Somewhere along the way I think we’ve missed something crucial about Christianity. We have settled for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about radical abandonment of ourselves.
The modern church describes the path to salvation this way: “Pray this prayer, bow your head, and repeat after me.” That’s it. You’re in. You’re going to heaven. This theology goes against everything Christ taught us. Instead, Jesus told a potential follower in Mark 10 to “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Jesus called his disciples to abandon their family their careers their friends, their security their comforts, all they knew. In a world that prizes promoting oneself, these disciples followed a man who told them to crucify themselves.
“The call of Christ is to deny ourselves and to let go of our lives. To relinquish control of our lives, to surrender everything we are, everything that we do, our direction our safety our security is no longer found in the things of this world. It is found in Christ. And that is great risk when it comes to the things of this world. But in the end it is not really risky at all because we are relinquishing control to the one who has supreme love for us, cares for us, has created us, knows what is best for us, and will lead us and guide us in what is best for us not just now but for all of eternity.”
-David Platt
My greatest fear is that I would fall into the trap of a self-dominated, comfortable life centered around materialism and worldly success. That somehow I would give up the truth of abundant life in Christ, for the misleading dream of prosperity as defined by our cultural norms. For the sake of billions of people today who have yet to hear about Jesus, I refuse to let this happen. And so I’m answering Christ’s call to abandon everything I consider normal in my life.
In July 2014 I’ll leave with my team of 5-8 (as part of a 60-70 person “squad”) to travel through Albania, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, South Africa, Swaziland, Botswana, India, Nepal, Mongolia, and China. One of the unique things about the World Race is that it’s not only a mission trip but also an intensive discipleship program designed to launch my generation into our specific kingdom calling. Our primary mission throughout this year will be to spread the love of Christ and to share the gospel through various means – sports camps, door to door evangelism, English camps, etc. We will be led by the Spirit in all we do in hopes of being used in miraculous ways. I feel so blessed that God has picked me for this. I expect God to wreck me on this trip and do not expect to return the same man. It will be a challenge, but I am very excited to be used as a tool for His kingdom in this way. Gonna be a crazy journey and I hope you will be a part of it!!
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.
Matthew 16:24-27
-Matt
