Radical Faith (#4)

Acts 2:41-45

Dr. Helen Roseveare was a medical missionary from England who served for nearly 20 years in the former Belgian Congo (1953 to 1973). In 1964 she was taken prisoner for five months by rebel forces that cruelly abused her for a time. After her release, she went back to England, but later returned to the Congo in 1966. During those later years of her ministry, she assisted in the rebuilding of the nation by helping to establish a new medical school and hospital (the previous hospitals she built were destroyed) where she served until 1973.

Dr. Roseveare writes in her book, Living Faith, about the power of a little girl's prayer that is so moving that I wanted to share it with you.

She writes, “One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in spite of all we could do she died, leaving us with a tiny premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter. We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive, as we had no incubator (we had no electricity to run an incubator) and no special feeding facilities.

“Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts. One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool the baby would be wrapped in. Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst. Rubber perishes easily in tropical climates. ‘And it is our last hot water bottle!’ she exclaimed.

“As in the West it is no good crying over spilled milk, so in Central Africa it might be considered no good crying over burst water bottles. They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest pathways.

"’All right,’ I said, ‘Put the baby as near the fire as you safely can; sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts. Your job is to keep the baby warm.’”

She continues, “The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with any of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle. The baby could so easily die if it got chills. I also told them of the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died.

“During the prayer time, one ten-year-old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of our African children. ‘Please, God,’ she prayed, ‘send us a water bottle. It’ll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby’ll be dead, so please send it this afternoon.’

While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added by way of corollary, ‘And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she’ll know You really love her?’

“As often with children’s prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say, ‘Amen’? I just did not believe that God could do this. Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything. The Bible says so. But there are limits, aren’t there? The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from the homeland. I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever, received a parcel from home; anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator!

“Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses’ training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door. By the time I reached home, the car had gone, but there, on the veranda, was a large twenty-two pound parcel. I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage children. Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly. Excitement was mounting. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box.

“From the top, I lifted out brightly colored, knitted jerseys; eyes sparkled as I pulled them out. Then there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored. Then came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas --- that would make a nice batch of buns for the weekend. Then, as I put my hand in again, I felt the ..... could it really be? I grasped it and pulled it out --- yes, a brand-new, rubber hot water bottle! I cried. I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could.

“Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, ‘If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly, too!’ Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully dressed dolly. Her eyes shone! She had never doubted.

“Looking up at me, she asked: ‘Can I go over with you, Mummy, and give this dolly to that little girl, so she’ll know that Jesus really loves her?’

“That parcel had been on the way for five whole months. Packed up by my former Sunday school class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God’s prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator. And one of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child --- five months before --- in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year old to bring it ‘that afternoon.’" (Living Faith, CBD Ebook)

Can God still answer prayer as dramatically as the prayer of that little ten-year-old girl? Absolutely, if we only prayed!

The problem in American Christianity is that the concept of prayer clashes with our independence and individualism. Prayer is too often the last resort rather than the first response. We think we can handle life on our own without anyone’s help...until we hit a real crisis. Consequently, too many of us never cry out to God until we have no other options left.

The truth is, If we’re going to change our world, we have to develop a radical dependence on God, characterized by a committed communion with Him in prayer. Prayerlessness is really the ultimate declaration of our independent and individualistic attitudes... “I can do this on my own.”

I was watching my grandson learn how to jump rope the other day. He had the right motion down, but the rope was too long for his little arms. Consequently, he couldn’t pull all of the excess rope beneath his feet before his feet hit the ground again. Every time he tried to jump the rope he kept getting tangled up in the excess until he became totally frustrated. When his mother suggested that he allow her to shorten the rope, he responded, “I can do it.” For several minutes he fumbled with the rope, trying to figure a way to shorten its length until finally, with a tone of total abandon, he said, “Here mommy...you do it.”

It’s that type of independent spirit that cripples our Christian lives so that we have little or no eternal impact on our families and communities.

