Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

| by archiveworldraceblogs

I actually wrote this several months ago and pulled it off of my blog for some reason that I can’t identify.  I felt in my heart that I should save it for later.  For some reason, now seems like a good time to pull it from the pile and throw it out there for the world to read.  All of this has new meaning to me now, especially after returning to the States.  My perspective on this is still the same and I feel like what I wrote before is dead-on.  However, I can’t help but think how much closer this is to my heart now that I look at my bank account and my stomach lurches.  Good times ahead…
*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.”
— Philippians 3.7-9

What are you willing to give up?  I guess the better question is, what are you NOT willing to give up and those, in effect, should be the very things that you need to give up.  They’re probably those things that “profit” you. 

PAUL SAYS IT’S ALL A LOSS!

Would you rather know Jesus or have things?  And not just any “things”, but would you rather have Jesus or your husband?  Jesus or your wife?  Your wealth-defining career or Jesus?  What are you willing to lose?

Paul says that he considers them rubbish in order to gain Christ.  In other words, how do you gain Christ?  You count everything as less important than Him.  Everything.

I think the problem in the Church is that we’ve all gotten too comfortable with the stuff that God’s blessed us with.  We’ve forgotten the fact that while our blessings are terrific and it’s a strong evidence of the Lord’s grace in our lives, we’re to share those blessings with others, and dare I say, give them up in order to enrich others’ lives. 

The reason God’s given you money is so that you can share it.
The reason God’s given you a large home is so that you might become hospitable.
The reason God’s given you a vehicle is that you might give the poor a lift to get some food.

Everything that God’s given you isn’t yours… it’s His. 
It’s Kingdom property.

And I think idolatry has masked itself as something else in the States.  We may even think that it’s a thing of the past, a thing that the Church used to struggle with, but I’m not so sure.  Think about it.  God blessed Israel with so many things, things that even the “world” around them had.  They received, purely through grace, those things that others had.  But the fact that they had them didn’t make them different like it should have.  Instead they craved to be like the world that they were around.  For example, because the nations around Israel had a king, they wanted a king.  Nevermind the fact that they already had the King of Kings taking care of them!  One the more like the surrounding nations that they became, the more that they wanted what those nations had… and the more prey they were to conforming to their likenesses, not what God was calling out of Israel.  Instead of standing out, they wanted to blend in.

I’m afraid the Church has blended in.

What is an idol?  It’s anything that stands between you and God, whether it’s objects, ideas, theologies, even yourself.  What makes us so different than the rest of the world?  We’re standing at a pivital point in Church history right now.  We’re looming on the edge of Kingdom realities daily and thankfully our Church is stepping into this awareness.  But when will she begin to count everything a loss, once more, and consider trash for the things in order to gain Christ, to gain Christ-likeness?

And maybe I shouldn’t ask this of the Church, maybe I should ask this of myself (as should you of yourself).  Because ultimately it doesn’t become just a corporate decision; we must decide on a personal level what our commitment to Christ and the Kingdom is going to be.  Do you really want to be the one to defile the bride of Christ because you just can’t let some things go?  I don’t.

What are you NOT willing to give up?  And give it up already.

Let’s chase the King of Kings… and count everything in this world a loss, because it is.