Last week, I walked into a cute coffee shop with my team. It was an off day so I was pretty checked out and ready to plug into wifi (we only get it twice a week). I also already had my eyes on some carrot cake so basically everything else was white noise. #worldrace15
As I was finalizing my purchase, the owner of the store came up to us and started asking us questions about why we were here in the I-know-you’re-missionaries-and-I’m-here-to-grill-you-until-you-crack-kind-of-way; you know, the best kind of way. We stood our ground, even gave him a courtesy laugh when he asked if WWJD really stood for ‘what would Johnny do’! A decent amount of cheap shots later, he says and I quote:
“Alright, I just wanted to mess with you guys. I’m a Jesus Freak, too!”
And his next question. . .
“Have you ever raised anyone from the dead?”
No? Right in the middle of me feeling like the answer was obvious, he went on to say:
“. . . because the Bible calls raising the dead elementary”, thus beginning the most encouraging and convicting conversation I’ve had since being on the race.
Him and his family moved here five years ago from Seattle, Washington. His testimony is a hard one. He has a looong history of drug use. As he put it, he’s “done everything” and he’s done it to the max. He dated some Christian girls in high school and thought they were nice– even went to church with them a few times. But more often than not, his encounters with religion ended up in frustration. There were some questions holding him back.
If Jesus is who he said he was and these people believe it, where is their boldness and urgency? If He was so extreme, why are they so tame? Why do they live like the rest of us aside from some prayers before meals and church on Sunday?
If he was going to commit to something, he wasn’t going to be like these people. He was going to FULLY commit. For that reason, he decided not to label himself Christian, but instead become a follower and imitator of Christ. Why commit to a lukewarm faith, impartiality, or quick prayers before meals when instead he could go all in with the fullness and depth of Christ in him and actually begin to look more like Jesus?
This guy was right. To raise someone from the dead IS elementary. But for me, the tangible, physical healing of Jesus has always been something I struggle with. Every time I pray healing over someone I always give an ‘out’ for God so if it doesn’t happen, nobody ends up discouraged.
John 14:12 says, “whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
If I believe Christ is risen, there is absolutely no reason to doubt everything else he promised us! “Greater works” than Him is a promise, and doubting His promises is doubting that He is GOOD. When I avoid opportunities to pray healing over someone, it’s usually to save myself from embarrassment if it doesn’t work out. When I choose to courtesy laugh at WWJD jokes instead of using it as an opportunity to share the good news, it’s usually to avoid persecution. When I am okay living in complacency, it’s usually because I’ve forgotten the urgency that comes with the gospel. When I choose to back down instead of stepping out, the Kingdom suffers.
Paul said, “to live is Christ and to die is gain,”
TO DIE IS GAIN! Wow! There is so much freedom in that.
We quite literally have nothing to lose from taking risks for Jesus. The more we begin to step out in faith and ask crazy things of Him, the more room he has to move in radical ways. How can we expect him to do big things if we never give him any opportunities to? And how can we expect others to believe the stories we tell of Jesus if the way we live doesn’t mimic the boldness and urgency of Christ?
Our conversation ended with him saying, “I’ve never raised anyone from the dead, either. But it doesn’t stop me from trying. I firmly believe it’s going to happen, and until then, I’m going to just keep trying when the opportunities come up”
We really, truly, have nothing to lose. Live audaciously. Let the urgency of the gospel and His promises be the motivating force. Love God enough to love your failures, too. He surely does, and even those can be used to glorify Him.