Stop and think of what the early New testament church did not have and what they did have. They did not have their own copy of the Old Testament scriptures. Neither were the New Testament documents yet complete. What they had was the testimony of the death and resurrection of Christ as the heart of their theology and the privilege of communing with God in prayer. And yet, these early Christians turned the world upside down (cf. Acts 17:6).

What made this possible was that they “continued steadfastly” (Acts 2:42) in prayer. This phrase translates one Greek word that normally means “to occupy oneself diligently with something,” “to pay persistent attention to,” “to hold fast to something,” or “continually to be in” (it is used in the last sense in 2:46). Luke uses the same verb to describe the devotion of the 120 to prayer (1:14) and the resolve of the apostles to occupy themselves with prayer and the ministry of the word (6:4). The periphrastic construction in 2:42...stresses the ongoing nature of this activity. One scholar translates it as “constant in their attention.”

Maybe if the church today (individual Christians are the church) were less concerned with pragmatism, programming, publicity, and posturing and spent more time praying...we’d  experience the kind of spiritual power the early church experienced.

Yesterday my son called me to tell me he was going on a “silent retreat” to Colorado with two other pastors and seven additional men from his church. He explained that during the retreat the only time the men were allowed to speak is in the evening when they share what God has been showing them during their day-long times of prayer and scripture reading. It’s a five day experience where these men will attempt to shut out all the noise of the world around them to hear the voice of God.

While the early church didn’t necessarily have days of silence for communing with the Lord, they were committed to hearing God’s voice and knowing His will.

What you find when you read the book of Acts and the Epistles is that they are filled with examples and encouragement about communing with God in prayer. But, there has to be intentionality to our praying, if we are going to find enough silence to hear His voice. We have to get moments away from the rush of our busy lives to get alone with God.

I think it’s interesting that churches in South Korea (where revival is happening) are filled with Christians praying together on weekday mornings or all night before Sunday worship. Just try calling people together in American churches for an extended time of prayer and see how many show up. We WANT God...but only when WE want God!

Let’s stop looking at prayer as our means of reciting a “grocery list” of things we want Him to do for us. Obviously, we are encouraged to bring our requests/needs to Him, but prayer should be first and foremost about connecting with God. It’s about feeling His presence, being assured of His love, and knowing His heart. It’s not just about getting something from God. It’s about getting to know God! It’s not intended to be a one-way conversation where we do all the talking and He does all the listening. It’s about opening up our hearts to Him so that He can speak to us.

The kind of prayer that’s found in the early church really begins in the heart of the Father. They sought out what was being done in heaven and prayed for that on earth (i.e., The Lord’s Prayer). In other words, they got in agreement with Him. If that were more often people’s attitude in prayer today, then we’d have fewer of them disillusioned by their presumptions and false expectations in prayer. If we ask “according to His will” (1 John 5:14-15), we WILL have what we ask.

Let me say it again, if we’re going to change our world, we have to develop a radical dependence on God, characterized by a committed communion with Him in prayer. Just look at the priority the early church placed on prayer (a radical dependence on Him):

• Acts 1:14 – After Jesus’ ascension, the apostles’ first activity was gathering to pray until Pentecost.
• Acts 2:42 – Prayer continued to be one of the primary activities at church gatherings after Pentecost.
• Acts 3:1 – The Jewish believers continued to go to the temple to pray together. (cf. Acts 22:17)
• Acts 4:23-31 – The church gathers to pray in response to persecution.
• Acts 6:4 – The apostles found themselves distracted by feeding the poor; delegated responsibility and committed to return to praying together as one of their primary responsibilities.
• Acts 9:9-11 – While Paul was waiting for further direction from the Lord, he was praying.
• Acts 9:40 – Peter prayed and God miraculously raised up Dorcas/Tabitha from the dead.
• Acts 10:9 – Peter was praying when God showed him his desire for the Gentiles.
• Acts 12:5, 12 – The church united in a home to offer collective “constant prayer” for Peter, even through the night.
• Acts 13:1-3 – The church at Antioch gathered to worship, pray and fast in sending out missionaries.
• Acts 14:23 – Leaders were not appointed without prayer and fasting. (cf. Acts 1:24)
• Acts 16:13, 16 – There was a common gathering place for prayer at a river near Philippi.
• Acts 16:25-34 – Paul and Silas pray in agreement even into the night after being severely beaten.
• Acts 20:36, 21:5 – Paul gathers with the church leaders from Ephesus/Tyre to pray.
• Acts 22:17 – Paul was praying in the Temple when God gave him specific directions for his life.
• Acts 27:35 – Paul gave thanks on the food before 276 people on the ship with him.

