Be All You Can Be: A Challenge to Stretch Your God-Given Potential (21 page)

How about Peter and his denial? There was a survival tactic if I’ve ever seen one. He tried to save his own skin. We could go on and on giving examples of those in God’s Word who tried to survive. They paid a terrible price for their survivor mind-set. Solomon had an empty life; the rich ruler went away sadly after Jesus tried to minister to him; Peter will never forget the look on Jesus’ face when he saw that his disciple had been unfaithful to him.

The Bible also provides us with numerous examples of men and women who did not have to survive; they achieved great things for God because they were willing to put their lives on the line. Let’s look at some examples here.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego believed God would deliver them, but if he didn’t, that was all right too. Caleb and Joshua came back with a different report from that of the other ten spies, which again shows you that we are aren’t compelled to strive for survival even in a survivor climate. They saw the same place, and they came back with an attitude that said, “Let’s go possess that land!” David is another who didn’t have to survive. The survivor would have said of the giant Goliath, “He’s so big he will hurt me.” David said, “He’s so big I can’t miss.”

How about Abraham sacrificing Isaac? Gideon didn’t have to survive; he took just a few hundred men against thousands of Midianites. The widow with two mites was willing to give up all she had. She didn’t have to survive. Again, it does not matter how much or how little you have; it’s what percentage you are willing to give up. It is not a position in life. The widow gave everything that she had. The apostle Paul is a classic example of one who didn’t have to survive. We’ll spend more time with him later.

Let me give you four characteristics of “I don’t have to survive” people.

They have faith in God, not in themselves
. They understand the value of placing their trust in God, because they recognize their own limitations.

They change people, nations, and generations
. A leader who is willing to step out in faith may step out alone, but he will soon have followers. Together they will change lives. Many have changed the course of history.

They are willing to stand alone
. A person who doesn’t have to survive chooses to make the right decision even if it’s not a popular one.

They possess unusual powers
. God gives selfless people spiritual power. That’s what makes the difference.

Some risk takers are getting a lot of attention in the world today—terrorists. This is certainly a negative example, but the terrorists provide a fitting example of what happens when somebody doesn’t have to survive. The world doesn’t know what to do with terrorists, because they do not care about surviving. We have no leverage on them. Even great powers like the United States are powerless against terrorists, because their lives are less important to them than their cause. They’re willing to lay it all on the line.

Look at Israel’s ability to keep their land even though surrounded by enemy nations. They know what it is to be almost extinct; they know what it is to face death, and they’re willing to pay any price they have to pay to keep their freedom. They’re a nation of people who don’t have to survive.

We in the United States have enjoyed so many blessings for so long that we can’t imagine being without them. We’re not willing to risk loss because we have too much at stake. So we have become guardians of the goods, survivors to the end. We desperately need to shake off this mind-set.

I was reading Acts 20 one day, and I really think I found the secret to the apostle Paul’s life. Why was this guy so effective for the glory of God? On his way to Jerusalem, Paul met with the Ephesian elders and reviewed with them some of his ministry. “I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house.… And now, behold, bound by the spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me” (Acts 20:20, 22-23). Paul doesn’t shrink from the message. He doesn’t know what’s going to happen except he knows it’s going to be bad. He went on to say, “I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself” (v. 24). This is a classic “I don’t have to survive” statement. What mattered to the apostle Paul was finishing the work God had for him. And he adds in verse 25, “I know that all of you … will no longer see my face.”

No wonder Paul was such a change agent in the early church. No wonder he was willing to stand at the Jerusalem council and say that the gospel was for the Gentiles as well as the Jews. No wonder he was willing to be the first missionary. The apostle Paul didn’t have to survive. No one could stop him. Those who didn’t like some of the statements he was making on the council floor couldn’t take away his position. Paul didn’t have a position to lose. Those who wanted him to quit preaching could throw rocks at him, but that had happened before, and it didn’t stop Paul. He would have counted it a privilege to suffer for Christ. They could threaten him with prison, but Paul could laugh and say, “Which one? Can I go back to Rome? I was witnessing there the last time I was in prison. Maybe I could help lead that guy to the Lord this time.” Or they could threaten to kill him. “Would you? I have had such turmoil inwardly. I don’t know whether I should stay with the saints or be present with the Lord; if you would just knock me off, that would take care of my dilemma.” What could be done with the apostle Paul? Absolutely nothing. Why did Paul choose to live this kind of life? So he could be independent? So he could call his own shots? No. He wanted to be crucified with Christ, knowing that in his own flesh he was powerless to preach the gospel. And that should be our highest aim, too. Only when we die to self can we live for Christ.

One of the areas we are going to have to face is our insecurity. Insecure people are survivors; they’re not willing to take risks, especially life-threatening risks. They have to have a second option; they have to have a plan B in their lives. They have a difficult time with failure. They tend to rely on things other than God. The person who doesn’t have to survive says, “Here I stand; I can do nothing else. It’s God and nothing else.” The survivor says, “Well, it’s God, but in case God doesn’t come through, I have four other options to fall back on so I won’t lose my hide.” Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 4
,

Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ…. To me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord. (1 Cor. 4:1, 3–4)

Paul isn’t saying he isn’t going to submit to authority, but he is saying his security is not dependent on human decisions. He is saying, “I’m accountable to God.”

