What does it mean to live a life worthy of the gospel?

I’ve been chasing that question for about two months now. Some journeys take longer than others. There is simply too much to see.

I’ve been reading through Philippians but haven’t made it much past 1:27. That verse begins with the admonishment to “live in a manner worthy of the gospel.”

So, what does that mean? A similar question is: “What does it mean to be a Christian?”

Here’s why the questions are so important: There are people in the world who appear to be genuinely good people. I’m thinking of two as I write this. One is a Frenchman, Charles, who was the overnight manager at the hotel in which we stayed our first two nights in the UK. The second was a Thai waiter at a restaurant in the city near where we live. He went beyond service to helpfulness. These types of people deserve an answer to why their “goodness” isn’t good enough.

The first thought I had was, “What makes me better than them?” Immediately God reminded me there are no “good” people in the world.  A rush of Scripture verses flooded my mind reminding me and reprimanding me that I am not better than anyone: “There are NONE righteous, no not one…no one seeks for God” (Rom 3:10-11); “For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23); “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience – among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Eph 2:1-3).

The reality is that EVERY person who has every lived and will ever live stands squarely in the sites of God’s judgment. God is a good and benevolent God, yet a more accurate reading of the Bible forces one to deal with the reality that God is also a righteous and just God who is perfectly holy and requires perfect holiness.

God quickly reminded me that it was by His grace (Eph 2:4), through faith He granted that I have the opportunity to believe in what Jesus has done (Eph. 2:8), which was to satisfy God’s penalty for sin by being a perfect and righteous sacrifice (Rom 3:21-26). I contributed nothing but sin. He contributed perfect righteousness. Martin Luther called it “The Great Exchange.”

There is a path near my house that leads to the open area I often walk. The path is often mucky because of water runoff. Decomposing leaves contribute to the mess. Life is like that path. It is mucky. We experience disappointment, hardship, broken relationships, lost jobs, financial ruin, unmet expectations, etc., but these are actually byproducts of our greatest problem, which according to the Bible, is our separation from God. There is no hope that the mucky paths of life lead anywhere except to God’s judgment apart from Jesus. But it doesn’t have to.

So, what does it mean to be a Christian? I’ve settled on two things.

First, it means to glorify God. (Notice I didn’t say removal from the mucky path!) That’s what we were created for anyway. We were created to have fellowship with God, enjoying His presence and glorifying Him as infinitely worthy of our praise. As enemies of God we can’t do this, but once He grants salvation and restores for us what He intended from the beginning, then we are free to praise Him and make Him known to others walking life’s mucky path if they will turn from sin and believe in Jesus.

Second, as a Christian it means living in the reality that this world is NOT our home. I’ve met way too many Christians who talk about eternal life, being sojourners in this world, heavenly mansions, etc., yet live like this world is their destination. They cling to the materialism of this world and try to anchor their hearts to something tangible. We want to stop in the muck. I’ve been there. God has graciously taught me that my heart does want to anchor to something tangible, but that tangle thing MUST be unwavering confidence in the finished work of Christ that looks forward to the reality of delivered promises (Hebrews 11:1).

The mucky path near my house eventually opens into a field ringed with wild blackberries and gorgeous views of the countryside. Every living person is traveling the mucky path of life. However, a life worthy of the manner of the gospel ought to be a life lived in the recognition of our calling to glorify God (including sharing His glory with others) while looking forward to open the spaces that lie ahead.

The flight attendant asked if I could pass the “rubbish” that had accumulated in the seat next to me. As I dropped it in the plastic bag she was holding she said it: “Smashing!”

“Can you say that again?” I asked.

“Say what?” she asked, “Smashing?”

Yeah that was it. I knew she thought I was quite humorous but we were on approach to London and her “smashing” was like a cold-water wakeup call. “We are actually arriving in the UK,” I thought.

My reaction was quite different 10 years ago when we were moving to Costa Rica to begin language school. As were were landing then I asked Michelle if we could go home. “We have no home to go to,” she replied. She was right. We’d divested ourselves of what we had to follow God’s leading. Here we were on approach 10 years and six months later – this time with a daughter. I’ve been looking forward to this day for months.

When we were asked nearly a year ago to consider the position we’ve accepted, I knew right away that God was working. We were initially given 7-10 days to make a decision. I knew that would shock Michelle, but at the same time we both knew this was a no-brainer. God’s leading was obvious, but the decision to radically change our lives still required us to do some serious soul searching. We had what we called the Golden Triangle between a church we loved, a school in which our daughter thrived and a great house with great neighbors. We were struggling with the decision because we didn’t want to disrupt a great groove. However, one day I sensed God was using the paraphrased words of theologian Abraham Kuyper to both reprimand and challenge me: “Do you think you can care better for your daughter where you are than I can in any square inch of my universe?”

Of course the answer was no, I couldn’t, and here are three things God revealed to me in the process of deciding to lead my family overseas.

1. We really have very little control over our lives. There is no way to control the external factors of one’s life: job loss, death of a close family member, the way people treat you – and when we presume we can control those circumstances we are presuming heavily on the sovereignty of God (James 4:13-15). The only reasonable response we should offer is to throw ourselves on the goodness of God promised to us through the grace of the Gospel and in faith allow God to pull us forward in the certainty of His sovereign will.

