This song spoke to me several years ago when it first came out. It still speaks to me today, and I think the idea behind it is a big part of why I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a World Racer.
At the time this song came out, or maybe a little before, I heard a pastor preach a message in which he talked about leprosy. Since leprosy is not something we see much here in the United States, but maybe only hear about in other countries or some of the stories we read about in the Bible, misconceptions can abound. What the pastor shared in his message, and what I subsequently confirmed through research, was that leprosy is not just a skin disease, contrary to what I used to think. In fact, leprosy actually affects the nervous system, preventing people with the disease from feeling pain when they injure themselves. This creates an environment where infection can take over, resulting in the sores and tissue decay that is associated with the disease.
The pastor related this physical condition to a sort of leprosy of the soul. As human beings designed by a Creator, we all have an inherit purpose and calling, something for which we were specifically designed. Sometimes, however, we become numb to the pain of the world. We have been hurt so much that we turn off all feeling to spare ourselves the suffering that comes with living in a fallen world. But God created us to feel. He gave us our senses to engage with this world. And just as a leper loses feeling and ultimately hurts himself, so we begin to engage in self-destructive behavior when we try to separate ourselves from the reality of pain. Truly, by trying to save our lives, we lose them (Mark 8:35). Jesus was right, as usual.
But the second part of that verse is true as well. When we are willing to lose our lives for the sake of Jesus and His gospel, we find true life. Too often, I find myself going through the motions. I get through one day, just to make it to the same set of struggles and problems that come with the next sunrise. But I don’t want to live my life with this kind of approach. I want to embrace the risk of giving my life up for others. I want to risk the possibility of enduring pain and suffering to find true life.
Like this song says, “just okay is not enough.” I’ve lived with “just okay” too long. I don’t think God has called any of us to live a life that is “just okay.” He has a purpose for us that’s bigger than we dare to dream, and I, for one, want to start dreaming bigger than I have before. I don’t want life to pass me by while I’m stuck in my safe routine. I want to know the answer to the question, “What if I had given everything instead of going through the motions?”
