195 Sermon Illustrations on Commitment

Luke 9:60 “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

In the 1941 movie “King’s Row” a man’s legs were amputated by a vengeful surgeon. When the patient woke up and became aware of his loss, he asked, “Where is the rest of me?” The actor was Ronald Reagan, who in 1965 chose that question as the title of his autobiography.

“Where is the rest of me?” is a good question to ask in my relationship to God. When I am in church, my body is present, but where is my mind? As a disciple I have given only a part of myself to the Lord — perhaps my words but not my deeds, some of my possessions but not my heart. In my daily work I go through the motions of doing my job; I work with my hands but not with my full mental talents. Always the question: “Where is the rest of me?”

Jesus rules out the possibility of dividing one’s loyalty, giving half of it to Him and half to mammon, the god of worldly wealth. During His earthly ministry He encountered persons who wanted to go with Him only a part of the way, who followed Him with mental reservations, who laid hands on the plow and then looked back, not sure about their decision.

Our Lord was wholeheartedly committed to His mission and ministry as the world’s Savior. He declared, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). When we reverse the reference numbers, we get Matthew 28:20, where Jesus commits us to the Great Commission of making disciples for Him. The familiar hymn “Take My life, O Lord, Renew, Consecrate My Heart to You” goes into detail: Take my moments and my days, take my hands, feet, voice, intellect, will heart, love, and then also my silver and my gold.

Where is the rest of me? Lord it’s all here — here with You and for You.

PRAYER: Lord, grant me a greater love for You, so that I may be moved to serve You with all my heart, soul, and mind. Amen.

1. I am resolved no longer to linger,

Charmed by the world’s delight;

Things that are higher, things that are nobler,

These have allured my sight.

Chorus

I will hasten to Him,

Hasten so glad and free,

Jesus, greatest, highest,

I will come to Thee.

2. I am resolved to go to the Saviour,

Leaving my sin and strife;

He is the true one, He is the just one,

He hath the words of life.

3. I am resolved to follow the Saviour,

Faithful and true each day;

Heed what He sayeth, do what He willeth,

He is the living way.

4. I am resolved to enter the kingdom,

Leaving the paths of sin;

Friends may oppose me, foes may beset me,

Still will I enter in.

5. I am resolved, and who will go with me?

Come, friends, without delay,

Taught by the Bible, led by the Spirit,

We’ll walk the heavenly way.

Sermon in Family series. Philippians 2:1-4

SIX SECRETS FOR SATISFYING RELATIONSHIPS

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I. How to have a satisfying relationship.

A. Everyone wants at least one.

B. Satisfying relationships don't just happen.

C. Improve your relationships.

II. Six secrets of satisfying relationships:

A. Communication.

B. Consideration. Phil 2:4, 1 Pet 3:7

C. Compromise. Phil 2:2

D. Courtship. Prov 5:18-19, Eccl 9:9

E. Commitment. Mal 2:16

F. Christ. Phil 2:5

III. Satisfying relationships are not accidents.

A. They take hard work.

B. The greatest challenges.

C. The greatest rewards.

[Outline is probably based on a series by Rev. Rick Warren]

I was just attending church the other Sunday, not speaking there but worshiping like all the rest, when I sensed the Lord begin to stir in my spirit. I knew He had something to say to the church - the church-at-large, I believe. As I walked to the podium in obedience to His prompting, this is what I heard in my spirit.

There's a question on the hearts of most of God's people today. And it is: “What is God doing?” “I've given Him everything. I've tried to serve Him. I've followed him. I...and yet, things are not going smoothly in my life. I pay my tithe, and I'm still struggling financially. I've believed Him for healing and wholeness, and I still ache. I lay down my burdens every time I get up in the morning, and yet by the end of the day, they're still there or back again.”

We could ask, “What's wrong with this church?” Or this one (wherever you attend)? So many negative things keep happening to people. Sicknesses, financial disasters, family problems, accidents, catastrophic diseases. And we conclude, this church must be out of order or have the wrong staff. Or too much choir. Too much, you know, music. Or, not enough this-or-that.

WHAT IS GOD DOING IN THE BODY OF CHRIST TODAY, AND WHY?

I believe God is establishing His Kingdom - now!

Why are we so amazed at things when the Book is so explicitly clear about them? “Many are the afflictions of the righteous” (Ps. 34:19). “Count it all joy when... Knowing this...” (Jam. 1:2, 3). “The trial of your faith...” (1 Pet. 1:7). “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial...” (1 Pet. 4:12).

So, if you don't want to have problems, live on the border. Keep one foot in the church, but the other in your world. Don't make this heavy commitment by singing along, “I'm Yours, Lord. Everything I've got...” Don't make that kind of commitment. Just make a humming commitment “Hummmmm. Lord, I'm sort of Yours if I agree and like the things You want for me.” Come to church and listen to the songs, then sing only the ones you agree with. Listen to a sermon based on articulation, pronunciation, and theology - and vote on it, deciding if you agree with the Word presented. You see, that's the way that the enemy will leave you alone!

When you make a commitment, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,” (Josh. 24:15), and “though He slay me, yet will I serve Him,” (Job 13:15), all hell begins to quake because there is power in that kind of life!! You want a powerful life? Then, don't expect a trouble-free one. Look for the promise of His grace to be sufficient to see you through. (2 Cor. 12:9; Isa. 43:2,3; Dan. 3:17,18,25).

THE PURPOSE OF THE PASSION

You see, God is doing something so unique in the Body of Christ. Do you understand that? You know what the church is? The whole purpose of the Passion that we saw, not the movie but of the cross itself, was so that Christ could be made the head of the church - and that God could be revealed therein.

That is our purpose. The church isn't just for an occasional “Bless me.” The whole reason for blessing is to be a bless-er. The whole reason for salvation and baptism and communion and fellowship and friendship and life-change is to demonstrate Him, God Almighty! It's not about you. It's not about me. It's not about what we desire. It's all about Him!

Now, I do not in any way minimize hurt. I am not saying, “Well, just get over it.” I said that when I was young and had no “troubles.” You don't just get over hurt so simply. But every song we've sung today in this place gives the answer to any problem here - it isn't just “get over” - it's “look beyond it.” Look unto the God of the hills (Ps. 121). Do not concentrate on the circumstances you're facing! It's a matter of focus.

There are several ways to go through something hard. You can go through it in self-pity and try to earn sympathy from those around you because you are in such a sorry state. “Oh, poor you.” Pity-parties are totally unproductive in the long run.

