Be All You Can Be: A Challenge to Stretch Your God-Given Potential (22 page)

Turn accomplishments into challenges
. Too often we rest on our accomplishments and don’t take on any more challenges; we have too much to lose. What we ought to be doing is using those accomplishments as building blocks in the construction of God’s kingdom, not pedestals to rest on.

Make room for innovators, entrepreneurs, to work
. We need to make room for people who don’t fit the average mold, people who are daring enough to risk failure. We need to be their cheering section.

In Revelation 3, we see that the church at Laodicea had the satisfaction problem. God said, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.… You say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked” (Rev. 3:15–17).

When we feel satisfied with ourselves, we lack the compassion needed to reach out to others. It’s hard to care for others when you don’t understand the need. When we are satisfied and full, it’s hard to help the people who are hungry and hurting. That’s why Christians who have been in the church for a long time sometimes lack the compassion and desire to reach out to other people; they’ve forgotten what it was like to be out there. They have isolated themselves from the people who need to hear the message of the gospel, the people who are still hurting and needy; they are no longer rubbing elbows with the crowd. Unfortunately, this is a real problem in the Christian community. Satisfaction has gripped the church. We have what we want and are happy with ourselves.

What are some characteristics of people who are in a state of satisfaction? First, they are unwilling to pay the price. They’re unable to make right decisions. You show me a satisfied person or a satisfied church and I will show you one that is not able to make the right decisions, because the right decisions are the hard decisions, and the hard decisions are going to cost them something.

People in a satisfaction climate are more concerned about maintaining what they have than they are about meeting the needs of others around them. They have a maintenance mind-set. They want only to keep themselves happy. Their commitment in the church is not to the Great Commission at all but to clean restrooms, neat bulletins, and potluck suppers. I see this in the denominations who have programs that are palatable to everyone, decisions that are accepted by everyone, plans approved by everyone, and progress witnessed by no one.

Another problem we have to deal with if we want to develop an “I don’t have to survive” attitude is selfishness. One of the reasons people want to survive is that they want to be able to protect their rights. But if we want to be like Jesus, we have to give up our rights. Paul wrote
,

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him. (Phil. 2:5–9)

I’m continually impressed when I think of the life of Jesus. He is the ultimate example for people who don’t have to survive. He was in the robe of flesh, as we are; he had the same basic needs that we have; and no doubt he had moments in his life when he thought of surviving. The issue of survival confronted him at the very beginning of his ministry, when he went to the wilderness and fasted for forty days. Satan came to tempt him, to entice him to survive. He offered bread for his body, a throne for an earthly kingdom, and the world bowing down before him. Satan was setting Jesus up for survival.

It was before he began his great ministry that he was confronted with the issue of survival. Satan will use the same tactics on you. Before you accomplish anything great for God, I promise you, the issue of survival will arise in your life.

Jesus said some remarkable things about himself.

Did you see all the
nots?
Not my words, not my teaching, not my judgment, not my deeds, but the Father’s; not I but the Father; not my own glory, but the Father’s.

How was Jesus able to cope with the pressures of his ministry? How was he able to minister to such a diverse group as the disciples? How was he able to have patience with them; how was he able to face the pressures of a crowd who wanted to put an earthly crown on his head? How was he able to withdraw from all those pressures and pray? Here’s the reason: Jesus didn’t have to survive. If I’m to be like Jesus, I, too, have to give up all my rights. You do too. The first step in “becoming of no reputation” and relinquishing our rights is in coming to the clear understanding that everything we are and everything we can ever hope to be can only be due to the power and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Could it be that we need a mission bigger than ourselves, a purpose beyond our limited vision?