In his book, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, Jim Cymbala says there are more than thirty references to prayer in the book of Acts alone. (Jim Cymbala, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire: What Happens When God's Spirit Invades the Heart of His People [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997], 71-72.)

But, prayer doesn’t stop in the book of Acts. It’s throughout the New Testament...and the entire Bible.

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer... (Romans 12:9-12)

Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving... (Colossians 4:2)

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Here are some ideas I’ve learned from others to help spark our prayer lives.

• Establish some prayer “triggers.” Associate prayer with specific events and then pray when those events occur.
• Develop a “Focus on the Family” prayer strategy. Each week, focus on a different family in your Lifegroup. Find out what prayer needs they have, and pray for them.
• Follow the ACTS paradigm. Build a prayer list based on Adoration (praising God for who He is), Confession (admitting sin), Thanksgiving (expressing gratitude) and Supplication (praying for others). The intentionality of this strategy will help you stay focused during prayer.
• Do “drive by” praying. Use your time in the car to pray. Watch for church buildings, and pray for the pastors of those congregations. Intercede for children and teachers as you drive past a school. If you pass a “For Sale” sign in your neighborhood, pray for that family. Pray for your coworkers as you park each morning.
• Set some “prayer power points.” This is a set time each day when you stop to pray. Set reminders on your electronic devices and pray when they alert you.
• Pray as you read the news. Intercede for countries in war. Pray for families affected by crime or natural disasters. Ask God to guide government leaders. Pray for missionaries in each country in the news.
• Send an email prayer to someone each day/week. Take ten minutes, pray for someone else, and send a written prayer to that person.

Dr. Helen Roseveare writes poignantly about another answered prayer in her book, Living Faith. “Generally in (the) Congo we did not know who was praying for us nor where. We just experienced sudden peace of heart in the midst of fear, deliverance in the midst of danger, healing in the midst of sickness, and we knew that God was answering someone’s prayer. On a few occasions we learned more details, perhaps to encourage our faith in prayer and to remind us that this is the way that God chooses to act.

“The night of October 28-29, in the Congo uprising of 1964...At the height of the awful horror of that night...I was taken, beaten, and brutally humiliated by the guerrilla soldiers, I was briefly tempted to cry out, ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ Weeks later we were rescued. Months later, after I had spoken at a meeting near Manchester in northwest England, a lady came up to me.

“‘I don’t want to distress you, doctor,’ she started hesitantly, ‘but do you remember the night of October 28-29?’ I certainly did. ‘Were you in special need that night?’ Most undoubtedly I was.

“She continued, ‘I went to bed early that night with a headache. I woke about eleven thirty’ --one thirty where I was, as the rebels set about to beat me up--‘and your name was in my mind.’ She did not know me. So far as I know we had never met before, but I was a name on her prayer list. ‘I got out of bed and down on my knees to pray for you, I went to get back in bed but had no peace, so I woke my husband, and we both got on our knees and prayed for you. Again we went to get into bed but...we had no peace. We stayed on our knees praying for you till one thirty’ --three thirty where I was. ‘We felt the burden lift, and were enabled to return to sleep.’

