"It's Not About Bob!"

Today was Sunday, and I attended morning service. Bob Bell, Senior Minister of Bethany Christian Church, was preaching about following Jesus. Before telling a personal story to illustrate the point he was making, he emphasized that the story was about JESUS. “It’s not about Bob,” he firmly attested. This got me thinking about what it (life) is not about.

We have all heard the saying, “It’s not about you!” Many of us would like to use that response from time to time with people we encounter in the church. But what else is it not about? And what does the Bible say? I would like to suggest that some of the loyalties that we use to justify our decisions, although not directly about you, may be indirectly about you. Such loyalties that Christians often use to justify their decisions – that they believe are unselfish – include:

My Family

My Job

My Friendships

My Church Activities

My Children’s / Grandchildren’s life events

My Holiday Traditions

My Sport Teams

My Social Justice Issues

My Rights

There is no loyalty that outweighs a believer’s commitment to Christ. And although we agree with that vocally, too often we fail to live it out. Some activities become so ingrained in our day-to-day lives that we have convinced ourselves that we have a duty to fulfill them or else we let others down. I would argue that such regular activities may be the best ones to abstain from when the opportunity to follow Jesus arises. Jesus confronted those who considered following Him according to Luke’s following account.

57 As they were going on the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 59 And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” 60 But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” 61 Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say goodbye to those at my home.” 62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:57-62 (NASB).

Certainly nothing is wrong with sleeping at home, burying one’s father, or saying good-bye to your family. In fact, those are very acceptable behaviors. So what was the problem? Was Jesus playing mind-games with these potential followers? Not at all. He was giving them the opportunity to demonstrate their willingness to follow Him at all costs. Had He acquiesced to their pleas for delay or conditions, then their faith would not have truly been in Him. But had they followed Him in spite of their obligations, the attention of their family and friends might have been turned toward the light of Jesus reflected through the lives of His followers. And here’s the important part, even if the followers offended others, if it was in the service of their Lord, then it still reflects who He is.

This can be especially difficult when our churches fail to communicate the differences between the church’s missions and following Jesus or putting families first and following Jesus or fighting social justice battles and following Jesus. An example of each follows:

1. Let’s say that a particular church has a goal to raise attendance from one year to the next by 3%. Believers can increase their weekly attendance to support that goal, but if they do it from a belief that they are following Jesus better by attending more, then they are really doing it to support the church. This in turn is a priority they choose because it is important to them, and is, therefore, making it about themselves.

2. Have you ever heard someone say, “Your first ministry is to your family?” Since when did that mean staying with them instead of leading by example? Peter had a wife and yet told Jesus, “Behold, we have left our own homes and followed You.” Jesus responded, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house, or wife, or brothers, or parents, or children for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 who will not receive many times as much at this time, and in the age to come, eternal life.” Luke 18:28-30 (NASB). The emphasis is not whether one stays home or not, but whether one stays or goes “for the sake of the kingdom of God.”

3. Social justice issues can be controversial. To many Christians, serving the poor is the right thing to do simply for the sake that they are poor. “After all,” they say, “That is what we are judged for in Matthew 25:31-46.” They also may take the position that we are to “Treat people the same way you want them to treat you.” Matthew 7:12 (NASB). So, is the case closed at this point? Should Christians always give money to the beggar on the side of the road? We should follow Jesus’ command literally to “Give to everyone who asks of you,” right? Luke 6:30 (NASB). What we must understand is that, although we are to literally give to everyone who asks of us, our giving is completely and solely in the context of furthering God’s kingdom.

Serving the poor is not done simply to eliminate poverty. After all, Jesus said, “For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.” John 12:8 (NASB). Once again, we see evidence that the focus is on Jesus, not the social injustice. When this topic arises in conversation, I have asked people, “Could Jesus have healed every sick person, fed every hungry person, and restored every marriage in the world while He walked on earth?” They reply, “Yes. He could have.” I then ask, “Did He?” They answer, “No.” This is because Jesus’ miracles and compassion were not for the sake of feeding hungry people that were destined for hell anyway, but were means for increasing faith in God that might draw them toward repentance.

Nothing is to be counted as a priority equal to knowing Jesus. Paul writes, “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” Philippians 3:8 (NASB). This pronouncement came after listing his religious credentials as a Pharisee, who was found blameless according to the Law of Moses. Do you consider everything in your life (including traditions, rights, small groups, bake sales, hobbies, etc.) as nothing compared to knowing Christ? Would you miss church to witness to your neighbor on the street? Would you forego the pride of handing money to a beggar and, instead, give anonymously through a Christ-centered organization? Would you leave your own children in order to care for parentless children in the name of Christ for a season or do your children always come first? Would you hide your faith in order to keep in good standing at your job?

It isn’t about Bob and it definitely isn’t about Steven. It really isn’t about any of us. It is always about God. My favorite Bible verse is, “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” John 14:6 (NKJV). This verse, more than any other guards me against allowing anything in life to confuse me into following a selfish priority over Him. What I have found is that when I embrace following Jesus at all costs, He leads me toward those other opportunities, but with a greater awareness to be mindful of His ways. In a Biblical sense, He prunes away the areas of my life that are not truly bearing fruit, even if I thought they were important, and expands the areas of my life that bear fruit for His name, even if I thought they were unimportant.

I pray that you seek God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. Lean not on your own understanding and embrace God with reasonable faith through the pursuit of knowing Him better every day. Feel free to send me questions or comments regarding this post or other Biblical matters here.

14 January 2018