You Can’t
Have the Destination
Without the Journey
I recently heard a
sermon series entitled “Starting Strong, Finishing Strong.” As this series
title indicates, there is more to the Christian life than just becoming a
Christian. Being a Christian is not just a one-time act. It is a process
or journey. It continues throughout our life on this earth. For the
Christian, the beginning is the Cross and the destination is heaven and
eternal life. But we can’t have the destination, without the journey. And
the journey is our Christian walk in life.
At the cross, we
accept the gift of salvation. The gift of salvation is free. We can’t earn
it. We can’t buy it. All we can do is believe and accept it. For most
people, this is the easy part. After the logic and reasoning are
completed, all one has to do is believe and accept. And whoever believes,
receives.
We have several biblical references and promises
pertaining to the free gift of salvation. In Romans 1:16 it says, “I
am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the
salvation of everyone who believes.”
And in Romans 5:8, it reads, “But God
demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.”
So you see, there
can be little doubt about the beginning and the gift of salvation, bought
and paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross.
The
result of accepting the free gift of salvation is eternal life in heaven.
And as with the gift, there are several biblical promises pertaining to
eternal life, also.
Jesus himself gave
this familiar verse found in John 3:16 as a promise, "For God so loved
the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him
shall not perish but have eternal life.”
And again in John
5:24, Jesus says "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and
believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he
has crossed over from death to life.
Again, there can be
little doubt about the rewards of accepting the free gift.
But accepting the
free gift and looking forward to eternal life in heaven is just the first
step. Many times we hear or are led to believe that once we accept Christ,
there is nothing more we must do. But the Bible tells us otherwise.
First, in Matthew
7:16 it says, “By their fruit you will recognize them.” If we are
a Christian, we will bear fruit.
You may ask, “But
doesn’t that mean that we have to earn our way to heaven by works?” No, it
does not. Let me clarify the difference, and the connection, between
accepting salvation and bearing fruit. We first accept the FREE gift. We
only have to believe to receive. But because we have become a Christ
follower, we will bear fruit. In other words, we are not Christian because
we bear fruit. We bear fruit because we are Christian. I think it was John
Wycliffe that phrased it somewhat like this, “The fruit doesn’t make the
tree, the tree makes the fruit.” Or another way to put it, “Living in
Texas does not make is Dallasites. But living in Dallas, makes us Texans.”
Dr. Neil Anderson wrote:
“Every child of God has the same identity
in Christ and opportunity to grow. When our identity is firmly established
and we have matured to the point where the fruit of the Spirit is evident,
we will feel fulfilled when we use our gifts and talents to edify others.
God has known us from the foundation of the
world. He has entrusted us with certain life endowments. He will certainly
lead us in a way that makes use of our gifts and talents. It is our
responsibility to take advantage of every opportunity as it arrives.
Tragically, many people go to the grave with their music still in them,
never contributing to the symphony of God’s work. They have never realized
their potential nor taken the risks that faith requires. They hang onto
the security of the tree trunk, but the fruit is always on the end of the
limb.”
So, after we accept
Christ, we begin the journey. And what does the journey consist of? John
9:4 states, “As long as it is day, we must do the work of him
who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.”
We are commanded to
work and to bear fruit. It is not enough that we accept the gift of
salvation and then let it sit idle. We must do the work of him that
sent me. Jesus was talking to his disciples. And we, as Christians,
are his disciples.
In James 2:17, we read, “In the same way,
faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” That
is pretty straight forward talk. In other words, it is not enough to just
have faith, we must put it to action.
As new believers,
we may not understand how we go about this work. What is the process? We
can just go willy-nilly out into the world and try to accomplish the task.
But we must have preparation first. If we were to take a sales job, we
would first learn about the company, the product, and what was expected of
us. We would find out what our territory was. And we would find out what
out strong points were so we could utilize them to their fullest.
Basically, to do God’s work is to “sell” the gospel. And the process of
doing this is divided into four parts.
The first part is
DESIRE. We have to have a desire
to make an impact on our world. As we look around us and read the
newspaper, we see all the bad things that are happening in our world.