What would happen if church leaders would be prophets instead of puppets? What would happen if we all became secure people who wait on the voice of God instead of insecure people who panic waiting on the voice of other people? This is not to say that the people don’t matter. But if you can become secure in God, you will gain a freedom that people can never give you.

I grew up in a denomination where the greatest thing that could happen to a pastor was a unanimous vote from the congregation. When the pastors came together at the district conference, all they talked about was their votes. I will never forget my first pastoral vote; the result was thirty-one yes, one no, and one blank. I remember getting on the phone in a panic, as a twenty-two-year-old, calling my dad and saying, “Dad, should I stay at the church or not?” He said, “Well, what was your vote?” And I said, “Thirty-one said yes, one said no, and one didn’t say anything at all. Is God telling me it’s time for me to move on?” Dad just laughed and said, “John, that’s a great vote. Quit worrying about it! Get on with it.” That was probably the best vote I ever had in my career. If my goal were to keep all the members of the congregation happy all the time, I would many times have to compromise my convictions, but I would more than likely get a 100 percent vote. There are times when, as a pastor, you need to listen to the voice of the people; it may be God’s voice. But you should not be led by popular opinion; your sense of security should be anchored in the approval of God, not man.

Another problem we have to face if we want to develop an “I don’t have to survive” attitude is in the area of success. If we’ve had any success, we’ll be tempted to guard it, to want people to continue thinking how wonderful we are. So we take fewer risks. We become a fortress instead of a moving army.

We build fences and walls around ourselves so that nobody can walk into our lives and destroy that which is so very precious to us.

Paul talks about the success problem in 1 Corinthians. He says some very humbling things. “God has chosen the foolish things … the weak things … the base things … and the despised … the things that are not, so that … no man may boast before God” (1 Cor. 1:27–29). In chapter 2, he writes that when he came to Corinth he chose to come to them in weakness and in fear and in trembling, not in persuasive words, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power (see 1 Cor. 2:1–4). One thing that the apostle Paul says in this passage of Scripture is that we have a choice. Paul, though he was wise and brilliant, chose to come in weakness and fear. He could have come in and snowed them with all his languages. He could have come in and impressed them with the wealth of his knowledge and the breadth of his experiences. But he decided to put all that on the shelf and come talking about the cross of Jesus Christ. He decided to come in simplicity, not in profundity; in humility, not in arrogance.

One of the most important experiences of my life happened a few years ago when I was to speak at a large youth conference. For six months I told the church board to pray for me. I was sure this was going to affect many people. The organizers wanted a thousand young people to come forward and answer the call to full-time ministry, so I felt a tremendous responsibility. I prepared and prayed like I’d never prepared and prayed before in my life. Then in the Ramada Inn the afternoon of the evening I was going to speak, I sensed God saying, “Hey, John, by the way, I’m not going to use your message tonight.” I don’t get upset very often, but all of a sudden I realized that there were going to be seven thousand people there, and God was saying he wasn’t going to use my message. I had worked a long time on that message. It was soul stirring, and those young people needed to hear it! But God said, “No, John. Listen to me.” I might as well have gotten on a plane and gone home.

But I stayed, trusting God had a better plan. He was impressing upon me that the success of the evening would depend on him, not me. He directed me to read the passage in 1 Corinthians 1 and share with the kids that God was going to move mightily in the service because people had been praying. All he meant for me to do was to read the Scripture, pray, and give the invitation.

But I didn’t do that. I read the passage, then I thought,
Well, I think it would help the Scripture a little bit to just use three or four great illustrations
, since I thought God needed me to bail him out of this terrible problem. I told the first illustration and it bombed. I forgot the second one, so I finally just said, “Let’s bow our heads.” A wonderful peace came over me when I started to do what God had told me to do from the very beginning. Fifteen hundred kids came forward to say, “God has called me to preach in this service.”

I’ll be honest: When they came down that evening, I was both glad and sad. I was glad at what God was doing, but I was sad he didn’t use me to do it. God was teaching me to stop worrying about my reputation, my success. He was telling me that if I’m to be successful for him, he needs my listening ability, not my preaching ability.

If you’re running in the reputation race, you need to decelerate and get off the track. I’d like to suggest five courses of action that will help you do this.

Don’t take yourself too seriously
. We’re constantly concerned about what other people are thinking of us, especially others who are running the race. When we begin taking God more seriously, we become less important; we can laugh at ourselves.

Create a climate of unqualified acceptance
. We need to create a climate where we accept each other just because we’re brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Fear God more than man
. We’ll get out of this success syndrome and reputation race when we begin to recognize the frailty, the humanness, of man and the awesomeness of God. We will want to please God above all else.