Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

commitment

Seeking the Kingdom First

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For those familiar with Scripture, you are more than likely aware of the command to “Seek first the Kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33). This is pretty clear and straightforward. If you are a list oriented person like me, you may be wondering what numbers two, three and four might be. We’re good with seeking the Kingdom first, but what are we to seek next? In truth there is no next. There are two reasons why this is a list of one, and why one is all that we need.

First, we are never able to check off the first (and only) item on the list. We never fully accomplish seeking the Kingdom of God first. Seeking the Kingdom of God is a moment by moment endeavor. We may successfully seek the Kingdom first in one moment, but in the next we are back to our own selfish pursuits. Since we are no longer seeking the Kingdom first, we must return to number one on our list. In fact the very moment we cross off “Seek God’s Kingdom” from our list, we immediately nullify its completion. At that moment we have become self-serving and are no longer seeking the Kingdom first. Seeking first the Kingdom of God is a lifelong activity. We must consciously choose to seek His Kingdom every moment we live. Since He never told us to stop seeking, and since He never rescinded that command, we must continue on with the last instruction we received. We must continue to seek Him. It can be a daunting challenge to constantly seek His kingdom first; daunting, but not impossible. God is with us at every moment. He is with you right now. We often forget that His Spirit is alive and at work within us. If you are a sincere follower of Christ, the Spirit of God is part of your life at all times. He gives us the ability to consult with Him at any moment, for as long as we need. Our job is simply to remind ourselves that He is with us; we must master the discipline of becoming intimately and consciously aware of His constant presence in our lives.

The second reason we have a list of one is that this one item encompasses all that we are to do in service to Jesus. Seeking His kingdom first means we will see Jesus in everyone. We will see Him as the hungry child orphaned by the plague of AIDS, and we will feed Him. We will see him in the hollow eyes of the crippled homeless man, and we will shelter him. We will see Him sick and in agony, and we will care for his needs. If we seek first God’s Kingdom, we will behave like citizens of that Kingdom. We will love God with all of our heart, all of our soul, and all of our minds. We will love our neighbors more than we love ourselves. We will seek to do the things that Jesus did and we will carry on the mission He left for us to do. If we seek first His kingdom, we will live lives that look like Jesus. We will know what it means to walk as Jesus walked, and to love as Jesus loved.

Seeking the Kingdom is not simply the first thing we are to do as followers of Christ; it is the only thing we are to do. If we will follow this single command, we will do all that Jesus told us to do. Begin recognizing that God is with you at all times. Seek Him out in every situation; get in the habit of engaging in non-stop conversation with our King. As we shift our focus, moment by moment, onto His Kingdom and His plans, we will find that burdens and sins begin to melt away. There is no room for sin in a life that is wholly devoted to God. There is no burden so heavy that it is not diminished in the presence of God. Seek first the Kingdom of God, and seek nothing else. In seeking Him first we will find His peace, His patience and His love. Seek Him first, and seek Him only; then you will be fully and truly whole.

Deconstruction

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We all have areas and activities in our lives that we try and keep off limits to God. We can easily give up 95% of our lives to the Lord, but that last 5% can be a little tricky and full of difficulty. For too long we’ve allowed these areas of disobedience to diminish our effectiveness for God. As long as these “idols” (for that is truly what they are) remain in our lives, we can never achieve all that God has in mind for us to do. In my experience and observation, these sacred cows usually come in two flavors: entertainment and money. What are your sacred cows?

For many, they are good with altering their lifestyle a bit, as long as they can continue to spend their money however they wish. They’ll give to a charity here and there, and even some to their local church. But for the most part, “their” money is theirs to do with as they please. Some will go a step further and give the 10% tithe to their church, but that’s absolutely it; the other 90% is theirs.

Others don’t wish to give up their choices of entertainment. They have no problem giving money to God, but please don’t ask them to lay down the golf clubs or video game controller. I’ve been told that this is what they do to unwind, and if they stopped doing these things, they’d be much less happy and therefore a less effective witness for Jesus.

Let’s do a little deconstruction of the above idols. When we do not surrender “our” money to God, we essentially are asserting that we do not trust Him to be able to provide for our needs. After all, why else would we be afraid to hand control of this area over to Him? When we refuse to surrender our entertainment choices to Him, we are letting Him know that peace and happiness are of our own creation, not His.

This is not meant to be an indictment against golf or video games; they are just two easy examples of current entertainment trends. The issue comes in when we refuse to surrender these items to God. When we spend more time entertaining ourselves than we spend doing Kingdom work, there is a serious problem. When we spend more money on ourselves than on others, we are living a life that is contrary to the one Christ told us to live.

Why are we afraid to give the money we have been entrusted with to care for the poor and the needy? Do we really believe that God will allow us to starve because we gave all our money to the hungry? Even if we were to end up starving, what a way to go! We might die without food in our bellies but we’d have the love of Jesus on our lips. I’ll choose the latter any day. Why are we so certain that we cannot find peace, love, and utter joy in the arms of Jesus? Why do we believe we must seek our happiness in forms of entertainment that draw us away from being the hands and feet of Jesus?

