A challenge was given on Tuesday by a guy named Michael Howard that is pretty much fearless. This man is British (such a cool accent), lives in Africa, has been ambushed, imprisoned, has met with all kinds of presidents and heads of state, and despite all of that and more, is the most passionate, bold, fearless man of God I think I have ever heard speak. (You gotta respect a guy that is walking in his calling so strongly and gets mad, not scared when a bunch of terrorist muslims point AK47s at his head and he pushes them aside, spreads his arms and screams “shoot me, because you are going to do it regardless.” Then for no reason those tough terrorists freak out and run away. Or a guy who has a Bible school that is blamed by the anti-Christian muslim government as a threat, so they get aerial bombed several times a day. A man who has watched bombs falling out of the sky directly at his school, only to see them separate and explode on either side of the property. The kind of stuff that most of us read about and shake our heads in disbelief that there are people with such faith and passion in the world and try to image if it were us in their place.)
Anyway, part of his challenge was this: we [christians] say we are willing to die for God. But how many of us are willing to live for him?
I have been really thinking about what that means. Living for God. It has become a cliche in our American christian subculture. For me, is is essentially the passionate, wholehearted, single-eyed focus on the pursuit of Jesus Christ. Running the race. Living for God. It is hard to explain, but it’s like everything else becomes less important. That which once was a vital part of my existance is barely given a second glance anymore. That which I thought I could never do without has become relegated to the Goodwill pile. Because those things were the weights that were spoken of in Hebrews 12:1 – Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us.
Living for God means living a simpler life. It is freeing yourself from the distractions that pull you away from Him. (Believe me, even in a simpler life, there are still many distractions.) It is changing your view of time, and money and stewardship. It is understanding your purpose and your destiny and walking in it, even when it makes no sense and seems completely absurd. Living for God means shutting off the access that the enemy has by guarding the gates – especially your eyes and ears. Light and dark can not have fellowship. In our media saturated world, that is one of the hardest things we battle… and we are losing in a huge way. We justify and rationalize our behavior and choices, but the truth is that we really aren’t trying to be “relavent to the culture,” but that we are so caught up in the world system and we simply can’t imagine life without it. It’s bogus. It’s a lie of the enemy and we constantly fall for it hook, line, and sinker.
It is about walking in faith even when you might be called an idiot. It is about sensing the Holy Spirit and following His leading. It is about boldness. It is about standing up for what you believe and know to be true even when no one around is willing to stand with you. It is about developing a spine.
Living for God. Truly living for God. This is what I desire, and whatever it takes for me to do it, I am willing. He can take everything I have; it’s all His anyway. And honestly, it would be my privilege and honor.