“And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matt 22:36-40)
I often ask myself what I want to do with my life. I also say to God,”What specifically do you want me to do?”
Sometimes I look to my heros and imagine living a life like them.
“What if I were to plant a church and effect a region like Mark Driscoll”, I wonder.
“What if I could preach like John Piper or Matt Chandler?”
“What if I could lead people to Christ like Billy Graham?”
Sadly when I do this I often put the focus on me and what I can become. This is not the call. There is no satisfaction in this. I can build up a kingdom, and make my name great, but I am not perfect. I can never rest in self made peace. When I rest everything I’m holding up crumbles.
The call is to love God and to love people. It’s that simple.
Instead I like to think of the truth. People desperately need God and their sin is bad news, but I have the best news in the world for them. I get to give hope to the hopeless. This doesn’t make evangelism and Christian living seem radical. Its a privilege and a joy.
Before I get to this, I remember the good news for myself. I am saved by grace. I can’t screw that up. This stirs my affections for Christ. I want to share the good news I’ve received. I want others to know his goodness as I do.
If neither of these things motivate you to evangelism, a love for God and a love for people, then yes that is a problem. Your love is for yourself and your comfort. Maybe you’re beginning to feel the weight of your sin. You aren’t meeting the standard.
It’s okay, I have good news for you. Refer back to the above paragraphs. Jesus died for the sin you are in right now and if you trust in his sacrifice and resurrection you are forgiven completely and forever from all sin.
Is it good news yet?
Now remember that you are in the same boat as the whole world apart from Christ. You are just as deserving of hell. You might even feel like you can explain that many of your sins were sown out of desperation and brokenness. I bet they can too.
Remember how good it felt to recieve that good news? Now you get the joy of being the one to deliver it.
If you don’t want to share it, then you stand in selfishness and sin. You are unaware of the greatness of God’s mercy to you.
But don’t fret there’s good news.
We could do this all day, but I think you get the point.
Its not about being great in the kingdom of God. Here greatness is defined by humility. The greatest man in the kingdom is the greatest servant, with the greatest love for God and people. You don’t become great by desiring greatness. If you seek to love God and others in an attempt to be the greatest Christian you will achieve none of these goals.
Love.
Would we return to love!
Would we be led by our love!
For Him and for them.
And if we don’t love God or people, would we remember the glorious gospel and respond appropriately.
- In Christ Alone.
