When I decided that I am going to leave everything behind, a natural question that people want to know is, why?
It’s a good question, and it is something that I have been asking myself also.
It is true, I have the opportunity to travel to and live in 3 different countries, experiencing other cultures, building great relationships, helping people, and most importantly, sharing the gospel. But there is another reason, one which I feel is the REAL reason that I want to go on the World Race.
First off, I should tell you some general reasons why I choose to do this mission trip. For a while, I didn’t know what I wanted to do right after graduating. I knew that I wanted to go to college eventually, but I also aspired to do things like travel and see the world before I get stuck somewhere for four years! When I first heard about the race, it was something that sparked a lot of interest in me. But, it wasn’t until this past summer (2018), that I went on my second mission trip and really felt God put the race on my heart. I knew then that it was something I wanted to pursue right away. I choose to do the race because I want to serve God while getting to experience new cultures and live in communities that are not like my own. I want something new and fresh, something that will absolutely change my life. But when I sit down and really ask myself “what do you want out of this? What are your motives here and why are you choosing to leave for this long,” this is the best answer I can come up with. This right here is my real motive, why I want to do the race, and what I am wanting to get out of it:
I want to be stripped and emptied of myself, depending only on God to give me what I need, just as Jesus did so that I can become a vessel for God to do his will.
I have been struggling to think about what I am going to be posting on this blog. I asked God what he wanted me to write about, I think my exact words were “God give me an idea”, and as always, he provided!
I don’t read my Bible as often as I should. I wish I did, but if I am being honest, reading the Bible, which is such an easy way to connect and stand in God’s presence, most of the time just flies right over my head and I forget to do it. This is something I am working on and I pray that I become more consistent with. But, last night, I felt really led to read James chapter 3. I have no idea why, other than it is what the Lord wanted me to hear, but James 3 popped into my mind loud and clear at the most random time in my evening.
“If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.”
James 3 13-15 (NLT)
This is not a very encouraging verse, but, just like everything else in the Bible, it is true. I would like to focus on how this verse talks about selfishness. This is something that all people struggle with. We want the glory, we want to be recognized when we do something good. Kind of like how putting money in the tip jar feels way better when the employee is looking rather than when they aren’t looking… You are still tipping them regardless, it just feels a little better when someone knows that you are doing a nice thing. This also applies when we do things in God’s name. Even though you are doing something good because you want someone to see God through your actions, we still want to be recognized that we did that good thing. It is inevitable. But we need to realize that when we steal some of the glory for ourselves, our good action that we did in God’s name becomes pointless. We are not obeying God when we can’t give him 100% of the glory. Our good deeds that we do, and even our entire life, is not for us to receive glory, but it is for God and about God.
In the book, Crazy Love, Francis Chan wonderfully sums up the topic of our lives being about God, and not ourselves.
“It goes sort of like this…. Suppose you are an extra in an upcoming movie. You will probably scrutinize that one scene where hundreds of people are milling around, just waiting for that two-fifths of a second when you can see the back of your head. Maybe your mom and your closest friend will get excited about that two-fifths of a second with you.. maybe. But no one else will realize it is you. Even if you tell them, they won’t care.
Let’s take it a step further. What if you rent out the theater on opening night and invite all your friends and family to come see the new movie about you? People will say, “You’re an idiot! How could you think this movie is about you?” Many Christians are even more delusional than the person I’ve been describing. So many of us think and live like the movie of life is all about us.
Now consider the movie of life…. God creates the world. (Were you alive then? Was God talking to you when He proclaimed “It is good” about all He had just made?) Then people rebel against God (who, if you haven’t realized it yet, is the main character in this movie), and God floods the earth to rid it of the mess people made of it. Later, along come Joseph and Moses and many other ordinary and inadequate people that the movie is also not about. God is the one who picks them and directs them and works miracles through them In the next scene, God sends judges and prophets to His nation because the people can’t seem to give Him the one thing He asks of them (obedience).
And then, the climax: The Son of God is born among the people whom God still somehow loves. While in this world, the Son teaches His followers what true love looks like. Then the Son of God dies and is resurrected and goes back up to be with God. And even though the movie isn’t quite finished yet, we know what the last scene holds. It’s the scene I already described in chapter 1: the throne room of God, where every being worships God who sits on the throne, for He alone is worthy to be praised.
From start to finish, this movie is obviously about God. He is the main character. How is it possible that we live as though it is about us? Our scenes in the movie, our brief lives, fall somewhere between the time Jesus ascends into heaven (Acts) and when we will all worship God on His throne in heaven (Revelation) We have only our two-fifths-of-a-second- long scene to live. I don’t know about you, but I want my two-fifths of a second to be about my making much of God. First Corinthians 10:31 says, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” That is what each of our two- fifths of a second is about.”
Francis Chan, Crazy Love.
Wow. You see friends, this is the REAL reason why I want to the world race. This world needs God. People need help. I am called to love people while also giving all of the glory to God… because it is all about him! It is not about me. As tempting as it is to take even the slightest bit of glory for myself, I want God, during my time on the race, to strip me of selfishness and pride, and to truly give him ALL of the glory. For he alone is is worthy to be praised, worshiped, and glorified.
I’ll close with this verse:
“A person who is obsessed with Jesus knows that the sin of pride is always a battle. Obsessed people know that you can never be ‘humble enough,’ and so they seek to make themselves less known and christ more known”
Matthew 5:16
Let us make an effort to make ourselves less known so that the star of our life, God, is glorified in the highest through our words and actions.