2. God’s will really isn’t that much of a mystery. Too many people get hung up in wet and dry fleeces (see Gideon) and looking for ways to divine God’s will. If we’d take time to put God at the center of His story instead of ourselves at the center of the story we’ll see that there is already a vast amount of God’s will that is known. Here it is: It is His will that He be glorified among the nations and that we are the one’s making His name known among all people. I would list verses to support this but read the Bible from this perspective and you’ll find the entire Book points this direction. Frankly, if a person is pursuing God and not doing anything immoral or unethical I believe it is impossible to miss His will (See Proverbs 16:33; Psalm 37:23-24; Isaiah 46:9-10). (If you are struggling with this issue or what I’ve written, I HIGHLY recommend buying and reading the little book, “Just Do Something“, by Kevin DeYoung).

But let’s say it is impossible to miss God’s will while seeking God with selfless motives. Is it such a bad thing to miss in the direction of taking the Gospel to neighbors and the nations?

3. Finally, as the sage members of .38 Special sang back in the 80′s…”Hold on loosely.” The transience of this world fell heavy on me during this process. When I realized I really couldn’t pick a spot in which I’d prefer to be buried, I finally understood the meaning of the word “sojourner” and the truth of 1 Peter 2:10-11. We as Christians often talk about this world not being our home but our lives speak differently. When we hold on too firmly to this world we are robbing ourselves of opportunities to move forward in faith to things not yet seen. God calls us to hold on loosely.

Finally, I don’t want to end this with my family or me as the focus of this post. The point of this entire life transition is to make sure that Christ is the focal point. Read Romans 3:21-26, 5:8-9, 8:32, Ephesians 2:1-5, Colossians 1:11-14, 1 Corinthians 1:31 and you’ll understand why it is the JOY of the Christian to follow the Savior in obedience regardless of geographic location.

The experience is simply smashing!

We were in worship Sunday and my mind gravitated toward….Sprite.

Doubtful the producers of the Sprite commercial had any idea they’d stumbled into a profound theological question when they asked: “What’s my motivation?” One of the nuances of orientation is small group worship, simulating a Bible study that leads to a church plant. Our group has 11 people counting two kids.

Our task Sunday was to look at Isaiah chapter 6. This of course is a passage of Scripture that many people associate with a calling to go overseas as a cross cultural witness, however, I saw something in these passages that I’ve been chewing on for a couple days. It launched Isaiah on his journey and should keep me – keep you – on yours.

Verses 1-4 reveal the intense holiness of God, so much so that as Isaiah witnessed this holiness he was devastated by his sinfulness. Think about that. Here’s a guy who was already a cut above others in his culture (read the first five chapters to find out how depraved the culture was) and he was already serving God as a prophet. This “good” man was rocked by his sinfulness when compared to God’s holiness. Verse 5 recounts his reaction, God allows for (atones for) the cleansing of Isaiah’s sin in verse 6-7.

Verse 8 begins the famous calling passage that culminates in Isaiah saying, “Here am I, send me.”

I wonder: Would Isaiah have been so eager to volunteer if he’d first been given the next five verses (6:9-13)? Doubt I would have been. Read them. God brings judgment on the people for their sins and Isaiah is the guy to deliver the news.

Here’s the application: Isaiah was motivated by encountering a holy God and NOT the task he was given. The application for the workers here at orientation preparing to go overseas– and any follower of Christ for that matter – is that the Christian life will ebb and flow and tasks are subject to personal likes and dislikes. However, obedience to the will of God grounded in the unchanging character of God is all the motivation any of us should ever need to live a successful – albeit sometimes difficult – Christian life.

Something to mull over next time you’re drinking Sprite.

 

“What?” I thought, totally perplexed. “That’s an odd thing to say.” I may have anticipated something like, “Be sure to close the door to keep the kids from staring at the white guy;” or “Don’t mind the flies, it’s like that everywhere;” or even, “Take a deep breath and hold it before you go in there.” But, “be sure to chase the roosters out before you go? Is he serious?”

 

Dead serious.

 

As I was about to straddle the porcelain trench, sure enough, I had to shoo the community roosters which were lurking about. He learned the hard way. Glad I got the tip! (And by the way, there was no door and the white guy drew a crowd, the flies really aren’t that bad everywhere – just squatty potties in remote villages, and I needed a respirator more than a deep breath.)

 

I was reminded of that story as I entered the cafeteria bathroom here at the facility in Virginia where our family is preparing to go overseas. Third stall to the right, open the door – BOOM – China flashback, minus the rooster. Here in the first world, in a building with perfectly good plumbing and three other “real” toilets, is a squatty. Now THAT is commitment to preparing people to live cross culturally! (Now if they’ll just teach us about bidets!)

 

This whole journey began most recently with a call back in November to see if we’d “be willing to throw some things in a crate and move back overseas.” Michelle and I lived in Panama before but frankly had settled into a nice little life in Middle Tennessee: Great church, great school for our daughter, great friends at work and plenty of affordable municipal golf courses nearby. Well, long story short, house is gone, job is gone, school is gone, clubs are crated – along with everything we didn’t sell (which isn’t much) – and we are eight weeks away from moving to Europe for only God knows how long.

 

So to document this journey, I decided to launch a blog, Travels With Me, so you could come along for the ride. I’ll take you places that I’ve been, places where we’re going and take you on trips with me to places across Europe and countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. However, not all trips will be to geographic places. Some journeys will be spiritual, as God continues to carry my family and me down a path that began years ago. Ultimately it is life’s spiritual journey that matters much more than the geographic.

 

So welcome. I plan to post frequently…and I’ll try to give advance warning if there are roosters ahead!