I know if I ever want to understand what my identity in Christ is and what my role in His Kingdom will look like I’ve got to go thru a process to strip off my old way of thinking so it can be replaced with His way of thinking. Paul talks about this in Romans 12:2 when he says, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, BUT let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” So let me take that a step further and say this transformation process is actually an initiation into a new way of thinking – a new way of life. This is a theme seen all throughout the Bible.
“Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress.” – Hebrews 12:1
“And I will give you a new heart with new and right desires…” – Ezekiel 36:26
“When the people return to their homeland, they will remove every trace of their detestable idol worship.” – Ezekiel 11:18
But these things don’t happen overnight. It takes time – as I’ve said, it’s a process. That’s what this world race thing is all about. Now, of course we want to be world changers and be the blessing to the people we minister to, BUT this experience will also change us from the inside out. It’s an initiation – and it’s designed to awaken us to the fact we are truly sons and daughters of God. We are part of a family. We are loved and accepted no matter what. Our identity comes from this family and not from the world. We no longer have to be a slave to what people think. This process has six steps:
1. Abandonment – “strip off every weight that so easily hinders are progress”
a. If you notice all thru the Gospel Jesus talks about giving up our lives so we can find true life. Remember the story of the rich dude? (Matt. 19) Jesus says now go sell everything and give the money to the poor and follow me. Well that dude peaced out and didn’t do it. When we obey the call on our lives – the call to abandonment our desires we remain in His love. (John 15:10)
2. Brokenness – But even when we remain in His love it doesn’t change the fact that this process hurts. The brokenness we feel is when everything is ripped apart and we are left with nothing familiar or safe around us. We got only one place to go and that’s to God.
3. Dependence – “Let them lie face down in the dust; then at last there is hope for them.” – Lamentations 3:29
a. This is where God loves to see us – in a posture of complete and total dependence. Why? Because pride cannot exist here, and God detests pride. (Proverbs 11:2)
4. Empowerment – And that hope and humility leads to power and wisdom. Paul says when he is weak he is really strong. Because with less of him, there can be more of Christ. We are also empowered because we learned obedience thru the dependency stage. And being trained to abide in Christ we find ourselves in His love and the love of the Father – making us truly sons of God. In which Jesus tells us it’s thru this knowledge that we will find our joy. He goes on to say, “Yes, your joy will overflow.” (John 15:11)
5. Call – It’s in this stage we find out who’s going to be the recipient of this overflow of joy. For me, I’ve been called to serve this next group of world racers and be the blessing in their lives.
6. Confirmation – At this stage we find out we are part of a much greater plan. For example, the World Race isn’t just an 11 month mission trip, or a vacation around the world. We are part of empowering each other and encouraging one another to step out in our giftings the Lord has given us. And even bigger than that, we are part of awakening a generation to its true call in this world.
Now these steps are not something you go thru once and then you say, “Boom there it is! I’m a Son of the Lord! Now its all good no more initiation for me.” HA! I wish it was that easy. That’s why it’s a process. It’s ongoing. And I’m learning you can be in multiple stages at once. Over the next week or so I’m going to write about what each part looks like for me personally, and how God is using the World Race to awaken me to my true role in His Kingdom.
