The cost of following Jesus

The Christmas story tells us of the worship, love and adoration shown to the baby Jesus by the shepherds and later the wise men, but what is our response? 

My mind immediately goes to Christina Rossetti’s carol In the bleak midwinter: 

What can I give Him, 

Poor as I am? 

If I were a shepherd I would bring a lamb, 

If I were a wise man I would do my part, 

Yet what I can I give Him, 

Give my heart. 

Or more recently Chris Tomlin’s beautiful modern carol Adore: 

Wise men bring their treasures,

Shepherds bow low, 

Angel voices sing of peace on earth, 

What have I to offer To heaven’s king? 

I’ll bring my life, my love, my all. 

We’ve known from childhood that there is nothing we can give to Jesus that is of greater worth than ourselves, our hearts, our lives. It’s a sobering thought that even all the treasure in the world counts for nothing compared to our lives. That is the greatest treasure because that’s why Jesus came - to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19: 10). That was his commission and that was me until Jesus pursued and won me with his love. I was lost. 

The reality though is that to give Jesus our love, our life, our heart is incredibly costly to us because it means giving up everything – my time, my emotions, my money, my possessions, my thoughts, my words, my preferences, my opinions, my choices – everything has to be laid on the altar and for sinful people like you and me that is hard – very hard. 

Jesus gave it all up for us – glory, majesty, power and he calls us to the same path – following in his footsteps or discipleship. Jesus said, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me'. Like everything of the Christian faith that is hard, it is also worth it. 

It’s fairly easy to put our hands in our pockets with our tithes and offerings, do works of service (and I am not knocking these) but a life of yieldedness to Jesus means giving up a lot more than money and time. It’s all in. 

But the result is the greatest love affair of all time. It means walking in love with Almighty God, knowing his abundant life poured into our lives as we yield and give way to him. It’s the adventure of a lifetime. Mary, Jesus’s mother walked this path; the highest privilege and the greatest pain but when we get to see her in eternity, I am sure she will say something along the lines of 'It was worth it but don’t worry about me, worship my Son, give him your all, – he is worth everything'.

Pushing the boundaries

Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22: 6

For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him. Genesis 18: 19

Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’ Matthew 19: 14

I have just been watching and thoroughly enjoying a television programme called Race across the World.  Five couples left London to travel to Singapore using any mode of transport except flying. They were given only the price of two airfares to Singapore in cash and had no access to their credit cards or smart phones and they had to check into five checkpoints along the way.

It was fascinating watching them travel through Europe, all across Asia through Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and into China before entering Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia then arriving in Singapore, 50 days after they started. 

Each couple knew each other well and they worked well together. However one couple – a father and his estranged 20 year old – had not been together for a long time. The most amazing part of the story was watching Alex, the 20 year old, change from a immature, self centred lad who easily gave up to a confident, charming and capable young man who had to carry his dad through one of the final parts of the journey when dad had a dreadful tummy bug.

It took two to bring about this transformation. First of all dad had to encourage him to ‘man up’ and stop being so feeble and then he had to let his son start making decisions on the route to take, whether they needed to work to earn more money and then haggling for the cost of the journey. Alex stepped up to the mark, making his dad incredibly proud and transformed his life. He now has the life skills to succeed in any field he chooses.

All this reminded me of the need to help our children and young people grow in life and in the Lord to be all that God has created them to be. It may well mean them having to face circumstances well outside their comfort zone, to deal with difficulties and not prop them up when things are hard.

Previous generations in our Western culture had to face all manner of hardships whether it was poverty, unemployment or war. Young men and women were catapulted from home to the battlefield or had to fight hard to get a job and climb the ladder to succeed. 

It is so important that we do not pamper and over protect our youngsters so they never have to face any challenging circumstances. It is no wonder we have such a highly entitled generation when their every desire is met, often straight away. Learning to wait, to save, to persevere in prayer and reading the Bible, to keep going when you are not the most popular person but you are doing right when everyone else is pleasing themselves are life skills of immense value. It builds character, perseverance and teaches resilience. 

Race across the World put the contestants literally in completely unfamiliar territory and culture. Letting our young people go on mission to unfamiliar countries and letting them pray and raise the necessary money are great faith builders. However there are training grounds much nearer to home; serving well at church or school, helping those less fortunate than ourselves or getting out on the street for evangelism or praying for healing are very challenging but faith building.

Putting faith into action is essential and preferable before young people leave home and face the fresh challenges of university or jobs. Strengthening the younger generation and not protecting them from difficulties and hardship, though keeping them safe is essential.  Our young people will thank us for helping them push their boundaries to fulfil their God given destinies.  

Short term mission for children and young people

One of the greatest satisfactions of my life so far, outside the family, has been my involvement in taking children and young teenagers on short-term mission.

It all started after God poured out his Holy Spirit in the Christian school which my children were attending and where I was helping out. The hearts of stubborn, rebellious teenagers were melted by the love and grace of God. He became very real to them.  Everyone young and old was touched.

