Growth

Sensible Sacrifice

“Go Big or Go Home”

It’s a phrase and a mindset that has permeated our culture.

In a world of “Extreme Home Makeover” and “Biggest Loser,” we honor and acclaim those who take great measures to achieve a desired goal.

Except when it comes to Christians.

Followers of Christ who are fully committed to live for Him are often derided by such phrases as “holier than thou,” “radical”, “too heavenly-minded to do any Earthly good”  and the ever-popular “Jesus Freak.”

Even when they do good, they can be accused of being “generous to a fault” as if somehow giving things away condemns them.

But Scripture tells us that giving our all for Him is not only good, it’s entirely proper; it’s what we should do. After all, He gave everything for us.

So living a life totally committed to Christ is not exceptional, it should be normative for those who call themselves Christians.

And giving everything to Him, sacrificing our all, is not radical, it’s reasonable.

In fact, it’s the only sensible thing to do.

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Purpose

For Who’s Sake?

“I want you to know, brothers,that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ” – Philippians 1:12-13*

There are a lot of things in life that prompt action:

  • Our feelings towards someone
  • Opportunities that we want to take advantage of
  • The directive of someone in authority
  • Bad circumstances we want to avoid.

And while we all understand that our actions are precipitated by these things, it’s important for the Christian to understand that “we” are not to be the central consideration for the actions that we take. In fact, even when it’s the actions of others that are affecting us, our comfort, our convenience and our concerns are not of primary importance. Because as Paul so wonderfully makes clear in Philippians 1:12-13, everything we have, and everything we do, should be for the sake of Christ.

After all, here was a man who is writing about being wrongly imprisoned, and what he is reflecting upon is how God has used his circumstances for eternity’s purposes. He considers even his chains to be “for Christ” because he recognizes that as a result the Gospel has spread. His life was focused on a single aim  – “how can what I do, what happens to me, be used for Christ?”

It’s the right focus for every Christian’s life – to see our circumstances not through the lens of “what does this mean for me?” but “what does this mean for Christ?” – because we want our lives to truly matter.

We want our lives to be used for Christ’s sake.
Now it’s your turn….

How will you let your life be used for Christ’s sake?

*Author’s Note – For a slightly different take on the same passage, check out my previous post here.

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