a great chasm
We were at a gathering with two wonderful pastor-leaders last week. It was so heartening for Bill Hybels and Wayne Cordeiro to pay their own way to Singapore to spend a day with us simply because they really want the church to rise up to her calling.
God is truly doing a work of affirming and strengthening His Bride to ready her for His return.
One of the things we shared was how wide a chasm exists between believers and full-hearted, all out disciples. When we scrub beneath the surface of church-going, tithing, serving, do we find a heart that has said ‘yes’ to Jesus completely?
An honest look within ourselves will reveal that the call to take up our cross daily, deny ourselves and follow Christ is no light walk in the park. Many during Jesus’ day did not make it. His disciples who worked, slept, played and prayed with Jesus Himself almost did not make it…
But God knows each heart – and how to deal with it.
What saddens us is how we measure each other and judge each other so that the glory of following Christ becomes even more cumbersome that God designed it to be.
How about we trust God’s work more and encourage each other while it is day by seeing beyond the hurts, the failures and the sinful struggles to the potential, the promise and the future God has planted in every person who has said ‘yes’ to Him?
We certainly need to hold the tension of our sinfulness and our glory in Christ. But we tend to do the latter a bit too much! If we understood that being totally devoted to Christ is an outcome and not a condition – that it’s knowing Christ’s incredible love and power that draws us – discipleship is a wonderful adventure and the best way to navigate life.
Yes it will have tough moments. But think for a while the sheer wonder, glory and amazing grace that can fill our lives if we follow Jesus 100% without holding back!
Let us help each other while it is day. Speak truth to each other in love.
We fail as a church when we want people to feel good. No, God wants us to feel great! Great because He is Great. Great because as we follow Christ through all his amazing trails, we find there is a power that is not of us. We experience supernatural living. We find soul friends. We explore new things. We discover strengths we did not know could flow through us. We receive plantings of the LORD. It’s great to follow Christ!
Yes, it’s tough too. We may not have a particular lifestyle. People may find us unusual in our interests and pursuits. We may have to expect miracles…
Every step of the way, it’s either ‘yes Jesus’ or ‘yes something else’. This is how the chasm is bridged.
“mediocrity is the enemy of the best”
jenni