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What have I told God He’s not allowed to touch?
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross…
Hebrews 12:2a NLT
Last weekend, the Strategic Leadership Team (SLT) had its first meeting with Dr. Malphurs. In our Friday and Saturday meetings, we were challenged by our formidable situation and encouraged by the prospect of revival. Before dismissing us, Dr. Malphurs asked us one, pointed, personal question in the context of church building: What are you willing to give up?
We had just a few minutes to think about it. However, it was a topic that deserved much more consideration than those few minutes could allow. As a team, we decided to have a special meeting on Monday night just to understand our thoughts and to agree on what we thought was truly important.
There was a natural progression in our willingness to sacrifice. At the beginning, we were willing to give up some of some of the programs, the schedule, how we “do” church. From that beginning, we began to realize that a lot of the necessary changes before us require more personal commitment—something more than more time and bigger checks. Many of us decided (myself included!) that what we needed to give up are the sins we “regard” or “cherish” in our hearts (to use the word from Psalm 66:18). We need to give up the distractions that have captured our attention. We need to give up our casual and sometimes flippant means of relating to our Father.
This becomes clearer when we see that another way to phrase the same question Dr. Malphurs posed to the SLT is: What have I told God He’s not allowed to touch?
For me, that means giving up the expectations I have of this consultation process. There were specific changes that I hoped this procedure would make in our church. But, however noble my intentions, I need to understand that the only appropriate vision is the ones God has for His church. It’s not going to be Trey-vision or staff-vision or church-vision that will save the church, but God-vision alone. We can’t do enough, give enough, or work hard enough if we’re working outside God’s directive.
I opened with the scripture in Hebrews because I love the way James phrases the idea: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus.” I think it effectively summarizes Christianity. No matter what happens, our gaze should be directed toward Christ’s glory. In the sweet times when we are walking hand-in-hand with the Lord, let us fix our eyes on Jesus. In the trials, when all we see is disheartening circumstances, let us fix our eyes on Jesus. When we see how big the waves are when we get out of the boat, let us fix our eyes on Jesus. When we look at love and mercy of salvation and realize our debt, let us fix our eyes on Jesus.
It’s certainly a big calling, and one that the SLT isn’t taking lightly.
I remember being at camp one summer when Louis Giglio was the camp pastor. He made a point about how so much of the Christian life is about just wanting to be in the spirit God wants you. That is, even we’re not quite willing, God can move us forward with our want to be willing and He can use that to transform us into creatures of willingness. But be careful, He might just transform you into a passionate follower of Christ. Are you willing to risk that?
So, if you’re like me and find yourself still unable to surrender whatever comfortable barrier obstructs your view of God, but have a genuine desire to surrender, with humility and contrition, to the Holy One, let’s “lay aside every encumbrance” and set our eyes on Jesus. When we commit ourselves to focus on God’s glory, there’s no room for anything else.