren’t struck blind on Damascus Road. They’ve never had anyone killed. They’re not crossing a wilderness. They know where their next meal is coming from. No one is chasing them. They take a chance on offending heathens. They might get sent home. Usually that is the extent of their risk.