Dr. Roseveare continues, “God had met with me in the early hours of that morning. There had been no special vision or blinding light, just a sudden overwhelming consciousness of His presence and power, a great certainty of belonging to Him and of His concern for me and of His ability to undertake for me, no matter what the circumstances. God stirred in me a remembrance of how His Son went to the cross for me with no resistance, and a strange calm pervaded my heart. I began to sense that I was being privileged to share in some little way in the edge of the fellowship of His sufferings. I am not saying that if those two had not prayed for me, God would not have met with me, but I am saying that that is how He chooses to act.”

Radical Faith (#3)

Luke 12:13-21

In 2010 Senator Tom Coburn put together a report of some of the ways that government is wasting taxpayers’ money. Following is a sampling from his report:

1. A total of $3 million [was] granted to researchers at the University of California at Irvine so that they [could] play video games such as World of Warcraft.  The goal of this "video game research" is reportedly to study how "emerging forms of communication, including multiplayer computer games and online virtual worlds such as World of Warcraft and Second Life can help organizations collaborate and compete more effectively in the global marketplace."
2. The U.S. Department of Agriculture gave the University of New Hampshire $700,000...to study methane gas emissions from dairy cows.
3. $615,000 was given to the University of California at Santa Cruz to digitize photos, T-shirts and concert tickets belonging to the Grateful Dead.
4. Approximately $1 million of U.S. taxpayer money was used to create poetry for the Little Rock, New Orleans, Milwaukee and Chicago zoos.  The goal of the "poetry" [was] to help raise awareness on environmental issues.
5. $1.8 million of U.S. taxpayer dollars went for a "museum of neon signs" in Las Vegas, Nevada.
6. $35 million was reportedly paid out by Medicare to 118 "phantom" medical clinics that never even existed.  Apparently these "phantom" medical clinics were established by a network of criminal gangs as a way to defraud the U.S. government.
7. In California, one park received $440,000 in federal funds to perform "green energy upgrades" on a building that has not been used for a decade.

When you read about these kinds of wasteful spending, is it any wonder our economy is in trouble and millions of people are still out of work? Most American’s don’t trust their own government to spend taxpayers’ money in a proper fashion. For decades our government has failed at being good stewards of the resources exacted from its citizens.

If we were to live beyond our means as our government does, we’d be bankrupt in a matter of weeks or months. Good stewardship of our resources is an important part of our lives and if we fail...there will be a heavy price to pay (pardon the pun).

Recent statistics show that some of the best stewards of their resources are Christians that tithe their money to God.

In every category, people that give to God are better off than those who don’t. But, notice carefully the last statement on the slide. “Only 12% of born-again Christians tithe.”

Materialism and covetousness have gripped many Christians and void any possibility of them being good stewards of their resources. Advertisers have learned how to make us “need” the products they’re offering. Millions of people are impulse buyers that justify their habit by saying, “Look how much I saved. It was all on sale.” Instead of denying ourselves anything, we indulge ourselves almost everything.

I think David Platt rightly observes, “We [have] settled for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves.”

If we’re going to change the world, we are going to have to get radical with our resources and how we steward them so that God’s priorities are reflected in our finances.

Jesus gave a parable that gives insight about how He thinks in the area of stewardship. Consider it with me...READ SCRIPTURE TEXT (Luke 12:13-21)

What God is not against in this text:

• He is not against people being rich. (“a certain rich man”)

The scripture often celebrates those who have resources and use them for God’s purposes. For instance, think of the well-to-do centurion who built a synagogue for God’s people—the hospitable home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus where Jesus found respite—the well-connected women who supported Jesus’ ministry.

• He is not against people being successful. (“The ground...yielded plentifully”)
• He is not against people saving for the future.
• He is not against people reasonably enjoying their success. (His barns were already full--cf. 1 Timothy 6:17)

In this parable, Jesus addresses “covetousness” (12:15) and the idea that life is about materialism...to the neglect of eternal and spiritual things. It’s worth asking the questions, “How much is enough and how much is too much?”

The man in this parable made several key mistakes, causing him to mishandle his miracle supply.