Or you can go through tough times by carrying a heavy burden, again attempting to gain emotional support from others as they observe your downcast appearance. “How are you today?” “Well...there are things going on.” There are always going to be things going on!

Or we can do what we sing over and over in our precious times of worship. We can lift our hands and hearts in praise to God, in spite of all we see and live through. We can say, “Lord, I don't have to understand the why of everything or the wherefore of everything. I just join the psalmist in saying, 'God is our refuge! And God is our strength!'“ (Ps. 46; 34)

YOU CAN TAKE IT

Don't ever say to me, “I can't take it anymore.” Excuse me, but the Good Book said you can! “I just can't go through any more. I'm telling you...” We whine. Your Creator says, “You're strong enough. You can do this! I am helping you!” (1 Cor. 10:13; Ps. 125; 1 Pet. 2:9)

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). What do you think that means? “Well, I thought it meant...” It means that every day of your life, you can get up and radiate the glorious presence of the Almighty God within you, walking out among the godless all around you. If you think things are going to get easier, my friend, you're not reading the Book! “He that is filthy, let him be filthier still” (Rev. 22:11).

The separation is on right now - the holy from the profane (Ezek. 22:26; 44:23). We're seeing things my generation never imagined we would see. We're experiencing things we never imagined we would experience in our lifetime - and in the United States of America - in a country that dares to stand together and sing, “God Bless America.” We are now seeing anarchy and opposition and lies - deceit right in the open - every day - every day - every day. Our nation, once founded and based on Christian principles, beliefs, and tenets, is now in a constant state of compromising the things of God. The church is even in dangerous fellowship with the world instead of the pure fellowship with the Christ.

You go to work and are far more exhausted today than you used to be, putting in the same number of hours of work. Why is that? The work isn't harder. Hello!

A CONSTANT STATE OF WAR

It isn't the job that's getting you down. It's that we are continually in a war! A constant spirit battle is waged against the righteous, those who have made the kind of commitment God is looking for from all of us. He says, “They're Mine!” And the enemy says, “They're not going to last.”

“God is our refuge!” “God is our strength.” Psalm 46. Listen to it again. You know it too well, that's why it doesn't mean anything any more. You have it on a plaque in your house. You've memorized it, and so it's just familiar. Listen to it! “A very present help.”

What do you need right now? I mean, NOW. I'm talking about right NOW! “Well, I just want Him to take care of all these problems, to deliver me from this mess.” Wrong prayer!

God is determined to strengthen you. He is going to have a strong and mighty Kingdom. And it's going to be made up of the most unlikely people - like you and me. They don't expect big changes to be made by “us.”

You say, “I've been asking God to just, you know, put me into politics, or a position of real authority - that when I speak, it would be like E.F. Hutton - and people will listen to me and then I'll have a testimony.”

Oh, no. It's the little people like us who just stand up and say, “Look what the Lord has done!” You can't say that if you've never been through anything! But when we come through some things, God will see to it that we are placed with others who need to hear His encouragement - “God is our refuge,” and, “God is our strength,” and, “God is our help,” and, “God is out to do us good by strengthening us...” And we will be the very ones to tell them this Good News!

PAST THE HALFWAY MARK

We have come more than halfway through the tunnel of life on earth. When we start out, we meet the Lord as Savior, and we know it's going to be a long journey. But church - I'm speaking to the church in general - we are more than halfway through the tunnel. Now, think about it. You start walking. It's dark ahead and you don't know exactly where you're going, but there's a lot of light in the opening of that tunnel. So, “Praise God. I just trust Him to lead the way. This is great.” And then you reach a point where you can no longer see a light ahead. When many people get to that first sign of darkness, they turn their backs on it and walk back. They retreat to that beginning area where they had some light. And then, in time, they start out all over again. We must press on in the dark and trust Him for the light to come.

The majority of churches that are meeting today, in the Name of Jesus, are not preaching this kind of a message. They tend to go back over the same ground, and many of the same people answer the same altar call, week after week after week. And there appears to be little or no progress in their spiritual growth. They stagnate right where they began - “saved” and going to heaven, but not walking in the Light they have. No wonder it was important to be written: “Forgetting those things which are behind, I reach for those things which are ahead. I press toward the mark...” (Phil. 3:13).

Now, as you keep retracing your steps backward, our merciful God will always take you back. Yes, He will. “Oh, well, I think I've committed the unpardonable sin. I can't go back to Him.” Not true if you're conscious of it. That's the conviction of the Holy Spirit so you can confess, forsake, and get on with it!

NO GOING BACK!

We need to say, “I'm not going back! I'm not retreating just because I don't know everything that lies ahead. I don't know how I'm going to get to a city not made with hands, but I have a promise! I have God's promise that I have enough strength to go on. He said, 'I AM your refuge. And I AM your fortress, and I AM a very present help.'“

Many of us made that commitment for salvation some time ago, and we have been pressing on into the Kingdom. And now we're way beyond the halfway mark. If you turn around now, it will be darker going back because you have now been heading into the Light without actually realizing how far you have come already.

We are going somewhere. As individuals, we're going some place. As a church, we are going to that place where God is making His presence known in the assembly of His Body; where He is consistently there as we gather to praise Him and worship Him and fellowship with Him and the members of His Body.

Would you give that up? Not for anything! So, “whatever it takes for this will, my own will, to break, Lord. Whatever it takes, Lord, for us to get closer to You. We have made this determination - we have to know You! And this beacon is going to be a Light that shines brighter and brighter and brighter.”

STAGNATION

You will see churches rise. You'll see churches fall. You'll see churches rise and stagnate. The church - you're going to hate this but it's true - the churches that stagnate will have the most people. It is not an easy choice to press on with God. “Many are the afflictions...” and many will find their contentment in knowing they have secured their eternity with God - period. They will not risk going through the darkness, or the floods, or the fire (Isa. 43:2), even though God's promise is sure: “I will be with you...” (Isa. 43:2).

Don't you worry about those churches. Don't try to pick them out or in any way identify them. We are not to look at them with any negatives in mind, but we are to recognize that there is a very high calling of God to press on with Him. And there is also a high cost we will pay as we choose this way. But, church, it will be worth whatever the cost.

Some rough roads have been plowed already to get us to this point. We dare not become discouraged now. Things have never been brighter for us! Church, things have never been more promising for us! It is true that we still hold in our hearts unfulfilled prophetic promises that I know - I KNOW - that He who has promised is faithful - who also will do it. (Heb. 10:23; Phil. 1:6; 2:13)

________

Delivered April 25, 2004 at the River of Life Tabernacle, Phoenix, Arizona.