There are robberies, rapes, abuse, and murder, embezzlements, illicit sex,
and divorce. Families are destroyed. There are terrorists and wars. You
may have a desire to help, but don’t know what to do or where to start.
All of these things
that are happening in the world are the result of sin. And, the answer to
sin is Jesus Christ, the gospel. So, in essence, we must have a desire
to reach the lost for Christ.
In Romans 10:1, we read, “Brothers, my
heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be
saved.” We must have a desire to see others won to Christ.
And in Mark 16:15, it says, “He said to
them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.’”
Does this mean we must become missionaries and
go to foreign lands? Or does it mean we will become preachers? No, this
doesn’t mean that we are all to become missionaries or preachers. But,
just as we all have different gifts and talents, and we are all different
parts of the body of Christ, we can all fulfill that command in different
ways. We can obey by reaching out to our neighbors, to those at our jobs,
or to our families. None of us can do everything. And probably, none of us
can do most things. But there are innumerable ways to obey this command.
But first, we must have the desire to obey.
Martin Luther once stated, “A Christian man is
the most free lord of all, and subject to none; A Christian man is the
most dutiful servant of all, and servant to everyone.”
According to Dr. Anderson, when Dwight L. Moody became a Christian, he
looked for opportunities to teach at a church, but no one wanted an
uneducated man. So he started his own Bible study in a shoe store. Before
long, kids were coming out of the woodwork. People noticed him because he
was bearing fruit.
We too, can be known by our fruit. But first,
we must have a desire to serve God.
Number two is DETERMINATION. We
must be determined to make our lives count. To do this, we must be willing to put others
first. We must place our own selfish wants and desires behind us and put
the needs of others before us. Jesus did this very thing. If we want to be
Christ-like, we must do the same.
Matthew 20:28 says,
“Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to
give his life as a ransom for many."
We
must be determined to make our lives count for service. If we are to be
Christ-like, we must serve. We cannot expect to be served. Have you
noticed that some people attend a church for a while; then they just
disappear. If you asked them why they left, some respond, “Well, that
church was just not serving my needs.” The question might be asked, “What
service were they putting into the church?” In John F. Kennedy’s inaugural
address in 1961, he stated these famous words. “And so, my fellow
Americans. . .ask not what your country can do for you. . .ask what you
can do for your country.” Shouldn’t we ask ourselves the same question?
“What can we do for Christ?” Serving others may mean personal sacrifice
for ourselves. But God expects us to put others first.
Jeff
Leeland had just accepted a teaching position at a Junior High School in
Seattle when he and his wife found out that their baby boy had cancer and
needed a bone marrow transplant. And although their six-year-old daughter
was a perfect match, their insurance would not cover the procedure because
Jeff had not been on the job long enough. $200,000 was needed before the
summer of 1992.
Soon
teachers and students alike knew about Jeff’s problem. Dameon, a seventh
grade boy who walked with a limp and struggled in special education
classes, heard about Jeff’s son and went to visit his home. Dameon, the
boy all the other kids teased, told Jeff he wanted to help. And he stuffed
12 five-dollar bills into Jeff’s hand. It was Dameon’s life savings.
Word
about Dameons gift soon got around school and other began to help. They
held walk-a-thons and car washes. Soon, all of Seattle knew what was
happening. One week after Dameon’s gift, the fund had grown to $16,000.
And in two weeks, the amount was $62,000. Just four weeks from the time of
Dameon’s gift of $60.00, the fund had reached $220,000. Jeff’s son
received his transplant and lived. Dameon, who had given sacrificially,
had struggled for years with physical problems of his own. He later
developed an infection in one of his legs and died.
Matthew 16:25 says, “For whoever wants to
save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find
it.”
We must
serve other. Reporters and city officials went to a Chicago train station
in 1953 to meet the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize winner. As the man stepped from
the train, cameras flashed and dignitaries gathered around to greet him.