However one of the teachers was convicted by the Holy Spirit that children and teenagers receiving his love and getting a revelation of who God had made them to be was not enough. There needed to be an outflow.  The analogy used was that if you liberally watered a pot plant every day it would become waterlogged and would drown in the very thing that was meant to give it life. 

Two key verses came out of that time.

Matthew 19: 14 Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.

Psalm 8: 2 Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

The Kingdom of God is for children just as much as for adults. They too were to be ones to preach the Gospel, heal the sick, open blind eyes, see the lame walk and bring the Kingdom to others. Their praise was also essential in the overthrow of Satan’s world. In fact these children and teenagers needed to prove their faith, to find out for themselves that God was indeed Almighty, their Saviour, their peace, God was a healer, a provider and so on.

Eventually after many events and prayer meetings a short-term young people’s mission group was set up. Dawn Kids (from Isaiah 58: 8) started by performing dances, dramas and songs locally and then internationally. There were mission trips to Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia and Finland visiting schools and churches. In later years there were more short-term missions to Czech Republic, Latvia and Germany.

These missions had a profound effect on the young people as, away from home, they had to rely on God to be all they needed.  They grew in their faith and planted foundations in their lives on which to build in the future.

From this group, we started Arrows of Fire at our church which went to many churches and youth groups in UK but also to Romania and South Africa. This was also the result of God moving by His Spirit in our church following the Toronto outpouring. Short-term mission became available to young people and adults.

Once more the profound effect on these young people of going to Romania and taking the Gospel to orphanages was life changing. Surely the most heart breaking was going to an orphanage, more like an asylum for mentally and physically handicapped people. None of us will forget that day. We truly went and visited the least of them (Matthew 25: 40)

None of us will know this side of eternity what effect these visits had but the memories are wonderful. Away from home, God was able to minister not just through the young people but into their lives as well.

The mission to South Africa was also very significant for us all.  For many to work for and pray in the necessary money was quite an experience and the young people truly came to understand that God was their provider. To be such a long way from home was a challenge for young people aged 11 – 16.  Part of the mission was to go up to Venda, one of the poorest areas of South Africa. We stayed in mud huts with no running water and long drop toilets outside. 

Again God met with us and we met with him including at a team meeting under the warm South African skies. This mission was inspiring and who knows what fruit came from our visit. After a few years God gently closed the door on Arrows of Fire though Dawn Kids continues with biennial visits abroad.

The fruit we do know about is in the hearts and lives of those who went on the short-term missions. They are now in their late 20’s and 30’s, many with young families of their own. We have pastors, worship pastors, worship leaders, missionaries, small group leaders and the vast majority going on with God and serving in their churches whilst holding down responsible jobs and bringing up families. Some still love to visit and minister in other countries.

I always encouraged them to press on and not give up. That wonderful though these years were, they were not a destination but a starting point of a life serving God.  I am told these young people still love to watch the grainy old videos of these mission trips.  They are happy memories for them.

Incredibly moving for me is when I meet one of them or they write to me and tell me how foundational these times were for them.  Just this week I had a message from one young man.

I particularly want to express my gratitude to you both for all that you did for me as a young man.

The way you opened your arms and lives to embrace me and many others. The way you gave selflessly to Arrows of Fire. The way you modelled a Christ Centred life, devoted to the Gospel and Kingdom. The way you invited us to follow that same path.

The countless hours on the phone. The patience for all the immaturity. The compassion for all the ups and downs. The way you committed yourselves to individuals seeing what God saw and not what man saw. The time that you invested in bringing us into maturity and bringing us on in the journey.

The opportunities that you provided for us to experience God at work and the on-going need for us to love the poor and needy. The on-going need for compassion, grace, mercy and wisdom for the world, in everyday life.

The grace you displayed to us, even when our immaturity lead to down right stupidity.

You allowed us to see the world, and to see where God has placed us in it. You allowed us to experience that Christ in us, really is the answer to a lost and dying world.

You created unshakeable foundations in lives that would go on to live for Jesus; foundations that were prepared for untold plans and purposes that still unfold today.

I am so humbled by this.  It wasn’t just me but many of us invested in these lives through Dawn Kids and Arrows of Fire. We all played a vital role. 

My challenge now is that there is a fresh generation that need a revelation that the Kingdom of God is for them and not just the adults. Many churches do provide opportunities for young people to ‘go into all the world’ but most of these are for older teenagers not children and young teenagers.

Our churches and schools need a fresh move of God. Hearts and lives need to be touched by God’s love and grace so they too can go and share it with a dying and needy world.

Inevitably I have telescoped 10 incredible years into a few short paragraphs. Apologies to those who participated in these times that I have left out many amazing moments.  Thanks to everyone who hosted and arranged one of our missions especially Stuart Angus who lived in Znojmo, Czech Republic, Liviu Avisola in Botosani Romania, John Wasserman and Mike Humphreys in Johannesburg, South Africa.