*

In response to the Daily Encounter titled, “Cheaters Never Win,” one man whom I will call Fred wrote saying. “My wife left and divorced me. Now she is remarried. She has moved on. I’m in dreadful pain and can’t seem to move on. She cheated … I didn’t. She broke the rules … I didn’t. She’s happy … I’m not. She seems to have won … I lost.

It appears to Fred that his former wife won. However, the issue isn’t about her — whether she is a winner or not — as Fred can’t change her. For Fred the issue is about him and whether he chooses to become a winner rather than seeing himself as a loser.

And yes, it hurts real badly. There are few things in life more painful than rejection. When a marriage fails, it can be extremely difficult to see but if one can see beyond his present circumstances, be still and listen with his heart, he will hear God’s wakeup call and see that God wants him to grow and become a much healthier and more fulfilled person.

The point is that what we see we will become. That is, if I see myself as a loser, a loser I will be. If I see myself as a winner, a winner I will be. As Jesus said to the blind men, “According to your faith will it be done to you.” And what is faith? It is visualizing or seeing what God wants you to be and, with his help, acting on what you see to make it happen.

As I said to Fred, “Your situation is God’s wakeup call for you to grow and become the person God wants you to be. This will take time, commitment, and hard work, but if you get into a good recovery program and work on your character issues and grow, you will become a true winner. To begin, ask God to face you with the truth about you, to reveal to you any and all character issues you need to work on, and to lead you to the help you need to recover and grow.

The fact is that in every loss, setback, and heartbreak, God wants to use it as a wakeup call for us to grow and become healthier, whole, and fulfilled persons. The choice is ours. Remember: What you see God wants you to be will be.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to look beyond my present circumstances and see with faith’s eye exactly what you want me to become. Show me what I need to do and lead me to the help I need so to be. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Living for Jesus a life that is true,

Striving to please Him in all that I do,

Yielding allegiance, glad-hearted and free–

This is the pathway of blessing for me.

Chorus:

O Jesus, Lord and Saviour

I give myself to Thee,

For Thou in Thine atonement

didst give Thyself for me,

I own no other Master–

my heart shall be Thy throne;

My live I give, henceforth to live,

O Christ, for Thee alone.

2. Living for Jesus who died in my place,

Bearing on Calv’ry my sin and disgrace–

Such love constrains me to answer His call,

Follow His leading and give Him my all.

3. Living for Jesus through earth’s little while

My dearest treasure the light of His smile,

Seeking the lost ones He died to redeem,

Bringing the weary to find rest in Him

This declaration was publicly read by members of Saddleback Community Church at Angel Stadium on the church's 25th anniversary.

THE ANGEL STADIUM DECLARATION

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Today I am stepping across the line. I'm tired of waffling, and I'm finished with wavering. I've made my choice; the verdict is in; and my decision is irrevocable. I'm going God's way. There's no turning back now!

I will live the rest of my life serving God's purposes with God's people on God's planet for God's glory. I will use my life to celebrate his presence, cultivate his character, participate in his family, demonstrate his love, and communicate his Word.

Since my past has been forgiven, and I have a purpose for living and a home awaiting in heaven, I refuse to waste any more time or energy on shallow living, petty thinking, trivial talking, thoughtless doing, useless regretting, hurtful resenting, or faithless worrying. Instead I will magnify God, grow to maturity, serve in ministry, and fulfill my mission in the membership of his family.

Because this life is preparation for the next, I will value worship over wealth, “we” over “me,” character over comfort, service over status, and people over possessions, position, and pleasures. I know what matters most and I'll give it all I've got. I'll do the best I can with what I have for Jesus Christ today.

I won't be captivated by culture, manipulated by critics, motivated by praise, frustrated by problems, debilitated by temptation, or intimidated by the devil. I'll keep running my race with my eyes on the goal, not the sidelines or those running by me. When times get tough and I get tired, I won't back up, back off, back down, back out, or backslide. I'll just keep moving forward by God's grace. I'm Spirit-led, purpose-driven, and mission-focused, so I cannot be bought, I will not be compromised, and I shall not quit until I finish the race.

I'm a trophy of God's amazing grace so I will be gracious to everyone, grateful for every day, and generous with everything that God entrusts to me.

To my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I say: However, whenever, wherever, and whatever you ask me to do, my answer in advance is yes! Wherever you lead and whatever the cost, I'm ready. Anytime. Anywhere. Any way. Whatever it takes Lord; whatever it takes! I want to be used by you in such a way that on that final day I'll hear you say, “Well done, thou good and faithful one. Come on in, and let the eternal party begin!”

________

This article is printed from the website www.PurposeDriven.com. Copyright 2005 by Rick Warren. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

*

I was intrigued to read the newspaper account of Julia “Butterfly” Hill, who, until recently [she came down Dec. 18, 1999], spent 738 days aloft in a tree. The 25-year-old environmental activist lived 18 stories up in a 600-year-old California redwood in order to protest the logging practices of a lumber company.

“I gave my word to this tree, the forest, and to all the people that my feet would not touch the ground until I had done everything in my power to make the world aware of this problem and to stop the destruction,” Hill pledged.

Because of her beliefs, she “spent two years bathing in a bucket, hauling food and supplies by rope and sleeping under a tarp on the 8-by-8 foot plywood platform,” reported USA Today. “She cooked her vegetarian meals on a propane stove, using provisions her supporters brought every two days. She even spoke at rallies via cellular phone.”

Her high-profile protest triggered a promise from the lumber company that they would spare the tree and the surrounding 2.9 acres. Hill now has visitation rights to the tree with the company’s permission.

No doubt, Hill has been dismissed by critics as a fruitcake. After all, who in their right mind would undergo that kind of sacrifice on behalf of an old tree? But the more that I thought about her story the more I began to be haunted by the words of Jesus, “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. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:24-26).

In the comforts of my barricaded evangelical subculture, I have been asking myself if I am as devoted to the cross as Julia Hill was to that redwood. Ultimately, I have become unsettled and agitated at my lack of passion for Jesus Christ. Oh, I love him. I just don’t always understand him. In other words, what exactly do the words of Jesus mean for me in 21st century North America? Sadly, I don’t have a neatly packaged response. Instead, it is the continuation of a wrestling in my spirit — something that I believe the Holy Spirit enjoys.

I have not become despondent, nor am I riddled with guilt. Rather, I have become more provocatively aware of how my life differs so radically from the lives of the early disciples of Jesus who gloried in seeing the unveiling of the kingdom of God in their midst.

Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12, emphasis mine). Don’t you wish one of the disciples would have asked, “Now, Jesus, what exactly do you mean by that? Could you be more specific?”

In taking Jesus at his word, I believe that the every Christian has the Holy Spirit power to heal the sick, cast out demons, feed the hungry, care for the unlovely, and proclaim the kingdom of God. In other words, every disciple of Christ has been given a faith worth living and dying for. Instead of merely rationalizing the fact that contemporary Christianity largely looks nothing like the New Testament, I want to see the words of Jesus become a modern-day reality.

The late John Wimber used to tell the story of seeing a man in Los Angeles wearing a sandwich board sign that read on the front, “A fool for Christ’s sake!” On the back it read, “Whose fool are you?” St. Paul wrote that the “message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18).

In all of the media coverage surrounding the case of Julia Hill, there was one thing she said that struck me. When asked how she was able to live up in the tree under such horrendous conditions, she replied, “The only way to survive is to become one with the tree.” For the Christian, I believe, the only way to walk out our salvation is to live in the shadow of the cross through the power of the resurrection.

“I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross,” writes John Stott, in his book The Cross of Christ (InterVarsity). “In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it?” As Dorothy Sayer has written, “for whatever reason God chose to make man as he is — limited and suffering and subject to sorrows and death — he had the honesty and courage to take his own medicine. Whatever game his is playing with his creation, he has kept his own rules and played fair.”

A hymnist wrote,

“So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,

Till my trophies at last I lay down;

I will cling to the old rugged cross,

and exchange it some day for a crown.”

Cross-bearing may not be popular or easy to obey, but I am convinced it is the route to the fullness of joy. It is in the center of his sacrifice for us, that we find peace and understanding for the pain we experience on this side of the new Jerusalem. It is the only thing worth depending upon when you are living out on a limb.

________

Steve Beard is the editor of Good News magazine and the founder of thunderstruck.org.

Can we live without loyalty? James Q. Wilson argues that the decline of marriage and loyalty now threatens to undermine our social cohesiveness and to produce a generation that cares little about loyalty and prizes freedom over character.

James Q. Wilson is one of America's foremost public intellectuals. His writings launched a revolution in our understanding of crime and social dysfunction and his insights into our cultural crisis provide some of the most insightful analysis and constructive arguments yet to be found. Now serving as the Ronald Reagan Professor of Public Policy at Pepperdine University, Wilson sees the decline of marriage as a central threat to civilization itself.

In “The Ties That Do Not Bind: The Decline of Marriage and Loyalty,” published in the Fall issue of In CHARACTER, Wilson address the decline of marriage within its larger social context -- arguing that our current marriage crisis is rooted in a basic failure to reconcile the values of character and freedom.

“Of all of the relationships into which people enter, the family is the most important,” Wilson asserts. “We are raised by parents, confronted with siblings, and introduced to peers through our familial roots. Indeed, human character arises out of the very commitments people make to others in their family or outside of it. Marriage, of course, is the supreme form of that commitment.”

Thus, when marriage is marginalized, character suffers. Wilson knows the statistics. Married couples are happier, in the main, than unmarried persons, and married couples and their children are less likely to commit crimes. Of course, the virtues of marriage far exceed those statistical indicators. Nevertheless, the social fallout caused by the marginalization of marriage is easy to document.

Wilson understands that our current cultural crisis is deeply rooted in a larger intellectual context. He sees the essential tension that produces America's culture war as a battle between character and freedom. “The Western world is the proud beneficiary of the Enlightenment, that cultural and intellectual movement that espoused freedom, endorsed scientific inquiry, and facilitated trade,” he explains. “But for a good life, mere freedom is not sufficient. It must work with and support commitment, for out of commitment arises the human character that will guide the footsteps of people navigating the tantalizing opportunities that freedom offers.” As Wilson sees it, freedom and character “are not incompatible, but keeping them in balance is a profound challenge for any culture.”

Wilson brings the issue of loyalty to the forefront of his argument on behalf of marriage. The language of loyalty is central to any consideration of the morality of social life, but Wilson offers unique insights into how the virtue of loyalty is foundational to the very idea of marriage.

Is loyalty always a virtue? Wilson acknowledges that loyalty cannot be the supreme moral good, for it is possible to be loyal to the wrong cause, the wrong authority, or the wrong association. As he remarks, “A Nazi is not regarded as a moral person because he is loyal to Nazism.”

Thus, Wilson proposes that loyalty as a positive virtue should be defined as “the natural sociability of people.” Accordingly, “A loyal person is someone who is attached to other people for the long term based on a deep sense of what is due to them.”

In some, Wilson argues that a sense of loyalty is a civilizational essential and that the context of the family -- with marriage at the center -- is essential to the inculcation of loyalty in the young. Sociopaths are produced when this essential commitment to loyalty is missing. The risk of producing sociopaths escalates significantly when a large number of children and adolescents lack the loyalty-building context of the family with married parents.

“The fundamental social institution that encourages loyalty is the family,” Wilson argues. “An infant is raised by one or two parents and acquires an attachment, usually a strong one, to these people.” Beyond this, the child develops attachments of loyalty to siblings, extended family, and peers as brought into the individual's life through the structure of the family and its life.

Looking to Western Europe and its ongoing experiment with radicalized social revolution, Wilson suggests that the more radical heirs of the Enlightenment are trying to reap the benefits of marriage while simultaneously undermining the institution. He correctly points to the fact that a growing number of activists and ideologues in the United States are urging this country to follow the same example.

This process is being aided and abetted by the United States Supreme Court. As Wilson recounts: “In the late nineteenth century it spoke of marriage as a 'sacred obligation' and a 'holy estate' that was the source of civilization itself. By 1972 it had abandoned any such reference and said instead that marriage is 'an association of two individuals, each with a separate emotional and intellectual makeup.’ Marriage was once a sacrament, then it became a sacred obligation, and now it is a private contract.”

The embrace of cohabitation as an alternative to marriage has accelerated the decline of marital commitment. “Men and women who cohabit have only a weak incentive to pool their resources and to put up with the inevitable emotional bumps that come from sharing an apartment and a bed,” Wilson explains. Couples choose to cohabitate rather than to marry precisely because they do not want to be bound by the public commitment that marriage represents. Furthermore, the stigma and shame associated with unmarried cohabitation -- and with having children out of wedlock -- has largely evaporated.

“Why does marriage beget loyalty when cohabitation does not?,” Wilson asks. “The difference is that marriage follows a public, legally recognized ceremony in which each person swears before friends and witnesses to love, honor, and cherish the other until death parts them. Cohabitation merely means shacking up.”

