20 Years Away

Have you ever noticed how new Christians or missionaries who've been away from mainstream organized religion for a while always seem to have a better spirit about them? How they seem to have a closer, more real relationship with God?
A missionary spoke briefly at our church last night who really struck me as one of those. And get this: he hadn't been back from the field since 1988--almost 20 years away! It seems crazy. Yet he simply radiated joy, and his love of Christ came through in every word he spoke. Why is that? I have a theory (of course.) I believe that such people are closer to God because that's where their attention is centered. Missionaries long on the field are surrounded by the lost and new converts. New believers haven't been much around their new Christian family. Because of this, Christ is still the focal point of their Christian life, as He should be. But as we are more around other 'mature' Christians, they, not Jesus, take over our attention. It's so easy to get distracted by other Christians, their faults, their problems, their short-comings. We have to regularly realign our lives to be Christ-centered.