Pastor Betters pointed out in his last sermon how the Book of Acts ended rather abruptly. He suggested that the ‘unfinished’ ending seemed to represent how the Acts of the Holy Spirit are still unfolding and being written into our lives. Our lives and the men and women of faith before us represent the next chapters of His Story.
Do you recognize His Story in your life? How would the chapters of His Story read in your life? I asked myself these questions and noticed a pattern. I’m afraid that the following chapter has been repeated too many times in my life:
Chapter 25: Bill went to church, heard a good sermon, sang songs, gave God some glory, went home and waited for next Sunday.
Pretty boring, huh? Don’t get me wrong. I believe God can be glorified in the mundane but the chapter summarized above wouldn’t make the Editor’s cut for His Story? Where is the ‘Go’ of the Gospel in my life? Does someone have to read between the lines or use their imagination to see His Story and His glory in my life? Or worse, does God?
The life of a Christian shouldn’t read that way. It should read more like a novel of action, suspense, or adventure—not a tragedy. Sadly, what is missing from some of the chapters of my life is the part where I take risks for Christ. How has God called me and how have I followed?
That's the problem for me and for many like me. It’s easy to hear God’s calling to us as husbands or wives and fathers and mothers and many other ‘standard’ aspects of the Christian life. But how is God calling us in taking greater risks for Him? Some people may be waiting for God to speak to someone else and just follow that call for their own lives. That may be helpful in casting a corporate vision but each of us must hear and follow what God is saying to us personally.
As Pastor Dan preached a few weeks ago, God’s calling has to be radical. But being ‘radical for Christ’ must mean more than just being different. Jesus calls us to live outside the norm in a much greater sense. Being radical for Christ must involve personal risk. The word 'radical' has somehow watered down the original Biblical words of ‘dying’ and ‘living sacrifice.’ Jesus never intended for that to happen. Jesus’ call is very clear. "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” (Matthew 16:24-25)
This language is radical but it is also deadly! How is Jesus calling you to die? The verses above represent the plot that the Holy Spirit wants to use to write His Story into your life. It is that story which will make for irresistible reading and He promises that it will never be boring.
Bill McConomy
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