Interestingly, Wilson traces a growing cultural recognition that the decline of marriage is detrimental to the society. Nevertheless, the majority of Americans appear unwilling to do anything about the problem. Furthermore, the problem becomes more acute among the young. Wilson notes that sixty percent of high school seniors think that cohabiting before marriage is likely to lead to greater happiness if the couple should ever choose to marry. The exact opposite is the case, of course. A mountain of statistical evidence and research indicates that cohabitation prior to marriage actually WEAKENS any future marriage. Wilson cites sociologist Barbara Dafoe Whitehead's argument that “cohabitation is not to marriage what spring training is to baseball.”

Wilson sees some signs of hope on the horizon. As he presents his case, he admits that there is “no magic bullet” that will quickly lead to a recovery of marriage and its central loyalties in the near future. Our society has actually created financial and legal incentives to avoid marriage, to give birth to children out of wedlock, and to dissolve marriages at will. In the end, however, James Q. Wilson argues that a recovery of marriage and the virtue of loyalty that marriage and family uniquely inculcate will be essential to the future of our civilization. Once again, the issue comes back to the tension between character and freedom. “In every aspect of our lives we accept limits to freedom,” Wilson explains, “but in the case of the limits set by marriage we gain a great deal in return: longer, healthier lives; better sex; and decent children. Loyalty to spouse and children and relatives enhances our capacity to enjoy the freedom we have.”

Wilson's analysis affirms the essential goodness of marriage and its central place in civilization. This important article represents both a warning and a sign of hope.

*

For thousands of years the eagle has been respected for its grandeur. When you observe its flight, its great wing span, and the power of its claws, it is inspiring, to say the least. In Proverbs 30:18, Proverbs 30:19, Solomon says, "There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not. The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the mist of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid." The eagle does not travel in flocks nor do they conduct themselves irresponsibly. Strong of heart and solitary, they represent qualities we admire.

The eagle mates for life and returns each year to the same nest, making necessary repairs and additions. He takes his role to provide for his family and protect them from danger, and teaches the little eaglets to fly. With all this: responsibility, liberty, beauty, stability, and a lot more admirable traits of the eagle's makeup and such qualities, we agree with Solomon's view that it is nothing short of wonderful. The eagle is committed to that which he is destined to do, without concern for what is below him.

I would that we all were committed to our obligation of teaching and preaching the gospel as the eagle is committed to soaring in the heavens of God. If we could soar as the eagle without regards to the little petty issues of this life and do those things Jesus would have us to, we could have so much rest and contentment in doing those things that are required. We only have a few years to spend on this little planet, few are the ones who decide to ignore the average and fight against the pull of the mediocre magnet. Let's face it. It's tough! As the motto goes, "It's hard to soar like an eagle when I'm surrounded by so many turkeys." "Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spread them as we should" (Psalms 90:12).

An skilled surgeon, who was also a devout Christian, visited a lady who was a professed believer in Christ, but who, like some ladies I have heard of, was frequently troubled with imaginary diseases. The good doctor was frequently called in, until at last he said to her: "Madam, I will give you a prescription which I am certain will make a healthy woman of you, if you will follow it." "Sir," she said, "I shall be so glad to have good health that I will be sure to follow it." "Madam, I will send you the prescription this evening." When it arrived it consisted of these words, "Do good to somebody." She roused herself to relieve a poor neighbor, and then sought out others who needed her help, and the Christian woman, who had been so constantly despondent and nervous, became a healthy, cheerful woman, for she had an object to live for, and found joy in doing good to others.

-C. H. Spurgeon

"I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him" (2 Timothy 1:12).

On the point of faith's committal to God, Russell Sturgis has told a very beautiful story in illustration. A party of visitors at the national mint were told by a workman in the smelting-works that if the hand be dipped in water the ladle of molten metal might pour its contents over the palm without burning it. A gentleman and his wife heard the statement. "Perhaps you would like to try it?" said the workman. The gentleman said, shrinking back, "No, thank you. I prefer to accept your word for it!" Then turning to the lady, he said: "Perhaps, Madame, you would make the experiment." "Certainly," she replied; and suiting the action to the word, she bared her arm and thrust her hand into a bucket of water, and calmly held it out while the metal was poured over it. Turning to the man, the workman quietly said: "You, sir, believed; but your wife trusted.

How long shall we be in learning that in all true faith there is this element of entrustment-venture, committal?

Two plowshares were made from the same pig iron. One was sold to a farmer who used it constantly. The other remained on the shelf of the hardware store, unsold until it was covered with rust. The farmer brought his worn-out share to get another like it. The rusty share was brought out, and there was its brother shining like a silver mirror. "How is it," the rusty one asked, "that your life has been so wearing and yet has made you so beautiful? Once we were alike: I have grown ugly in spite of my easy life." "That is it," replied the shining share, "the beautiful life is the sacrificial life."

Human life is character-building; for remember that character means exactly what we are, while reputation is only what other people think we are. Every man builds his own character. Fix one fact in your mind, however, and that is, the better and stronger Christian you are, the more dearly you must pay for it. All the best things are costly. Jesus Christ laid down His life to redeem you from sin and death. "Free grace" for you meant Calvary for Christ. A strong, godly character is not to be had without cost.

Christ never asks for anything we cannot do.

But let us not forget that He always does expect and require of each of us the best we can do. The faithfulness Christ wants and approves implies the doing of all our work, our business, our trade, our daily toil, as well as we can. Let no one think that religion does not apply to private life. It applies to the way you do your most common work just as readily as to your praying and keeping of the commandments. Whatever your duty is, you cannot be altogether faithful to God unless you do your best. To slur any task is to do God's work badly; to neglect it is to rob God. The universe is not quite complete without your work well done, however small that work may be.

-J. R. Miller

To whom would you be willing to swear undying allegiance?

During the Crimean War between Russia and Britain's allies, the "Charge of the Light Brigade" took place in 1854. British confusion was at the core of this disaster. Out of approximately 600 British cavalrymen, 247 were either killed or wounded by Russian troops. Later, though, Britain would be the victor in the Crimea.

After the dust had settled, British poet, Alfred Lord Tennyson would describe the allegiance of those soldiers with these words:

Theirs not to make reply,

Theirs not to reason why,

Theirs but to do and die:

Into the valley of death

Rode the six hundred.

Unswerving consecration was and still is the foundation of military campaigns.

Are you that devoted to your Lord and Savior? Jesus once said, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate...even his own life...he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26). Later, the Apostle Paul would make this request: "I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices...this is your spiritual act of worship." Are you willing?

