The Cost of Following

 There has always been a cost to following God. To listen and obey Him may require sacrifice and discomfort. God's ultimate purpose is not to make us comfortable. We easily forget that in our comfort driven culture. To live in compliance with God will most assuredly put you at odds with culture. This is nothing new. It will cost. you personally and those around you. 

One of the questions I ask people to initiate a gospel conversation is, "Are you a follower of Jesus?" This is so much deeper than asking if a person is a Christian or if they believe in God. Jesus followers live with a different set of priorities. They have different standards. They live like soldiers waiting to hear marching orders from their Commander and Chief Jesus. He dictates the plans. He issues the orders. Our job is to listen, trust, and obey. 

Think of soldiers and sailors being deployed on some mission. They are required to leave parents, spouses, children, and friends behind to carry out the mission. I am thinking of those brave soldiers who stormed the beaches of Normandy. They knew they were headed for dangerous trouble. Some barely made it off the landing the crafts before being gunned down. Those who survived still courageously pressed onto the beachhead under heavy enemy fire. 

Christ followers must live with the same mentality. We must listen to the Master and execute the plans He charges to His people. All the while we must calculate the cost of following. Make no mistake. There is a cost if a person takes following Jesus seriously. Such people may be required to sacrifice and suffer for the sake of the Savior. Some shrink back at such a high price refusing to surrender. 

Are you a surrendered soldier yielded to the wishes of the Savior? Are there places where you intentionally hold back and rebel against the Lord? It is comfortable to sit in the pews week after week, month after month, and year after year always hearing but never doing. To live surrendered laid on God's altar is the biblical mandate. [Rom 12:1] We offer our entire lives as a living sacrifice. Jesus has the right and authority to help Himself to our lives anytime He wants. He can interrupt our lives, redirect our plans, reroute our future and not one time does He ever have to ask our permission. This is way too much for some church members. It is a cost they are unwilling to pay. 

The ultimate cost for following Jesus may mean martyrdom. Many gallons of blood have been spilled over the centuries for following Jesus to the hard places to do hard things. For most people the cost of following may simply be inconveniences, time sensitive commitments, and sharing of resources. Those are still costs some are unwilling to pay. 

To follow Jesus may mean you are misunderstood. Some may question unorthodox decisions, risky leaps of faith, and throwing caution to the wind to obey the call of the Master. Many are hated for doing these things. Families have been fractured in the cost of following. Hardships have been endured. Here is the truth. Jesus paid the highest price to redeem us. He suffered. He was abandoned by His followers. He endured excruciating pain of the cross for the sake of reconciling lost people to His holy Father. What cost is too great for us to pay in light of what He suffered for us? Nothing. We are to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. [Matt 16:24] We are to count our lives not dear to ourselves so that we might follow His calling and finish the ministry to testify of His salvation. [Acts 20:24] We are to live crucified to the old life and live yielded to Him living in  and through us. [Gal 2:20] The reward of such following will outweigh the costs and sacrifices in eternity. 

Transition

 The word transition can be defined as the process of changing from one state or period to another. That is exactly where Brenda and I find ourselves. After five and a half years serving the flock of Spring Creek Baptist Church we are in transition to the Panhandle of Texas to start a new ministry at First Southern Baptist Church of Fritch, TX. This is not a position we sought. The church came after us after a friend sent my resume there without my knowledge about a year ago. 

It is tough saying goodbye to people you love and have served for over half a decade. We battled COVID together, saw many come and go, watched God provide to renovate our education facility, and provide a playground for children. We saw God add Pinnacle Christian School to our facilities and have mutually benefited from each other. We saw God start a thriving skatepark ministry outreach as well as one to a local substance abuse detox center we have showed up for the past few years each Sunday afternoon to proclaim Jesus to people from all over the United States. God has saved many. So many wonderful memories. 

Now we begin the last two weeks of our ministry at Spring Creek and in Weatherford, TX. Fritch and Weatherford could not be anymore different. Weatherford is a booming town with exploding population growth nestled up close to Fort Worth. Fritch is a small town of 1,800 people located about 40 miles north of Amarillo. It is closer to Colorado from Fritch than to Dallas/Fort Worth. Fritch was one of the towns scorched by the wild fires in the Panhandle over a year ago. 

It is never easy to say goodbye to people you love. The call of God on my life is to follow where He leads. It is evident that He is leading Brenda and I to the top of Texas. It is one big step of faith after another. We have no house to move to as of yet. Brenda has no job. We may actually start our ministry in Fritch living in a one room efficiency apartment in a town about half an hour from Fritch. There are more unknowns than knowns at this point. My salary from the church will be less than the salary generously provided from Spring Creek. The call of God trumps all of that. We go where God calls and never even discuss salary with churches we have served up front. That has never mattered. The call of God is the only thing that matters. 

So our days are busy with transitioning from life here to the unknown life ahead. We are leaving a son and daughter in law behind, Brenda's mother, two sisters, and their families all because we believe God heard the people of Fritch like He heard the man from Macedonia pleading for help to be sent. We are the answer to that prayer for Fritch. I hurt for Spring Creek. We love these people. It is not easy to leave them, but we believe God loves them more and will show His faithfulness to them. 

I know how Abraham must have felt when God called him to leave his country and family and yet he did not know exactly where he is going. [Gen 12:1-2] The transition would be easier if we had a home to move to instead of a temporary dwelling. God knows. We trust Him and are thankful for His provision of the efficiency apartment until we are able to secure permanent housing in Fritch. We trust God will do something amazing because He rewards those who live by faith. [Heb 11:6]. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. [Heb 11:1] By faith we believe He has a home for us in the Panhandle. We wait and watch to see what God does next in our transition.