In the first part of the fifteenth century, a French peasant by the name of Joan of Arc was called to save her country from its enemies. Her sacred sword, her consecrated banner, and her belief in her mission helped her sweep away the armies that were before her. She sent a thrill of enthusiasm through the French army such as neither a king, a statesman, nor a president could produce. On one occasion she said to one of her generals, “I will lead the men over the wall.” The general said, “Not a man will follow you.” Joan of Arc replied, “I won’t be looking back to see if they’re following me.” It was that kind of commitment that made Joan of Arc a national hero for the French. She was successful in delivering them from their English enemies, but she herself fell into English hands. As she was being burned at the stake, this nineteen-year-old was given a chance to recant; she was given a chance to betray her country; she was given a chance for liberty and freedom. But she chose the fire, and going to her death, she made this statement: “Every man gives his life for what he believes, and every woman gives her life for what she believes. Sometimes people believe in little or nothing, and yet they give their lives to that little or nothing. One life is all we have; we live it and it’s gone. But … to live without belief is more terrible than dying, even more terrible than dying young.” Joan of Arc had a purpose beyond herself; she didn’t have to survive.

Let me give you the three characteristics of people who have been willing to die for a greater cause than themselves.

A purpose worth the price
. People who don’t have to survive have a purpose that is worth the cost of their very lives.

A vision that is bigger than life
. They have the ability to see beyond their horizons. They are willing to make a sacrifice that they know will affect future generations.

A power that is greater than theirs
. People who don’t have to survive aren’t limited by their own weakness; they have a God-given power. Their purpose is God’s purpose; their vision is God’s vision; their power is God’s power. His Spirit living in them makes the difference.

chapter 13

COMMITMENT IS THE KEY

B
ACK IN THE MIDDLE
’70
S
, I
REACHED A
major decision-making period in my life. I was facing choices that would determine the course of my life and the effectiveness of my ministry. For over a year during that period, I carried in my pocket a card, which I pulled out and read time and time again. After making my decision, I would waiver—and then reach for my card. I’ve read it hundreds of times. Because commitment is the key to success, I want to begin this chapter with the words that helped me in this area:

Until I am committed, there is a hesitancy, a chance to draw back. But the moment I definitely commit myself, then God moves also, and a whole stream of events erupt. All manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings, persons, and material assistance which I could never have dreamed would come my way begin to flow toward me—the moment I make a commitment.

The greatest days of your life are the days when you sense your commitment to its highest degree. Your greatest days are not your days of leisure. Your greatest days are not even times when you have your closest friends around you. When something has seized you and caused you to have a high level of commitment to it, those are your greatest days. They may be your days of struggle, they may be your days of suffering, and they may be the days of your greatest battles in life, but they will be your greatest days.

If I could choose only one word to describe what’s it’s like to be committed, I think I would choose the word
alone
. If you become a person who is deeply committed to a cause, the world won’t understand you; you will be alone. It’s human to stand with the crowd; it’s divine to stand alone. It’s manlike to follow the people, to drift with the tide; it’s godlike to follow principles, to stem the tide. It’s natural to compromise conscience and follow social and religious fashions for the sake of gain and pleasure; it’s divine to sacrifice fashions on the alter of truth and beauty. “No one supported me, but all deserted me” (2 Tim. 4:16). Those were the words of the battle-scarred apostle Paul in describing his first appearance before Nero to answer for his life. Truth has been out of fashion since man changed his robe of fadeless light for a garment of faded leaves. Think about it for a moment.

Noah built the ark and voyaged alone except for his family. Abraham wandered and worshipped alone. Daniel dined and prayed alone. Elijah sacrificed and witnessed alone. Jeremiah prophesied and wept alone. Jesus loved and died alone. On his lonely way Jesus said to his disciples, “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few are those who find it” (Matt. 7:14).

Margaret and the kids and I went to the East Coast for a vacation last year. It was kind of a founding-and-forming-of-our-country vacation. It struck me that every historical site we visited was a monument to somebody’s commitment in life. We went to New York City and saw the Statue of Liberty. There on Ellis Island stands the lady with her torch, the first thing so many immigrants saw in our country. I listened to our guide talk about some of the things that happened to the immigrants when they landed at Ellis Island. They had such great hopes for life in America, yet they couldn’t speak the language and didn’t have a friend in the country. Sometimes they were detained on the small island for weeks or months; some died there. But many got to New York City and worked hard to carve out a place for themselves in this free society. That’s commitment.