Remember: God sees your mediocre life and says, "Give it up, I've got something better."

________

Holwick: I am not sure the Charge of the Light Brigade is the most convincing illustration of consecration - after all, they were slaughtered.

I wouldn’t want George Barna tracking how well I keep my New Year’s resolutions.

But I probably need the reality check he would provide.

Barna, the Christian pollster and researcher, periodically exposes the wishful thinking and self-delusion many professing Christians in America practice. He does so by holding up a statistical mirror to what we say we believe -– and how we actually live.

It isn’t a pretty picture, but we need to look at it. His findings have major implications for all aspects of American church life, including missions.

In an end-of-year look back at his organization’s research, Barna selected what he considers the most significant findings for 2006 (check them out in detail at www.barna.org). They include the following:

• Large majorities of the American public consider themselves “deeply spiritual” and say their faith is “very important.” Yet only 15 percent of regular churchgoers rank their relationship with God as the top priority in their lives.

• The “vast majority” of professing believers no longer understand personal holiness as a basic Christian virtue. If they do, relatively few think it is attainable. Only 21 percent of adults consider themselves holy. Only 35 percent think God expects His people to become holy.

• Most American adults surveyed actively related to a church youth group at some point in their teens, but had “disengaged from organized religion” during their 20s.

• A comparison of Americans’ faith before and after the Sept. 11 attacks showed that five years later, no statistically significant change had occurred in key areas such as religious behaviors, beliefs and spiritual commitment.

• Only one in every six people believes spiritual maturity should be developed in the context of a local church or a greater community of faith.

• Americans are “very comfortable with religious faith. Most adults and even teenagers see themselves as people of faith,” Barna said. “(B)ut their faith is rarely the focal point of their life or a critical factor in their decision-making.... Very limited effort is devoted to spiritual growth. Most Americans experience ‘accidental spiritual growth’ since there is generally no plan or process other than showing up at a church and absorbing a few ideas here and there. Even then, few people have a defined understanding of what they are hoping to become as followers of Christ.”

It’s a discouraging analysis of the mile-wide, inch-deep landscape of American Christianity. But wait -– there’s more.

Barna also identifies a growing movement of what he calls “Christian Revolutionaries” -– believers who demonstrate much higher commitment to group worship, personal spiritual growth, Bible study and biblical beliefs, community ministry, evangelism and financial investment in Christian work.

Even more than self-professed “born-again” or “evangelical” believers, “Revolutionaries” have a clear sense of meaning and purpose; consider their relationship with God the top priority in their life; strive to love Him with all their hearts; believe they will spend eternity with Him only because they have confessed their sins and accepted Christ as personal Savior; and have made a personal commitment to Christ as Lord.

One of the most significant questions, however, is how –- and where -– this cohort of committed believers will practice their faith in the future. Barna sees them embracing diverse forms of leadership, fellowship and worship, including the rapidly expanding network of house churches. They will place more emphasis on “lifestyle affinities” and less on denomination, more emphasis on relationships and experiences and less on doctrine.

And they will make much greater use of new media technologies both to understand and express their beliefs.

Barna also expects the chasm between committed and casual believers to widen.

“The Revolutionary community -– which incorporates divergent but compatible groups of people who are seeking to make their faith the driving force of their life -– is reshaping American faith in ways which we are just beginning to understand,” he observed.

Amen to that. I haven’t even reached the “just beginning” stage in my understanding of these cultural shifts in the modern church. Barna is raising two key questions for all of us, whether or not we’re Revolutionary:

• Will these trends ultimately lead to the collapse of American Christian denominations as we know them –- or to renewal in new forms and expressions?

• Will the Revolutionaries lead a return to biblical faith in American Christianity –- or fall into conflicts and heresies through lack of commitment to doctrine?

I have a third question:

• Will the Revolutionaries participate in cross-cultural missions, and if so, how will they organize themselves to do it?

Do you know what it costs the kingdom of God when we live with a restricted commitment to Christ? Countless souls, useful Christian workers, and prayers that would have been answered. (James 4:3)

We are wholly surrendered to God . . .

1. When we say, “No matter what I want, Lord, Your will be done.” We start by acknowledging His right to be in control of our lives. Then we follow, even if He leads us where we don’t want to go.

2. When we stop bargaining with God. Our prayers often sound like this: “Lord, I am willing to do what You say if only You first help me [or heal me, or give me success in this venture … ]” As sinners condemned by our own nature and helpless to save ourselves, we have no basis for negotiation with God. He redeemed us with the shed blood of His Son and made us part of His family. Our allegiance to Him is to be wholehearted.

3. When we let go in order to receive from the Lord. Absolute surrender means we willingly relinquish our independence, self-determination, and personal preferences. (Matthew 10:39) By doing so, we position ourselves for an outpouring of God’s maximum blessing, full usefulness in His service, and deep fellowship with Him.

Because we are an open channel ready for God’s use, nothing obstructs the flow of His Spirit through our life and work. We will receive more than we ever give up. What has God brought to mind that you have not truly yielded to Him? Won’t you kneel down and surrender it today?

”I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,” — Ephesians 4:1

Have you committed your life to Christ? Do you mean to say you’re, “Committed For Life?” As in Life Imprisonment? You know, like “life sentence?” How happily we use the words, “I’ve committed my life to Christ.” Being committed to something or someone means being totally given over to that purpose or person. If you are committed to life imprisonment, that’s where you stay, forever. You cannot just walk out on it when you’ve had enough. The Apostle Paul referred to himself as “the prisoner of the Lord” because his commitment was total. He no longer belonged to himself, but to Jesus. He no longer did his own thing, he did the things of God. His commitment was for life. Consider this, not just life on earth — it goes beyond that — to eternity.

Our commitment to Christ is an eternal commitment. What a glorious assurance. Unless, of course, we break out, and spend the rest of our earthly lives on the run from God. How terrible the thought, how great the loss. How committed are you? If you were put on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

Many Christians are talking about a new or renewed desire to worship the Lord in a deeper, more meaningful way. But what is true worship – that worship the Bible calls worship “in spirit and in truth”? (John 4:24, KJV). What is the absolute essence, the common denominator, for all expressions of worship?

According to the scriptural pattern, this is the fundamental essence of worship: I bow my heart before God Almighty and acknowledge His supreme lordship over my life. The divine essence of worship is realized through total surrender of the worshiper to the One worshiped. Only as we choose to acknowledge God in all our ways (see Proverbs 3:6) and give Him control of our lives and destinies can we become true worshipers of God.

