Even If i Walk Alone

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

Luke

Come and Die

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It’s the greatest invitation ever given, a greatly compelling recruitment speech: Jesus said to come and die. He told everyone who followed Him that if they continued to do so they would face persecution. To sweeten the pot He informed them that they would become homeless, rejected by their families and in the end be put to death. Can’t you just see the people rushing to sign up? But this is the call of Christ, to come and die.

Are you willing to give up everything you own for the cross of Christ? Are you ready to die for the sake of pursuing His mission? Would you pursue Him without promise of any reward for yourself? A life spent following Christ is a life full of risk and adventure. We risk what we perceive to be safety in this world for the sake of knowing Him and continuing the mission to which He calls us. In a “me first” generation, sacrificing our own lives for the sake of another is a foreign concept. If we are going to lay everything on the line, we expect a certain return on our investment. But that’s not how the Kingdom of God works. To be a true follower of Jesus, we must give up everything we are solely for the chance to know Him better. Christ is the reward, and to receive it we ultimately must die.

Most of us in the United States have grown up being taught to pursue the American dream. We are expected to acquire material goods to prove our success. Possessions are tangible items that make it a simple matter to measure our progress against that of another. In the race to achieve higher and higher goals while gaining more and more goods, we ignore the very simple message of the Gospel. Jesus said that to find Him, we must lose ourselves. If we are to gain life with Him, we must first die to ourselves (Luke 17:33). Anyone who is living for themselves can never truly love those around them. If we don’t love others, we can’t love Christ (1 John 4:20).

In the Western world, Christianity has come to be synonymous with prosperity and success. For many years, this bad theology has been propounded to the masses and is now accepted as gospel in many circles. The teaching is false and not found in the Bible. The Israelites were told if they would follow all of God’s statutes then they would prosper in their land (Deuteronomy 5:33). That’s about as close as one gets to Biblical approval of the so- called “prosperity gospel”. However, which one of us has succeeded in obeying all of God’s commands? We all have fallen short and missed the mark (Romans 3:23). This is why Jesus came to sacrifice Himself for us. Without His blood and His resurrection, we would all be hopelessly lost. With our sinful tendencies we cannot perfectly keep the law of God. It is only by the grace of Jesus that we have hope of eternal life with Him.

By coming to die, Jesus set the example for us. He did not turn away from the cross that was set before Him, but rather He embraced it knowing that through His sacrifice, many would live. As followers of Jesus, we have the same call on our lives today. Life is not about what we can acquire or how successful we might become. Rather, it is about sacrificing ourselves for the good of others. It is about setting aside our own ambitions so that everything we do might point back to God and bring glory to Him. Our lives are to be lived for a single purpose, the opportunity to reflect the love and beauty of Jesus Christ to a world in desperate need of the truth. If we will live with Jesus Christ being our only goal, then we will achieve true fulfillment; we will receive His blessing on our life and His mercy at our death. Along the way we may be asked to give everything we own away; we may face persecution and watch those we love be taken from us. Following Jesus is dangerous because we are warring with the powers of darkness. To those who choose this path, to those who persevere, there is light and there is life. If we would follow Jesus then we must embrace our death. Jesus said to come and die. Is He worth it to you?

Facing God

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As followers of Jesus, we do everything with the end in mind. Our words, acts of service and expressions of love are all done so that God might be glorified and that His Kingdom would manifest itself on the earth. There is very little we do for today, rather we are tomorrow workers and future thinkers. We work today so that tomorrow might be better. It’s an invigorating yet exhausting way to live. Many people have worked a lifetime for Christ only to die without ever seeing the fruits of their labor. But the harvest does come in; sometimes days or even years later, but their work is rewarded in a way that brings glory to God. We must never lose sight of tomorrow as we work through today.

As we gaze toward the future, it is inevitable to think about facing God at last. One day we all will die and receive that which we have worked so hard to achieve: perfect communion with Jesus Christ our Lord. When we reach that day, what will God say to us? Will it be that He will say “Come on in, you are blessed; come in and share in the Kingdom” (Matthew 25:34)? If I could only hear those words, I would fall to my knees in thankfulness and awe at His unending mercy.

At the opposite extreme, will He say to us, “Depart from me, because you are wicked and did not do what I told you to do” (Matthew 25:41-46)? I shudder at the thought. Those words have eternal consequences; we can’t get this wrong, as there are no second chances at that point. I believe there will be many Christians who hear Him pronounce this horrific judgment on them; how I pray to not be one of them. He has laid out in plain language what we must do to avoid such a pronouncement: feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, take in those with no place to go, care for the sick and minister to those in prison. It’s not simply a matter that if we do these things then we will be allowed entrance into heaven; rather it is the attitude of our heart as we profess our love for God.

