Raising the bar on sacrifice

after studying the calling of the first disciples yesterday, i’m even more convinced that the lifestyle of the follower of christ is to be characterized by sacrifice.

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.  ”Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”  At once they left their nets and followed him.  Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.  Matthew 4:18-22

i certainly think my childhood days of singing “i will make you fishers of men, fishers of men, fishers of men…” led me down a road where i completely missed the point of this amazing passage.

god is calling us to sacrifice.  sacrifice is not a thing we add.  sacrifice is about subtraction.  it’s what we let go of.  it’s what we do away with.  it’s what we say goodbye to.  it’s what we lose, get rid of, take away, stop doing, forfeit.

sacrifice is the essence of following jesus.  answering his call cannot be done without sacrifice.  if there is no sacrifice, there is no discipleship.

The house on the rock

“the wise man built his house upon the rock (repeat 3x)…and the rains came tumbling down”

“the rains came down and the floods went up (repeat 3x)…and the house on the rock stood still”

5-18 text:  Matthew 7:24-27 and James 1:22-25

jesus spoke words of power near the end of the sermon on the mount.  after he had clearly stated that the gate is small and the road is narrow and few will find it…and after he had stated that not everyone who says “lord, lord” will enter the kingdom…he speaks of the wise man and the foolish man and the difference between to the two foundations that they built their houses on.  the foolish man is one who hears the words of god and does not act on them.  in one ear…out the other.  the wise man, on the other hand, is the one who hears those same words, but acts on them.  that’s the only foundation that will last.  that’s the only basis for a life that can withstand the unexpected storms that threaten to undermine everything we have built.

it seems like the great deception the church is caught in is this false assumption that all we need to do is show up and hear someone speak with conviction about the important things of god.  it’s almost as if we believe that hearing someone else’s passion with mystically “rub off” on us.  

don’t just listen…do something!

don’t just show up and watch…get busy!

what do you think?  why don’t we do this?  where’s the struggle?  what are we going to do about it?