1. He failed to thank God for his supply.

“...he thought within himself...” (12:17)

2. He never asked God how to use the surplus.

“I will do this...” (12:18)

3. He wrongly thought his resources belonged to him.

“my crops,” “my barns,” “my goods,” “my soul” (12:17-19)

4. He didn’t distinguish between wants and needs.

“...take your ease...” (12:19)

He thought he needed ease...

Mark Twain once defined “civilization” as “a limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities.” This man demonstrates pure hedonism!

5. He never noticed the struggle of others around him.

He says, “I have no room to store my crops” (12:17), but he did have room. All around him were people that needed the grain. They could have been the storehouse he utilized.

6. He believed that life was primarily about his own comfort and ease.

“...take your ease; eat, drink and be merry...” (12:19)

“This was a common expression in both Jewish and Greek literature, indicating a carefree, sensuous lifestyle.  It was characteristic of the Greek Epicurean lifestyle, which sought comfort and pleasure above everything else in life.” (Bible Backgrounds Commentary)

I take you back to David Platt’s statement: “We [have] settled for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves.”

7. He valued materialism more than relationships.

“...life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” (12:15)

8. He only thought of now, never eternity.

“But God said to him, ‘Fool!’ This night your soul will be required of you’...So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (12:15, 21)

What this man most exemplifies is the person who is covetous or greedy! Covetousness is defined as, “A strong desire to acquire more and more material possessions...irrespective of need.” Just how much does one really need? When is enough, enough and too much, too much? Obviously, there is subjectivity in answering those kinds of questions. But, when it’s all said and done...you’d better be sure you are “rich toward God,” rather than rich in this world’s wealth!

Read: 1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19

Closing:

A very wealthy man came to his minister and said, I’m having a problem with this tithing thing. You see I made $500,000 dollars last year. If I gave 10% then I’d have to give $50,000. I can’t do that. And the pastor took him aside and said, would you pray with me, “Dear Lord, please reduce this man’s income so that he can afford to give.”

Radical Faith (#2)

Matthew 4:18-22

What do you suppose is one of the highest values sought in churches today? The answer: leaders or leadership!

In recent years there has seemingly been a myriad of books on the subject of leadership that have been published. In my own library I have nearly an entire shelf filled with materials on this one topic...as it relates to the church.

The reason so much is written/read about this matter is that just about everybody I know needs help learning how to lead effectively. There are some gifted individuals that are natural born leaders, but most of us need help with improving our leadership skills. That’s why conferences and seminars dealing with “Leadership in the Church,” “Developing Leaders for the 21st Century,” etc., are so well attended by church leaders.

Just to give you an idea how much focus has been placed on leadership in recent years, in 1997, authors Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus reported that there are “more than 850 published definitions of leadership.” (Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus, Leaders: Strategies for Taking Charge [New York: Harper Collins, 1997], 4.) And, just imagine how many have been added in the years since.

Without question, our churches are in desperate need of leaders/leadership and training in this area is vitally important. I don’t want to demean the importance of leadership among God’s people. But, I am questioning whether we are focused on the wrong mechanism for developing/preparing the kind of leaders God desires for His church.

It’s interesting to me that leadership is not the major/core tenant of what Jesus taught His disciples. Certainly, they learned leadership from being with Jesus and they were ultimately given responsibility to lead. However, the extraordinary emphasis on developing leaders/leadership in the church seems to be less a biblical value and more a western one. What exactly did Jesus call His disciples to do? He called them to follow Him (cf. Matthew 4:19)!

Think of it this way: can you really lead spiritually in God’s church (or your home), if you are not first a fully devoted follower of Christ? Why then do we give greater emphasis to leadership and not to being His devoted follower?

