Respond to Him with Reckless Abandon

The other day my pastor spoke from Luke 17:11-19 when Jesus cleansed the ten lepers. He did an exceptional job and I am truly grateful for his insight into this passage and how we should worship after having such an encounter with God. This also provides a great jumping-off point to go further into the reasons for men staying at home rather than going overseas. (See previous post to catch up.) Verses 15 and 16 say, ‘then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks.’

So if this man (a Samaritan by the way…) turned around praising Jesus, what happened to the other nine? Why only one out of ten? Additionally, why are so few men spending their lives overseas when it is so obvious that there is much work to do? Brothers and sisters, if we begin to emulate the response of this Samaritan man, the commission that Christ gave us to go and make disciples of all nations will be fulfilled within our lifetime. Luke tells us that this foreigner realized that he was healed and then turned to meet Jesus. He came with excitement and passion for he could actually feel the warmth of the air on his fingertips again after such a long period of not being able to possibly feel anything. Once again he would have the opportunity to embrace the coolness of fresh water between his toes. Not only that, but no more would he have to suffer the humiliation of being outcast from his own people. He was free from the slavery of physical pain and much social strife. Because of his encounter with Jesus he was made whole again!

We too have been made whole but it seems as though our response is too often the opposite. I was reminded the other day to recount my life before my encounter with Jesus. Meditating on that filth disgusts me to the point of illness… But God, being rich in mercy, came to me and now my meditation is filled with the glorious splendor of His glory. To respond to Jesus in any way other than reckless, mind-altering, earth-shaking praise would be utter foolishness. I believe if we men begin to respond as the Samaritan responded, airports will soon be filled with eager hands grasping to speak to the nations of the treasure that is Christ. Not only will overseas work increase but churches, office buildings, and families will be completely revitalized by the gospel.

So how do we respond? Simply have an encounter with Jesus. If you’re not a follower, acknowledge your sin, confess it to him, and embrace the forgiveness that has been freely given. To accept Christ is the most important encounter. For those of us who have already done that it is important now to constantly submit to him. Those of us who are neglecting overseas work on account of negligence need to submit to the authority of Christ and go! I’m excited about talking more in depth about the riches that can result from overseas work. Hopefully I’ll get to that sooner than later.

Men, Get on your horse and go!

Ok folks, it’s been a while but I’m going to try to start writing a bit. There have just been so many thoughts on my mind in the past three or four months and I feel like I need to get them down somehow. Maybe these words will provide the occasional encouragement to the infrequent on-looker… If any of you know me you probably know that I am planning on going overseas in the future and recently I’ve heard a bit of information that concerns me. My denomination’s sending agency has a particular program for singles to go overseas for an average of two years. I won’t say the name of this program but recently I was told that for every seven females who commit to this program there is only one male who commits to serve…
That’s pretty disgusting…

First of all, props to all you ladies out there who are risking your lives and forsaking the overabundance of luxury here in the states to serve Him overseas. And also to you guys who made the decision to go, I pray that you might encourage others to come alongside you. I could spend the majority of my time hounding other guys about their lack of courage or apathy in pursuing God with reckless abandon, but I just don’t think that would be efficient. I also don’t think I am in any position to criticize others when I’m presently sitting in the comfort of my own home with a full stomach from today’s gluttonous thanksgiving festivities. But while I’m here I want to explore a couple of reasons that men might be staying in order to open their eyes to the fruit that can come from making the commitment to go. Most of these reasons for staying or obstacles ultimately prove to be an incredible hindrance to one’s quest on the road to sanctification. For the sake of this particular blog-posting I’m not going to treat each of these obstacles exhaustively for I hope to explore them in further detail later.

I think one of the primary reasons that men stay is in part due to their natural tendency to desire worldly success. When the opportunity to go overseas comes up they choose not to go because they feel as though they won’t have a successful life upon returning to the states if they ever do. So many men have this engrained in their heads, and it’s a vision that screams to make their voice heard. In the business world men cling to the hope of climbing the rungs of the corporate ladder faster than the one beside him. I’ll put this obstacle in the category of those who actually have skewed vision. From an outsider’s point of view it may appear that a particular business man has a great vision for the future but I submit that these men really don’t have an end product in mind. More later…

Secondly, I think many men are just apathetic when it comes to planning for the future. Many would rather sit and go through the motions of life until a blatantly obvious opportunity comes their way. Passivity in men is rampant and the only time that a proactive lifestyle is seen is when it is the result of an unforeseen circumstance that necessitates action. The hindrance is that men wait for opportunities to act upon them instead of acting with the discernment and vision that God has given us. More also on this…

Third and lastly…for the moment…many men, especially those in their early to mid-twenties refuse to go overseas because they think they should be married before going. Marriage is a good thing and the bible makes it obvious that God likes it. The problem however is that men have this often-subconscious desire to get married before they begin doing their ‘real’ career. They’re afraid that if they serve overseas for any length of time, upon returning there simply won’t be any more prospects for marriage left, and therefore their time overseas could have been used for time in pursuing ‘the right one.’ Don’t get me wrong here. I would actually recommend sending families to the field over sending singles. The majority of the remaining unreached people groups are very distinct from our western individualistic ideals, and therefore a family on the field would be ideal. But single male would have many opportunities where a husband or father would have some limitations. I think the main obstacle concerning the singleness issue is a lack of trust in God that manifests in fear and disobedience. Along with that disobedience comes great temptation and desire, and keep in mind, desire that is fully grown gives birth to death…

So, I hope to expound on these three issues and more in the coming weeks. Hopefully we all will be able to humble ourselves a bit and really dig deep as to where we’re being called to serve.