You cannot love Jesus and refuse to do the things He told us to do. There are some whose circumstances do not allow them to physically participate in these activities. But you can still pray. Prayer is the most powerful and effective weapon we have; it is music to the ears of God. I imagine Heaven constantly buzzing with the prayers of believers; this is where the battle is fought and won. If you are able to physically carry out the commands of Christ, then you should do so, and not use prayer as an excuse for inaction. We all have a duty to carry out the instructions of Jesus to the best and full extent of our abilities.

David Platt said in his book, “Radical”, that he is pretty sure that when we face God He will not say, “I wish you would have kept a little more for yourself.” God is not interested in the kind of car we drive or the balance of our retirement accounts. God is not excited about the square footage of our house or how well manicured our lawn is. What God is interested in is that we are demonstrating His love to everyone in need, that we are keeping ourselves pure and undefiled by the world, that we are sharing all the blessings He has given us with others. (James 1:27; Luke 12:48)

Don’t make the mistake of living your life for the dreams of America or anywhere else on this planet. As followers of Jesus, our allegiance is to Him and Him alone. Our nationality rests only in Christ and our goals should be only those that reflect His glory to a dark and dying world. When we face God, we will have to answer for how we lived the life He entrusted to us; we will have to account for how we made use of the gifts we were given. How will God judge you? Do you love Him with all of your heart, your soul, and your mind? If you do, then you will dedicate your life to His service and in pursuit of His mission. A simple prayer followed by living out the American dream is not the life God is looking for us to live. The life He finds Holy and acceptable is this: to care for the orphans and widows, to fight for justice, to care for the poor. (James 1:27; Isaiah 58:6-7) This is the life we are called to lead, and this is the life for which we will be judged. The question we all must ask ourselves is simply this: when we face God, based on what we have done for Him, what will He say to us? May we all pursue His glory and His mission out of a devoted love for Him, and an unwavering faith in Him. If we will only do what He has told us to do, His grace will sufficiently cover us when we at last face our Creator and our God.

A Case for Minimalism

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For the past year or so, I’ve been rolling around the idea of minimalism in my head. It is attractive to me as a way of life and seems to fit well within my desire to be a true follower of Jesus. If you are unfamiliar with the term, one website defines a minimalist lifestyle as a life that “is free of complications, clutter, confusion and distraction.” Minimalists live with only what is necessary for their daily needs. There are some who take the lifestyle to the extreme of almost making a religion of it, but I am only concerned with its usefulness as it applies to living a life that is more in tune with Jesus.

Certainly anyone can see that a life that is free of confusion and distraction would be a lifestyle that would more easily lend itself to prayer and quiet times alone with the Lord. I don’t know about you, but my prayers are often distracted by the countless “mental emergencies” that pop into my head. This year I have endeavored to set aside two hours each Sunday afternoon for quiet reflection, study and prayer. My weeks are rather full, as I’m sure you can relate, so the first two weeks of quiet time with God led to about a forty-five minute exhaustion nap creeping into the beginning of my time with God. I feel like Peter who couldn’t even stay awake and diligently pray with Christ when He asked him to. Too often our attempts at extended times of prayer become frustrating because our minds are so busy that we find it difficult to concentrate on the task at hand; or like me, our lives are so busy that that the body only understands slowing down in the context of sleeping.

Surely pursuing a simpler, less complex life could do wonders for our spiritual growth. In fact I see it modeled in the life of Jesus. After embarking on His ministry, it appears that He had no permanent home of his own, or at least not one He visited very often. Perhaps He left His home and belongings behind to model the lifestyle He would require of His disciples. After all, He was a man in His twenties, so He would have surely accumulated some material possessions by this point. Since He walked everywhere He went, he apparently had no means of transportation. When he sent His disciples out, He instructed them to not even take an extra shirt, telling them that God would provide for their needs (Luke 9:3). Indeed, when he taught about living stress free, He told us not to worry about what we will eat or drink, or what we will wear (Matthew 6:31-33). Yet somehow we have reversed that teaching and now fill our pantries and closets to be certain that we will have enough for the foreseeable future. Instead of depending solely on God for our needs, we have come to depend on our paychecks. We only cry out to God to sustain us when we lose our jobs.