I think E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O'Brien speak poignantly to this matter. They write, “For many Westerners, the term follower connotes a weakness of character, as when a person cannot resist peer pressure but ‘goes along with the crowd.’ Follower connotes a lack of creativity and ambition, portraying the average office worker as a drone dutifully churning out unimportant work under the direction of a (sometimes) talented and successful manager. By contrast, the term leader connotes a constellation of virtues. It implies that a person is efficient, creative, productive and charismatic enough to encourage others to be the same. Businesses want to hire leaders, not followers. And, perhaps ironically, so do churches. The importance of leadership among Christians is illustrated by the fact that one of the most influential magazines for church leaders in the United States is called Leadership Journal...” They conclude, “Leadership is a Western virtue; submission is a biblical virtue.” (E. Randolph Richards;Brandon J. O'Brien. Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible [Kindle Locations 2046-2053]. Kindle Edition.)

Listen to this comparison that was written by an unknown author about the differences between leaders and followers.

When leaders make a mistake, they say, “I was wrong.”

When followers make mistakes, they say, “It wasn’t my fault.”

A leader works harder than a follower and has more time;

a follower is always “too busy” to do what is necessary.

A leader goes through a problem;

a follower goes around it and never gets past it.

A leader makes and keeps commitments;

a follower makes and forgets promises.

A leader says, “I’m good, but not as good as I ought to be;”

a follower says, “I’m not as bad as a lot of other people.”

Leaders listen;

followers just wait until it’s their turn to talk.

Leaders respect those who are superior to them and tries to learn something from them;

followers resent those who are superior to them and try to find chinks in their armor.

Leaders feel responsible for more than their job;

followers say, “I only work here.”

A leader says, “There ought to be a better way to do this;”

followers say, “That’s the way it’s always been done here.”

Do you see the subtle message in this list of comparisons? It basically says that followers are inept, undisciplined, undependable, critical, forgetful, and worthless. And, maybe followers are some of these things, at times. But, so are some leaders I’ve known. Isn’t the greater problem in this comparison that the person identified as a “follower” is simply lacking in character?

When reading these kinds of comparisons, is it any wonder that people don’t want to be known as a “follower” in today’s world? Should being a “follower” really be viewed as a negative and not a positive? Actually, I’d hate to work for a man/woman that felt the way the author of this comparison apparently feels about “leaders” and “followers.” Besides, If there are no “followers,” where would the “leaders” be? The right kind of “follower” can help the right kind of “leader” develop the skills he/she needs to be better.

The other side of why some people focus on leadership (in the church) more than following is that it is more appealing to the flesh. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said in one of his last sermons. “We all want to be important, to surpass others, to achieve distinction, to lead the parade.” But it’s also that push to be the leader of the parade that sometimes produces unchecked authority, greed, pride, and even abuse. Dr. King continued, “[The] perverted use of the drum major instinct...has led to the most tragic prejudice, the most tragic expressions of man’s inhumanity to man.” And, he’s exactly right!

Even “the church” has begun to recognize that sometimes we have emphasized the wrong priorities. For instance, we now talk about leaders in the church as being “servant leaders.” And, we call Christians “Christ-followers.” But, have we just changed the terminology or has their really been a paradigm shift?

We could endlessly debate the contrast between leaders vs. followers. My basic purpose is to challenge the negative stereotyping (like the contrasts listed earlier) that is too often associated with being a “follower.” I believe “following” Jesus should be the highest calling of the Christian life! I propose that a person can’t be an effective spiritual leader until he first knows how to follow. Just because a person has the “natural ability” to lead (i.e., in business, politics, education, etc.), doesn’t necessarily mean he is qualified to lead in the church.

What you find in biblical history is that great spiritual leaders were great followers first.

• Joshua followed Moses more than forty years before he was given the responsibility of leading the children of Israel into the Promised Land.
• Elisha followed Elijah for ten years before the mantle was passed to him.
• The disciples followed Jesus for three years before they became the leaders that “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6).

As you can see, these scriptures demonstrate that our greatest need is to develop as followers (of Jesus) first. It’s out of this pool of people pursuing God that He calls leaders that can be trained for service in the church.