Regardless of whatever negative circumstances, emotional pain or personal loss we may be facing, when everything that surrounds our lives screams, “God is unjust! He doesn’t love me! He has forsaken me,” we experience true worship if we can bow our hearts and respond, “The Lord is God. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

The Old Testament patriarch Abraham is one of the most dramatic examples of the surrendered heart of a true worshiper. What was Abraham’s response when God asked him to sacrifice his son of promise, Isaac, on the mountain? He rose up early and took the lad with him for the three-day journey. When he arrived at the place of sacrifice, he told those who were with him, “I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you” (Genesis 22:5).

The son Abraham had waited so many years to receive was to be slain by his own hand at the command of God. Everything in a father’s heart would naturally react violently to such a command. Yet Abraham had learned to love and trust the God who had led him out of his homeland, made a covenant with him and spoken to him many times. This God, who had promised to give Abraham a son by his wife, Sarah, and had done so miraculously, could only be worshiped, even in the face of unspeakable pain and personal loss.

Imagine Abraham’s triumph and exhilaration when he heard the voice of the angel of the Lord reversing the command to slay his son, Isaac, and commending him for his fear of God! Abraham received not only his son back from death but also a new revelation of God Himself (see Hebrews 11:19).

When Abraham looked and beheld a ram caught in a thicket, the ram that God had sent to be the sacrifice instead of his son, he called the place Jehovah-Jireh, “the Lord will provide.” The place of obedient surrender of all we hold dear to the One we worship will bring a fresh revelation of Himself to us that will satisfy our hearts and continually reveal our eternal destiny.

Only a trusting heart can worship God when it is filled with pain to the point of breaking as Abraham’s was. When we feel overwhelmed and don’t know why God has allowed a painful situation to come into our lives, we must reaffirm our basic faith in Him through our worshipful surrender to His lordship. Job did this when he proclaimed, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him” (Job 13:15).

Though Job’s friends falsely accused him and laid their judgments on him, Job was nevertheless vindicated before God. He received a new revelation of God as a result of the tragedies he suffered and was able to declare: “I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth Thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6). His fresh revelation of God made Job abhor himself because of the contrast he saw between humanity and deity.

God responded by commending Job and rebuking his friends, saying, “My wrath is kindled against thee [Eliphaz], and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath” (Job 42:7). Then, after Job prayed for his friends, God restored Job’s fortunes and blessed his latter end more than his beginning. This worshiper triumphed through great tragedy by maintaining his surrender to the sovereignty of God.

The psalmist declared, “Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of Thy waterspouts” (Psalms 42:7). When everything seems to crash down on us like a roaring waterfall, we look deep within our hearts and call out to the depths of God’s heart to anchor our faith in God. Worship is the deep within us calling out to the deep in God. It is that expression of surrender from the depths of our souls that affirms our trust in God regardless of the pain or circumstances of our lives.

The apostle Paul admonished New Testament Christians to “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1). He understood that a surrendered life is the highest act of worship. As we consecrate our lives to God, they become a living sacrifice placed on the altar of surrender. Far from being extreme, a calling for just a few, the Bible calls this total surrender to God our “reasonable service.” Yielding to the Spirit of God by continually surrendering areas of our lives to the lordship of Christ helps us to experience true worship–worship in spirit and in truth.

Almost 100 years ago a great pandemic spread across the world. It was called the Spanish Flu, not because it originated there but because Spanish newspapers publicized it while papers in the United States and northern Europe censored it. We were at war and didn’t want the population to get upset.

As it was, the disease killed more people than the war did. It is estimated that 500 million people came down with the disease, and 50 to 100 million died. In the United States alone, 670,000 died. Life expectancy dropped 12 years per person.

Society began to disintegrate. In most disasters, people come together to help each other -- we have seen this in recent hurricanes in our country. In 1918, people only looked out for themselves. The head of Emergency Aid in Philadelphia pleaded for volunteers to help the sick. Almost no one came. Children starved to death because their parents had died, and no one would risk giving the kids food. The fear of contagion was overpowering.

In many industries, only half of the workers would show up. A worker at an emergency hospital in Philadelphia encountered so few cars on the road he took to counting them. One night, driving the 12 miles home, he saw not a single car. The life of the city had almost stopped.

Who was left to help? In Philadelphia, it was the priests who drove horse-drawn carts through the streets to pick up the bodies. During times of plague, for two thousand years, committed Christians have been willing to sacrifice themselves and take care of the sick, the hungry, and even the dead.

Would you lay your life on the line for the sake of your community? It is at times like that that you discover if you really believe God’s promises are true.

________

Adapted from "Journal of the Plague Year," by John M. Barry, Smithsonian magazine, November 2017, page 34-43.

We are united with a Christ who seems not to have done much of note for most of his life.

________

I was in youth group when I first heard that God had an extraordinary plan for my life. This plan would include seeing revival, winning converts, helping the poor, and traveling overseas to preach the gospel, dig wells, and serve orphans. I attended youth conferences like Acquire the Fire where I learned what it meant to be an “on-fire-for-God” Christian, and was then sent out to be — in the words of Delirious? — a “history maker.”

The idea that I had an incredible destiny was only reinforced by my own study of Scripture. When I read the Book of Acts for the first time as a senior in high school, I concluded that the lives and habits of the first Christians were the norm. Like Jesus, they healed the sick, raised the dead, cast out demons, opposed corrupt power structures, and preached to the masses. As Christians, our lives should take on the same quality as Jesus’, right?

Right. But could it be that the Jesus of the Bible, the Jesus of history, is less extraordinary than the Jesus of Christian conferences and our guilty consciences?

About a year ago, in the Christianity Today cover story “Here Come the Radicals,” Matthew Lee Anderson explored “radical” Christianity books from David Platt, Francis Chan, Shane Claiborne, and Kyle Idleman. Radicals, he noted, aim to understand what Jesus really meant in his teachings, what “radical abandonment to Jesus really looks like,” and “what it really means to follow Jesus.” For them, the “real” Christian life is radically abnormal.

Right now we’re in the middle of a backlash, with critics asking if radical Christianity is realistic or even sustainable. Instead of Radical, Greater, Weird, and Not a Fan, now we’re getting Boring: Finding an Extraordinary God in an Ordinary Life by Michael Kelley, Ordinary: Sustainable Faith in a Radical, Restless World by Michael Horton, Ordinary: How to Turn the World Upside Down by Tony Merida, and The Making of an Ordinary Saint by Nathan Foster. These books — even when they disagree — all have important and biblical things to say about ethics, discipleship, spiritual growth, mission, and church life. But they generally don’t focus on how the Incarnation determines the nature and trajectory of our lives as Christians.