All of the “stuff” we accumulate can distract us from focusing on Jesus. We rely on our possessions to provide for our needs. The more we have, the more time and energy it consumes to maintain it. Cars must be washed and repaired, appliances must be cleaned and serviced, and houses must be continuously picked up and organized. Every new thing we add to our list of possessions has ramifications far beyond its purchase in the form of some sort of ongoing time and energy investment. Let me be clear by saying I am not advocating that we all sell our cars, appliances and houses; but I’m not saying we shouldn’t either. I’d honestly rather not own a home than have it become something that gets between me and God. In fact I’d rather not own anything if what I possess distracts me from my pursuit of loving and serving Him. There is probably a happy medium in between somewhere, so that is what I am seeking. I look at those Christians in other parts of this world who are devastatingly poor, yet immensely happy. They have discovered that joy is found only in Jesus, not in their “stuff”. Then I look at all the unhappy, stressed out and defeated Christians in America. We are missing something and I want to find it!

Here’s my challenge to you: take an honest look at your life and see if there are areas where you have come to rely more on your possessions than on Jesus. Begin praying for Him to sustain you each day, and be truly thankful for that provision. Don’t pray over your meals out of habit but rather concentrate on the immense blessing that has been given you. I am embarking on an interesting adventure where I have decided to get rid of five possessions each week until the end of the year. I didn’t count first to see if that is a comfortable or reasonable goal, but I want to see where it takes me and how simply I am willing to live. I want to depend on God each day for everything and nothing else. The Psalmist says that He is our provision. I want that to be true of my life; I want to live a simple life for Jesus, free from distraction and clutter. Following Jesus is simple; it is we who have made it complex. Let’s get back to basics, living a life that depends wholly on Him. Then we can truly be called followers of Jesus.

An Army of Love

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Every kingdom has an army, so I was thinking about what the army of the Kingdom of God would look like as we endeavor to bring that kingdom into reality here on earth. Certainly this army would not look like the traditional army. Jesus rebuked Peter when he lashed out with a sword to try and defend Him (John 18:10-11), so this would seem to dictate that superior firepower should not be a goal of our army. Christ taught that the meek would inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5), so the tactic of aggression appears to be out as well. Similarly, we are taught that we should not “lord over others” (Mark 10:42-45), so domination and conquest are also out. What then, does the army of the Kingdom of God look like, and how is it that they will achieve victory?

One of the clues is found in the second half of the reference in Mark we looked at above (Mark 10:42-45). Here we find Jesus teaching that if we want to win, we have to lose in the eyes of the world, in the prevailing viewpoint of our society. He teaches that we must become the servant to those around us. Instead of conquering our enemies, we are instead to serve them. This is a counterintuitive battle strategy, but it should surprise no one accustomed to living in the upside down Kingdom of Jesus Christ. The King James Version of the Bible translates 1 Peter 2:9 to say we are called to be a peculiar people, and it doesn’t get much weirder than this. The way we prepare for battle as the army of the Kingdom is to voluntarily lay down our lives in order to serve the very ones who are warring against us. How peculiar indeed.

A typical army is financed and outfitted from the support of the nation through taxation. Supporting the army is not an option, it is rather the law. By contrast, financial support for the army of God is totally voluntary. Those engaging in battle rely on the generosity of their fellow soldiers to provide the means to furnish their supplies. In this way, we are more of a brotherhood than an army, a family that looks after one another. This is a good thing, because unlike the typical soldier who can count on the support of His family, God’s warriors are more often despised by their families for their participation in the war. Jesus told us that He came to bring division not only to the earth, but also within families (Luke 12:51-53), because not all would be willing to accept His mission. Without the support of our earthly families, we must rely on our spiritual brothers and sisters to encourage us on in the fight.

The one area where the army of God is very much like a traditional army is in the arena of battle. Make no mistake, there is a very real and very deadly war being waged in the spiritual realm, and you and I are in the thick of it. People are hurt, maimed and killed as a result of the wounds inflicted in the war in which we are engaged. Satan seriously wants to destroy you and Jesus has set in His heart to redeem you. This spiritual battle is often manifested in physical ways through oppression, possession and redemption. Do not make the mistake of believing that what happens in the spiritual realm does not affect your everyday life. You are being influenced by one side or the other in every moment, and it is up to you which way you will choose.