You’d best count the cost, though! It will take a radical faith to become a fully devoted follower of Jesus! In a world that constantly tells us life is all about “me,” being a follower of Jesus means acknowledging that it’s really all about HIM!

Jesus called His disciples from the world of business, government, finance, and other professions. When they left to pursue Christ, they were acknowledging that following Jesus trumped every other ambition or aspiration they had previously held. There could be no competing interests for their devotion or commitment to Him. Anything that diverted their affection and dedication became an idol that had to be purged from their lives (and ours, too).

Please, notice that Jesus called followers, not leaders.

Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him. (Matthew 4:19-22)

If He had followed the path of today’s church, He would have called His disciples from among the religious bodies of the day that held power over the spiritual affairs of Israel. But, Jesus did no such thing. At one point He even raised the bar of what it means to be His follower and many left following Him (cf. John 6:66). He’s not looking for casual commitment that only wants to consume what He offers. He’s looking for people that are fully devoted to Him no matter the cost they must pay.

There are some things you should know when it comes to following Jesus all out...

• You have to leave some things behind (family, friends, business, etc.).
• You have to set some things aside (your ambitions, desires, goals, etc.).
• You have to give some things up (the “right” to control your life).
• You have to lay some things down (to follow to your death).
• You have to do what you are told to do (obedience is the essence of following).
• You have to care for others first (how to serve others instead of yourself).
• You have to lift up your voice (to give HIM the praise and glory).

In a word...you have to “SURRENDER!” Surrender is defined...A: “To yield to the power, control, or possession of another upon compulsion or demand.” B: “To give up completely or agree to forgo especially in favor of another.” It’s a term of the battlefield when one army gives up all rights to their conquerors. They lay down their arms and let the winners take control.

That’s what God is calling us to do: “surrender” to Him! And, it’s the only way to discover God’s destiny for your life. Apart from a surrendered life of following Jesus Christ, you will miss out on the eternal impact God wants your life to have. You may amass a lot of temporal trophies from your earthly exploits, but you’ll have nothing to show when you meet God. If you take the short view to life you can go on in a self-determined fashion and live for this world. But, if you take the long view of life and keep eternity in mind, you’ll let go and let God take control of your life. Then your life will have meaning far beyond this world and one that changes the destiny of others in the process.

We sometimes sing the words of an old hymn, but I wonder how many of us really pay attention to what it says! It takes a radical faith to surrender ALL to Jesus, but the journey is unlike anything you have ever experienced with benefits that are out of this world. By the way, passionately following Jesus will change your marriage, impact your children and change the world we live in right now!

All To Jesus I Surrender

All to Jesus I surrender; all to him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust him, in his presence daily live.

All to Jesus I surrender; humbly at his feet I bow,

worldly pleasures all forsaken; take me, Jesus, take me now.

All to Jesus I surrender; make me, Savior, wholly thine;
fill me with thy love and power; truly know that thou art mine.

All to Jesus I surrender; now I feel the sacred flame.
O the joy of full salvation! Glory, glory, to his name!

Refrain:
I surrender all, I surrender all,

all to thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

Closing:

I recently read the story of a woman that was Vice President of a Christian university whose next move up the ladder of success was to become a university president. After ten years in her present position earning the admiration and respect of the faculty and students, she was recruited to apply for the president’s position at another college. Most people in her situation would have jumped at the opportunity to fulfill what had been a longtime ambition for her. Instead, she told her friend that before accepting the offer she needed to see “where God was leading...” As it turned out, she came to believe that God’s will was for her to stay at her present university position. This woman had developed a walk with God such that she couldn’t be enticed away simply because another, more prominent position came open. She had cultivated a posture of following God.

That’s how following God gets worked out in everyday life. And, it’s not until we are fully devoted to Him that we find ourselves on mission with God (“I’ll make you fishers of men”).

A statement that is frequently attributed to Dwight L. Moody (though it originated with someone else) is his famous quote: “The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to him. By God’s help, I aim to be that man.” Will you be that man or woman today?