I hear this statement often. It is even commonly noted as a “goal” in people’s lives. They spend their whole lives trying to reach some bar that is actually impossible to reach. They get burned out, run down and discouraged; and many end up quitting or justifying a bare minimum they feel they are able to maintain. Not only are these people missing something very valuable, but also as a result, many bystanders look on and say, “Uh, no thanks!” to the Christian life because it is being defined and measured by rules and efforts. They think to themselves, “There’s no way I’m giving up my comfortable, enjoyable life for this life of constantly working to achieve something I’m being told is impossible to achieve.” Well, I don’t blame them! And it’s no wonder people can’t distinguish Christianity from other religions that are also constantly working to work their way to some sort of better place. I know this and can confidently speak of this because I’ve talked with enough people and have been there myself.
I actually had to ask myself just a few years ago what the point was in all my efforts. I was tired and nowhere near the “abundant” life Jesus promised to those who followed Him. I have been begging and pleading with Jesus to show me the point in all this. I have felt a deep-rooted faith in this promise in John 10:10 – “The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy. I (Jesus) came that they may have life and have it abundantly”; but clearly I have been missing something because I still felt so empty and burned out! According to the dictionary, the definition of abundant is “present in great quantity; more than adequate; over sufficient”. I think you would agree that abundance by this definition should not be accompanied by emptiness. If you’ve been in or near church at all, you’ve likely heard the Christian life compared to a race. 1 Corinthians 9:24 says “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.” Many people use Hebrews 12:1, and stop at verse 1, which says “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Paul talks about pursing a prize in Philippians 3:14 – “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” But then there are verses like Psalm 53:2-3 that say, “God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.” Also, Paul writes in Romans 7:18-19, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” Here’s one that will really throw you for a loop! Mark notes in his book (10:17-18) that a rich, young man approached Jesus, knelt before Him and asked “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Before Jesus even answered his question, He addressed even the greeting. He said “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” What?! Jesus doesn’t even call himself good? You ask anybody who Jesus is, and my guess is 90% or more would at least include that He was a good man….whether they believe He was real or a myth. What kind of hope do I have? I'm supposed to be running some kind of race toward something, yet I'm not good and I never will be.
This has begged so many questions. What is this race? What is this prize? Is it even possible? Is anyone feeling me yet? Are you still following this train wreck of thoughts?
Here’s what I feel like God has been showing me. The race is something very different than I've understood up to this point. I’ve been focused on the wrong prize. So what we have is 1) nobody is good, 2) we’re supposed to be running some kind of race that leads to some kind of prize, and 3) this race and life is supposed to be abundant. I don’t know about you, but none of this lines up for me. Striving to live a good, decent life is not the race, and the satisfaction of accomplishing this at some level is not the prize. Remember I said that people like to quote Hebrews 12:1 and stop there? Well, look at the verse when you include even just the first part verse 2. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, (2) looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith…” So the truth is, we’re not the perfecter of our own faith, Jesus is. So if we can’t perfect our faith or do any good, the race can’t be pursuing a good life or working our way to anything, but pursuing the person or thing that can perfect it…which is Jesus Christ. Right? I mean that’s the only thing that makes sense. And I tell you what, as I have been seeking this over the last couple of years, I have found so much more joy and fulfillment than all my years growing up in church focused on “doing good things”.
I was stuck for a long time on the words in 1 John 5:3 that say, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.” If we love God, we will keep his commandments. Not the other way around, if we keep his commandments, we will love God. Paul was a man who was an extremist for the law. He was a Jew of Jews. He was "all that". He had all the right answers and did all the right things. This man that had it all and had been living the right life for so long. But then he encountered Jesus and suddenly found a very different motivation and purpose. This is clear when he claims in Philippians 3:7, “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” Everything from good deeds, to monetary riches, to his zeal for the law. So the simple answer to all of this is that the prize is knowing Jesus. He didn’t say the surpassing worth of going to church and being a good person, he said “knowing Christ Jesus my Lord”. Wow! Can you see the difference? I also must point out something that a good friend of mine has said, that "Simple does not always mean easy." So don't hear me saying this is easy!
Personally, I had to trace all the way back to the beginning of what I thought was the root of this faith I’ve been following all my life. Jesus promises that He gives an abundant life to those who follow Him, but I wasn’t experiencing abundance. If I’m not experiencing abundance, obviously, I’m off somewhere and missing something. God says that if we love Him, we’ll obey Him and this will not be a burden. If it’s a burden, am I truly motivated out of love for Jesus? If I'm not motivated out of love for Jesus, do I truly know Him because I don’t see how someone can *know* this Jesus I’ve read about in the Bible and not love Him. I believe the love of God transforms us, and that it compels us when we are truly changed by it. So I had to ask myself the hard question of “Have I been transformed by the love of God in Jesus Christ?” I’ve been attending church all 32 years of my life. I know who God is, but for too long, it’s been a distant knowledge about Him, focused on pursuing the rules and commands rather than pursuit of Jesus himself. Let’s not even discuss the fact that myself and many in churches have placed our own standards on what is good, acceptable, bad, worse, not as bad as, etc. The hard truth – I’m afraid there is a false gospel being preached and too many people are being turned off because of it. Again, I grew up with it and was beginning to be turned off until Jesus showed me the true gospel. According to the Bible, that true gospel is Jesus Christ himself. He did the work and it is through Him that we are made right before God, not through good things we do. We are all born separated from God because of sin. We're told that the wages/earnings/result of sin is death. So if we're born sinful, we're born dead in a spiritual sense. Someone who is dead is not capable of bringing their self back to life. But there is good news…"And you, who were dead in your trespasses (sins) and the uncircumcision of your flesh (circumcision being a symbol of spiritual purification so uncircumcision obviously meaning not being purified in our flesh), God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with tits legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him." (Colossians 2:13-15 and the clarifications in parenthesis are mine)
So why am I running this race? Why am I going on The World Race? I’m running in pursuit of constant growth in the knowledge of Jesus Christ and I’m being changed by it! As He transforms my heart, I’m compelled for others to know and share in this amazing relationship with Him! I’m not seeking accolades for humanitarian efforts to help orphans or poor people or do good deeds. Jesus wants the whole world to know the Gospel (a.k.a. Him); therefore, that’s what I want. I’m still in awe of this opportunity to travel to so many different cultures and people groups to love and serve and speak like Jesus did; in order that they may know Him, and be transformed and compelled to do the same. I also desire to challenge and encourage believers here in America that may be in the same place I was (and am still working through) to seek a different gospel, the Gospel of Jesus Christ himself! This is the "calling" for all who are in Christ Jesus.