What are your sacred cows, the areas of your life that you are hesitant to hand over to Jesus? Do you trust Him to care for your needs, both financial and emotional? Do you desire to live your life fully for Him? Take some time to determine the mental vices that prevent you from giving 100% of your life to Jesus. Take the time to ferret out the deep seeded reasons behind your hesitance to release everything to Him. At the root, you will find the lies of Satan. Don’t let him steal the joy and sense of fulfillment from your life for the sake of his lies. See your sacred cows for what they are – pale and inadequate substitutes for the love of Christ. Take some time to deconstruct your objections and allow Jesus to build a new mind within you. Then you will find the true peace that comes only from God.

Are You Serving or Surviving?

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Somewhere along the way, Christianity took a sharp turn from where it began. For most of us today, particularly in the West, we’ve forged a theology of safety. Churches are looked upon as a place of refuge from the outside world. We pray for safety for ourselves and our families. We pray for safety before heading out on the road. We choose safe neighborhoods to live in, and many churches choose safe neighborhoods in which to minister. It’s easier to write a check or send a few volunteers to the unsafe areas, while the church at large is content to remain in the relative safety of suburbia. As we have grown accustomed to safety, we have drifted closer to obscurity.

When I read the Bible, particularly of the early church in the New Testament, I see anything but safety. I see people being stoned, beheaded, imprisoned and deserted. When I look at the life of Jesus I see a man who had no home and no earthly wealth; I see a man who was hated and pursued by the leaders of His nation. I see the violence of His trial and the crucifixion. I see anything but safety. To the contrary, what I see is that the closer you get to Jesus the more danger you will find for yourself.

I don’t know when it was that we began to lose sight of the dangers of following Christ. Certainly those in Countries outside of the West do not subscribe to our theology. They risk their very lives to gather in secret just to talk about Jesus. Torture is very real to these people, not just some horrific act they read about in history books. Yet these same people consider the privilege and joy of knowing Jesus to be worth risking the certain torment they will face to do so.

We have so isolated ourselves for the sake of safety that we have lost sight of our purpose. We have so consumed ourselves with protecting our lives and those of our family that we have turned from the mission of Christ. To be in the will of God, in step with the things He called us to do, is to be in grave danger; its okay, we’re in good company. Again, read of the trials faced by early believers in the New Testament. They too faced persecution, torture and death. We should seek to have it no other way. If we are afraid to deal with danger, how will we ever take the message of Jesus any further than the tree lined streets of our planned communities? How then will we serve? To serve is to put ourselves in uncomfortable and uncertain situations. To serve is to love regardless of consequence.

Of what are we afraid? Are we afraid of physical pain? Jesus endured it for us. Are we afraid of losing our loved ones? Jesus survived it. Are we afraid of death? Jesus conquered it. He has gone there before us; He is there for us now. We have nothing to fear because in the very worst case scenario, we will join Him forever. Death holds no power and no sting. So I ask again, of what are we afraid?

Are you living to survive or to serve? Have you isolated yourself from the world outside in the name of safety but at the cost of Christ’s message? If so, it’s time to reengage with society. It’s time to emerge from the walled fortresses of our churches and communities and take the good news of Jesus to those who so desperately need it. We have the power of Christ within us, so reach out with His courage and His strength. Never lose sight of the fact that we are not called to safety, but rather to serve.

Doing Our Part to Eliminate Poverty

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As followers of Jesus, we should be well aware of our call to help the poor. The poor were a central focus of the ministry of Jesus when He walked the earth. They are to be a central focus of His continuing mission through all who follow Him. Is each of us individually doing enough to help them? Are we, as a church, doing all that we can to help alleviate the suffering of those gripped by the throes of poverty? The tithe in the Old Testament was the practice of giving the first 10% of your blessings (money, possessions, and time) back to God. Most Christian churches continue to preach the concept of the tithe today and encourage the attendee’s to give 10% of their income back to God (usually with a strong emphasis on giving it to their local church; I’m yet to find the Scripture to back up that particular teaching).

How is the body of Christ doing at implementing the giving of the tithe? Here are some shocking statistics taken from Richard Stearns’ book, “The Hole in Our Gospel” (the book is well footnoted, so I’ve given page numbers if you are interested in the original source of these statistics). The income of churchgoers in America is $5.2 trillion (p. 216). I think you’d agree that is a staggering number. If American Christians would simply give 1% of their income to alleviate poverty in the world, we could lift the poorest one billion men, women and children in the world out of their extreme poverty (p. 216). Since poverty is obviously not being eliminated, how much are we then actually giving? American church-goers are in fact giving 2.58% of their income to the church (p.217); that’s the somewhat good news. The bad news is that only 2% of that 2.58% is actually given to overseas ministries of any kind by the American church. Not all of these ministries that do receive the funds are dedicated to alleviating poverty. That means that less than 2% of the 2.58% of money American Christians give to the church goes toward eliminating poverty around the world. That breaks down to roughly five ten thousandth of our income (p.217). Expressed in terms of a decimal, the shocking and heartbreaking number looks like this: 0.0005; that’s how much of the income of American Christians goes to the work of ending poverty in our world. To put it in everyday terms, for every $20 dollars an American churchgoer earns, we give one penny to the cause of eliminating poverty. Christ commanded us to care for the poor, so where is our commitment? Where is the heart of the church? We can proclaim our concern and burden for the poor all we want; the proof is in our actions, and the numbers contradict our empty words.

