Following Willingly, Wholeheartedly, Eternally

Matthew 16:24 "Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone would come
 after me, he must deny himself and take up His cross and follow me."

This weekend, I had the pleasure of attending DNow (discipleship now) with my youth group. This annual event allows local youth groups to come together and fellowship, reflecting on their faith and learning more about their Savior together. This year, our group focused in on the aspect of truly following Christ. This weekend was such an eye-opener and time of self-evaluation. Am I truly following Christ like He calls me to?

The first primary question we need to ask ourselves is "Who do I say Christ is?" This is such a simple question; however, it can have so many answers. In fact, many people can answer the question "Who was Jesus?" without ever opening His Word. This culture is manipulating who Jesus is. If you really think about it, EVERYONE wants Jesus! Songs mention His name, artists have His face tattooed on their arm, and the list goes on. These people may have answers to the question, but their definition of who Christ was will be far different than one who knows the biblical answer. Their definition is who THEY want Jesus to be, rather than who He truly is. The Savior, King, Perfecter of our Faith. He is the Christ.

The way you answered that question will determine your response to Christ. There are three typical responses to His name. You will either:

1. Silence Him-- We often see this in our public education system. Our government is slowly drowning out the presence of Jesus, but their attempts will forever fail. Our King is omnipresent, everywhere at one time. He is eternal, He always will be. And He will win. Every. Single. Time.
2. Sabotage Him-- This can be seen in the countless attempts by scientists and evolutionists trying to disprove His Word and creation. Not only are they attempting to sabotage Him, but also there are others who search for moral failures in believers just to disprove our Salvation. No matter how hard we try, our lives cannot live up to the perfect standards He has set for us. We are imperfect people in an imperfect world, so our lives should not be the basis on which to judge God's power of Salvation and who He says He is.
3. Surrender to Him. Willingly. Wholeheartedly. For all Eternity. If we could truly comprehend the tremendous power He has, oh how we would long to run to Him!

"Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
-- John 14:6-7 (NIV)

Surrender. That's a large order. Like, you mean that I no longer am in control? Is that what you are saying? ... Yes. That is exactly it. Christ is calling us to surrender to His lordship. When we say Christ is our Lord, we often forget that this means He is in complete control. Even in my own life I say He is my Lord, but I am constantly holding back part of myself for me to control. That should never be-- it is just like saying, "You know what God? I know you have this TOTALLY awesome plan all plotted out, but I think I have a better idea for right here... I kind of want to change this a little bit, and tweak it a little right there... yep! That's about it God. I know you know how this is all going to turn out, but don't you think my idea was better? I knew you would understand!"

No. God knows EXACTLY what we need, when we need it, and how it will all work out. We only need to trust and surrender. Nothing else. Jesus is NOT just a hobby, either. He is Lord! He is someone I should want to encounter all the time willingly and passionately. If we think He is Lord, we will WANT to surrender to Him.

After surrendering, we need to be fully committed. There may be a risk we need to take (Luke 5:1-11), a sacrifice we need to make (1 Kings 19:19-21; Matthew 19:16-30), or even a focus adjustment to ensure that we continue to wholeheartedly follow Him. In regards to sacrifices, we should keep this in mind: When following Christ, it is not about what we will lose when we serve Him. It is about what we will gain. Our experiences with Him are far better than any earthly possessions, for they will soon pass away and be no more. Christ is eternal. In order to fully serve Him, we must be "all in." Rather than considering ourselves "Christians" (which we are), the speaker urged us to consider ourselves more of "dangerous disciples" or "room changers." He pointed out that the adjective of "Christian" was not used to describe the church until later in Acts 11. This first originated from outsiders of the church who described those who were a part of it as "reflecting the image of Christ." That is what we should long to be. Reflecting our Savior should be our goal, but we should do it in a way as to win over others to Him. Jesus never came to make us safe-- He came to make us dangerous for Him!

What comes next? So I have surrendered to Him, I want to serve Him as one of His disciples, now what?

Well, there is another part to surrendering... we must be willing to surrender our preferred social status and be open to persecution. We must surround ourselves with godly influences, and we ourselves must become those godly influences to others. We are called to be authentic, and that authenticity often comes with an unfair price. "But what if people think I'm weird? What will they say? Will they hate me? I'll be looked down upon!..." The list goes on. That's part of surrendering. However unfair it may seem, it will come. Regardless, if we are truly "all in" for His glory, this price will ultimately seem small in the light of the eternal prize we will receive. 

Persecution will come; God never said our walk would be easy. He only said that when it does come, we should continue to love those who persecute us. As Matthew 5:43-45 states, "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." When trials come, we can be either stepping stones that continually lead others to God, or we can be stumbling blocks that will hinder others from wanting to know Christ. Therefore, we should strive to be godly in all circumstances, even through persecution.

After this past weekend, I have truly had some time of self-evaluation. I have been personally challenged by three questions in particular. As a follower of Jesus Christ, is my faith:

1. More than a label?-- Am I daily living out my faith for others to see, or am I simply living a way that is completely different than who I say I am?
2. More than just an imitation of Christ?
3. More than just a religion?

Authentic faiths begin with Honesty. Authentic faith is one of love.

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to  love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."

-- 1 John 4:7-12 (NIV)

When we love, God's love shines through us. When we love, God's invisible attributes become tangible for the world to see. May we be labeled by our Christlike love for others, that they may know we are Willingly, Wholeheartedly, Eternally Followers of the One True King, Jesus Christ.