I’m not talking about “What Would Jesus Do.” The doctrine of union with Christ, a major theme throughout the New Testament, is much deeper. In a nutshell, it tells us that we are one with Christ, like a husband and wife are one flesh. Christ lives in us, and we live in him. What’s ours is his, and what’s his is ours. The Son of God joined himself to humanity so that we might be joined to his divinity. But this doctrine doesn’t simply describe an association; it tells us that we actually participate in Christ’s life. We go where he goes — from the Cross to the grave to new life and the heavenly places. Our lives take on the very quality of his.

So will our lives be extraordinary? Most likely not. Most of his wasn’t.

The Incarnation in Full View

Jesus Christ is God incarnate. That’s the most extraordinary thing I can imagine. God the Son became a man; eternal, incorruptible Word put on frail human flesh. The infinite God subjected himself to the limitations of our world. Yet he remained fully God. He walked among us, performed countless miracles, publically shamed demons, confounded the most erudite men in his nation, and rose from the grave after being three days dead. And then he ascended into heaven and took a seat next to God the Father. His earthly life was one of a kind. He wasn’t simply a history maker; he forever altered history.

But this is only one part of the story, one volume in the series, as it were. Certain evidence — and the lack thereof — suggest that Christ’s life was also ordinary. Apart from Christ’s birth and a brief episode at the temple when he was 12, the Gospels tell us nothing of Jesus’ life before he entered ministry at about age 30. Sure, we know he was a carpenter (Mark 6:3) and that he regularly attended synagogue (Luke 4:16). He must have been fairly educated to be able to read Hebrew scrolls (Luke 4:16–20), so he most likely went to school. But apart from a few minor details like these, we know nothing about Jesus’ adolescent and young-adult years.

Maybe because there’s little from Jesus’ pre-ministry years that was “written that you may believe” (John 20:31). But the silence about this period in Jesus’ life indicates that the majority of his life — not just his childhood — was ordinary and unremarkable, at least when compared to his ministry years. After all, when Jesus started his ministry, people responded, “Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” (Mark 6:3) The crowd’s response implies Jesus didn’t stand out — at all. He was just like everyone else. So naturally, people were shocked when he revealed a different side of himself. They couldn’t believe that such an ordinary person, a carpenter from the small village of Nazareth, the son of Mary — who was likely suspect, at one point or another, for conceiving out of wedlock — could preach like the prophets of old and perform miracles like superstars in the Hebrew hall of fame.

When God the Son embraced our humanity, he didn’t just become a human. He took on our broken humanity and everything it entails, even the ordinary and mundane aspects of human life. He embraced work, family life, learning, growing, and monotony. Jesus lived an ordinary life for most of his years, and in so doing affirmed its goodness.

It’s Great to Be Ordinary

If Christ is the prototype for what God intended for humanity, our lives will certainly be marked by the ordinary and the mundane. In fact, the Incarnation tells us that God prefers to work through humble, run-of-the-mill circumstances. Fourth century martyr Theodotus of Ancyra explained it like this: In the Incarnation, God “chose surroundings that were poor and simple, so ordinary as to be almost unnoticed, so that people would know it was the Godhead alone that had changed the world.”

God is not like singer Beyoncé Knowles, who in the midst of her “Mrs. Carter Show” world tour made very explicit what she expects from her hosts in order to put on a good show. Reported requirements included that all crew members wear 100-percent cotton, that Alkaline water be chilled to 21 degrees and served with $900 titanium straws, and that bathrooms have new toilet seats and red toilet paper at every venue. And she uses dressings rooms built to accommodate entire sports teams.

God makes no such demands in order to work in and through us. Nor do the unfortunate, commonplace, or embarrassing conditions of our lives limit his work. The Incarnation turns the logic of our world on its head. As Paul said, “The weakness of God is stronger than human strength” (1 Cor. 1:25). God loves to work in and through the ordinary.

Still, many of us feel we would be more pleasing to God if our lives were extraordinary, if we were involved in some spectacular ministry, whatever that means. We like to venerate celebrity Christians — sometimes to our detriment. All too often we iconize people who lead megachurches and influential parachurch organizations, serve orphans overseas, or move into impoverished neighborhoods to minister to underprivileged minorities. If you’re like me, you’re probably filled with mixed emotions when you read the stories of these Christians: you’re encouraged, challenged, and perhaps overwhelmed. You might feel empowered by their work: “If they can do that, so can I!” You’re probably challenged: “Maybe God is calling me to serve more.” But you probably feel bewildered and somewhat ashamed as well: “My life doesn’t look like that. I’m a lousy Christian.”

Thankfully, the gospel doesn’t require us to live an exceptional life. It actually points us in the opposite direction. Paul encourages us to “lead a quiet life.” He explains, “You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody” (1 Thess. 4:11–12). Some commentators interpret Paul’s instruction this way: Try earnestly, and consider it an honor, to live an ordinary life.

Mother Teresa, in her book No Greater Love, encourages us to do the same:

Do not pursue spectacular deeds ... . In the work we have to do it does not matter how small and humble it may be, make it Christ’s love in action ... . What matters is the gift of yourself, the degree of love that you put into each one of your actions.

That is good news! The Christian stay-at-home mom with four kids, barista, janitor, or injured construction worker on disability can lead just as meaningful and “Christian” a life as the missionary, social worker, or conference speaker. The homely side of the Incarnation tells us it’s okay to attend an ordinary church, to have an ordinary job, to live in an ordinary house in an ordinary suburb. We can spread the gospel and the love of Christ in whatever context God has placed us.

In no way, however, does this justify spiritual lethargy. God wants all Christians to embody and live out the gospel in some form or another. And to be sure, he indeed calls certain people to express their faith in singular ways. If so, “God will surely let him understand and in that case will also help him further,” as philosopher Søren Kierkegaard explained. But for most of us, life will be ordinary.

At the same time, our lives will often be necessarily countercultural. Christian faith defies cultural norms and human reason. We profess faith in a triune God and in a Savior who is both fully human and fully divine. Scripture calls us to celebrate crucifixion, rejoice in suffering, and hope for a physical resurrection. It instructs us to love our enemies, help the poor, care for orphans and widows, and tend to the sick. Our faith is radical indeed when compared to the world around us. But radical is not synonymous with extraordinary, as some are wont to conclude. Neither is ordinary synonymous with complacent or hypocritical. In Christ, we can live meaningful, gospel-centered lives in the midst of the ordinary and the mundane. That plain truth is a relief.