But the man politely thanked them and asked if he could be excused for a
moment. He then went to the side of an elderly black woman who was
struggling with two large suitcases. Picking up the bags, he escorted her
to a bus and helped her aboard. He then returned to the greeting party and
apologized. The man was Dr. Albert Schweitzer, the famous missionary
doctor who had spent his life helping the poor in Africa. One member of the reception committee commented, "That's
the first time I ever saw a sermon walking."
We must be determined to make our lives count
as a sacrifice for others. We must lose our lives if we are going to find
life.
John 15:13 tells us, “Greater love has no
one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
We must be determined to look beyond today and
our selfish wants. We must put others first and serve others.
Thirdly, we must DEVELOP to reach
our full potential. 2 Peter 3:18 tells
us, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ.”
We
must grow. Have you ever had the Jehovah’s Witnesses come to your door?
Have you every had the Krishna’s try to give you flowers and sell you a
book at the airport? Have you ever watched a radical faith healer on
television? They are pretty convincing with their message. We need to
continue to study God’s word in order to grow in grace and knowledge. If
we are to be able to confront the false teachers, we must know what is
false, and what is true.
Recently,
I heard Toni Trueblood speak to a breakfast group. She stated in her talk
that she was raised in one religion, but was now a Baptist. I asked her
after the presentation, what had caused her to change. She stated that
what the church was telling her did not agree with what the Bible was
telling her. We shouldn’t take the word of others, we should check it out
for ourselves from the Word of God.
2 Timothy 2:15. “Study to show
thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.” (KJV)
Finally,
we must be DEDICATED
to finish the race. In Acts 20:24, Luke
states, “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may
finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me.”
Someone once said, "One’s life is soon past and only what is
done for Christ will last."
You see, we can spend our lives for selfish
endeavors and try to accomplish selfish goals, but in the end, our lives
are worth nothing. If we do not finish the race and complete the task that
God has given us, we have done nothing.
Paul says in 2 Timothy, “I have fought the
good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
God’s
work is serious. He expects us all to do our best. We should be thorough
in our tasks, and finish what we start. Perhaps you have heard the story
of John Akwari of Tanzania who competed in the 1968 Olympics marathon in
Mexico City. Long after the winner of the race had been declared, John
entered the stadium, his legs bloody and bandaged, hobbling with pain.
There were only a few spectators still in the stands. When he was asked
why he didn’t just quit when it was apparent that someone else had already
won, he responded, “My country did not send me to Mexico City to start the
race. They sent me to finish.”
You
see, God did not send us into the world to just start the race. He sent us
to finish the race. So our goal is to be dedicated to finishing the race.
Hebrews
12:1 reads, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud
of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so
easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for
us.”
These
hindrances may dedicating our lives to our jobs, or to keeping up with the
Jones. Maybe they are spending all our time to make our house look much
nicer and more expensive than our neighbors. Maybe they mean making sure
that our children are in all the sports programs available. All of these
things are completely legitimate, but if the excesses are hindering us
from doing God’s work, we are out of balance.
Is there
something hindering you from doing God’s work? Your money? Your
possessions? Your status? Your friends? Your fun?
In
writing to the church at Corinth, Paul states in 1 Corinthians 6:12,
"Everything is permissible for me"--but not everything is beneficial.
"Everything is permissible for me"--but I will not be mastered by
anything.”
We
should not let the things of the world master us. All of these things that
I mentioned, working hard, wanting to have a nice house, wanting our
children to have the best we can provide, they are good. But they are not
to master us and hinder us from doing God’s work.
Paul sums it up best in 1 Corinthians 15:58,
“Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always
give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your
labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
It is during the journey that we show our love
for Christ. We show it by demonstrating our desire
to make an impact on our world. We show it by being determined to
make our lives count. We show it by developing to reach our full
potential. And we show it by being dedicated to finish the race.
Being a Christian is
not just a onetime act. It is a lifelong process. For the Christian, the
beginning is the Cross and the destination is heaven. But we can’t have
the destination, without the journey. And the journey is our Christian
walk in life.
Dwayne Collins, MA, LPC |