If the American church would indeed give 10% of their income to the cause of the poor, we could give $168 billion each year (p.218). That number is greater than the amount of money spent by every nation in the world combined for poverty related services. Imagine, we as the American church, could give more than the rest of the world combined! We could quickly eliminate poverty in our world if we would simply follow the commands of Jesus. If we would care for the poor, if we would allow our hearts to be broken by the things that break God’s heart, if we were to truly be the hands and feet (and wallets) of Jesus, we could end poverty and do so in our generation. I ask again, where is our commitment, and where is the American church? Are we so brash as to assume we will not have to account for our lack of action, our apathy and our selfishness? This is our time, this is our calling; it is time for action.

What will you do to eliminate poverty in our world? What will you give? Look at where you spend your money; what could you give up and instead give to the poor? If we spend more on ourselves than we do on the poor, the naked, the widows and orphans of our world, then we are not living the life we are called to live. This is a black and white issue. The question requires a yes or no answer, with no elaboration. So my question to you, to myself and to the church in America is this: Are you doing all you can to eliminate poverty in our world? If your answer to the question is ‘no’, then ask yourself, “Why?” What can we change, what must we do differently? The world is dying around us and the call is clear. Be the hands and feet of Jesus; be a true and devoted follower of Christ. It is up to us to end poverty. It is within our reach, we can get it done; and we must.

How Are You Spending Your Time?

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Where is your life leading? Are you pursuing things that further the kingdom of God or are you pursuing things that bring pleasure to your own life? The Western world is filled with marketing that caters to our desires for pleasure and entertainment. We are regularly bombarded by images, music and slogans that have absolutely no kingdom value. Remember, we are supposed to be bringing the Kingdom of God down to this earth. We are supposed to be preparing our world to house God’s kingdom. Are the things we are pursuing and allowing to influence our lives moving us toward or away from that goal?

So much competes for our attention on a daily basis. What matters is what you allow to actually capture your attention. Jesus was pretty clear about where our attention should be focused; we should be continually focused on the poor, the hurting, the hungry, the thirsty, the homeless, the widow, the single moms and the orphans. How does this list compare with what has your attention today? Every time we take our eyes off of the mission of Jesus, we are turning against that very same mission. How will we explain ourselves when we stand and face Jesus? How will we account for our time? We have such a limited number of years here on earth that we cannot afford to waste a minute of it. Unfortunately, most of us waste the vast majority of our time in pursuit of things that have no relevance to the Kingdom. It is vital we understand that we are responsible for how we spend every moment of our lives.

I am not advocating that we should never do anything for simple fun or entertainment, but we must make certain that these activities do not dominate our lives. Whenever you plan your day, make certain to include kingdom building tasks and activities. Before engaging in anything, do a quick mental check and ask yourself if this action will advance the kingdom of God in any way. Will it negatively affect the advancement of the kingdom? We are called to live a different life from those who do not follow Christ. The road we travel is narrow, and we cannot carry much baggage. We must live and walk simply. Most of all, we must be careful to not fall behind or stumble to the side. Let those around you pursue the pleasures of this world. We have a higher call on our lives, an example we must set.

Perhaps you feel as if you will be missing out on things if you do not take advantage of what the world has to offer. Think about that for a minute; you are afraid that by following Jesus, the one to whom you have sworn allegiance, the one you claim to love above all else, that you might miss something better. Know this: there is nothing so satisfying as walking as Jesus walked, loving like He loved, and serving as He served. You will not miss a thing. To believe otherwise is to believe the lies of the enemy and to buy into the messages being put forth by the media. Who is it that you trust to tell you the truth – Jesus or Madison Avenue?

Try an entertainment fast. Refrain from some form of entertainment media for thirty days; don’t watch television, don’t eat out, don’t play video games, don’t turn on the radio, etc. Whatever it is that might be a sacrifice to you, try giving it up for 30 days. Do it for Jesus, commit the time to Him. You’ll be amazed how much time you have on your hands and how much more you are able to accomplish.

Are you living for the kingdom or yourself? Will you be ashamed to give an account of how you spent your time on earth? Are you working towards making the kingdom of God a reality on this earth? If not, why not? Where are your loyalties? Is He truly your Lord? If He is, you will follow Him regardless of the consequence. Check your motives and priorities, and change what you must. Embrace the deep joy of following Christ and giving Him all that you have.