Though we may lack traditional firepower, we possess the greatest weapons of all: faith and love. The Bible tells us that faith can move mountains (Matthew 17:20) and can extinguish every attack of the enemy (Ephesians 6:16). Love is the ultimate weapon in that it can diffuse discord, counteract hate, and turn an enemy into an ally. Jesus said that the greatest expression of love was to lay your life down for another (John 15:13). As we seek to carry out the mission of Christ, we must daily be looking for opportunities to serve others to the point of giving our lives for them. We must invest ourselves authentically into everyone we meet. As we demonstrate the love of Christ to others, we win victory after victory for Christ. Every act of kindness and servitude brings His Kingdom on earth one step closer to fruition. Together our selfless acts of love combine to amass a movement of love that cannot be stopped. This is what the army of God looks like; this is how the war will be won. Not by acts of violence or through weapons of force. God will rule the day by beating back the darkness with His unstoppable light. As we join Him in the battle we will find victory through our acts of service and mercy. We are His army, an army of love.

The Curse of Affluence

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Blessings from God are often measured in terms of material wealth. It has been so throughout most of recorded history, and it remains the prevailing thought in much of Christendom today. Whether that wealth is measured in flocks and herds or money and cars is irrelevant; possessions are seen as a harbinger of the blessings of God. Indeed an entire subculture has sprung up around this teaching, the so-called “health and wealth” theology. Subscribers to this thinking believe that the Bible actually guarantees that if you will follow Christ with all your heart you will become rich and experience an abundant life. This teaching is of course in direct contradiction to Jesus’ teaching of forsaking your earthly possessions and that the poor would be blessed, not the rich (Matthew 19:16-28; Luke 6:20; Luke 16:19-25).

What if we have it all backwards? What if instead of our possessions being a blessing they are actually a curse? The more material things we own, the more we have to lose. The greater our collection of stuff becomes, the harder we work to keep it all. Suddenly we wake up one day and realize that instead of being the lowly and humble servant of Christ we intended to be, we have become the rich young ruler who cannot let go of his possessions. Before we go further, let me be clear that I am not saying that wealth and possessions are necessarily a curse or even inherently bad; just humor the thought for a moment and open yourself up to think about this in a different way. Ultimately whether or not the goods entrusted to our care are a blessing or a curse depends on our attitude toward them and our willingness to release them for the service of Jesus.

When we are generous with our resources I believe it becomes easy to get lulled into a slumber where we dream we are not controlled by money. Meanwhile, regardless of how extravagant our giving may be, the probability is that we continue to pad our savings account and add to our retirement funds. We give much away, yet we also store away considerable sums for ourselves. But what if we stopped being concerned with saving for ourselves and instead poured all of our resources into building the Kingdom of God? What if we kept only enough money for ourselves to cover our food, shelter, clothing and transportation? Simply doing that would still place us in the top 15% of the richest people on the planet. Yet if we would so simplify our lives, how many more resources could be released to feed the hungry, care for the sick, and take the message of Jesus into places that have never heard? It is a challenging and difficult concept to ponder, and I will tell you up front that I don’t have the answer to this paradox; it remains a burden on my heart about which I continue to pray diligently.

No longer storing away for a rainy day or our own retirement comes with great risk. What if we lose it all? Who will care for our needs? But isn’t losing it all exactly where Christ said we would find true life? Didn’t He say that we must forsake everything to follow Him? When did we determine that those words did not apply to us? Perhaps we in our affluence have molded Jesus into a God of our choosing rather than choosing Jesus for the God that He is. The message of Christ has not changed; His message and mission are the same today as they were when He walked the earth. As Jim Elliot once said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain that which he cannot lose.”

We have been numbed and blinded, and now we are in the precarious position of trusting our possessions more than we trust God. Don’t believe me? Try this test: by the end of the week, withdraw all your money from the bank and cash in any retirement and investment funds you might have. Take all of that cash, drive downtown and distribute it all among the poor. Please leave a comment below and let me know how you did. Is that ludicrous? Is it irresponsible to take our earthly wealth and use it for the things Christ told us to do? The only reason we find this to be a crazy idea is that we have become comfortable in, and seek assurances from, our wealth. What we may have perceived as a blessing is now a curse and an anchor because it stands between us and God.

Again, I do not have the answer to this dilemma. I confess that I have not fully liquidated my assets and given it all to the poor. I am haunted by my own lack of faith and selfishness, and am seeking God’s answers and strength in this matter. How about you? Are you at the place where you can give absolutely everything away for His purposes? Have the perceived blessings in your own life become a curse, something that stands between you and God? I think it’s worth pondering this to determine just how tightly we hold onto our possessions, and to examine how ready we are to totally rely on God to provide for our needs. Let us boldly and prayerfully seek God and give serious consideration to what He would have us do with our resources. Praise Him for all He has provided; glorify Him in all that you do with those gifts. Hold loosely to your material possessions so they do not come between you and your faith in God. Don’t allow your blessings to become a curse.