Surrender . . . Kind of . . .

For the last couple of days I've spent most of my spare moments inhaling an awesome book by Richard Sterns called The Hole In Our Gospel.

Stearns is the President of World Vision and paints a convicting picture of how our American gospel is so void of giving ourselves to those trapped in poverty, disease and injustice. I encourage you to get it and read it. It will be hard to be the same afterward.

He talks about his own life . . . and my life. He paints a great picture of being a disciple of Jesus being like enlisting in the army. When a soldier enlists, he or she immediately surrenders control of his or her life. Where the enlistee lives, what clothes they will wear, what they will eat, when they will go to bed, how they will behave . . . all these things are immediately given over to the commanding officers to decide.

Truly following Jesus requires a similar surrender. Except that no one is ever drafted, it's always voluntary.

Surrender is hard. But without it a soldier is not useful to the army. And a Christian is not useful to God.

Stearns say: "One of the most powerful reasons we don't totally surrender our lives to Christ is that we don't want to sacrifice the things we possess; they have begun to possess us. These things can include our jobs, our material assets, our money, our communities, our friends - even our families. We cling to them often out of a desire for security, comfort and happiness . . . "

And it's amazing how much more vivid this is after visiting a third-world country where most of these options don't exist.

Stearns goes on: "God can't give you the blessings He has for you until you first put down the other things you are clutching in your hands."