Every time I see this video, it pierces me. It makes me ask whether or not I have what it takes to finish well. Am I really capable of walking well with my peers at church? Am I really capable of leading men in their walk with Christ? Do I have what it takes to train younger men to walk in righteousness? Am I able to love those around me well, and teach others to do the same? Will I be able to love my wife (who has yet to be given to me) as Christ loves the church? Can I really lead other men to do the same?
Or, will I simply start out and fade away, like so many who have gone before me?
The answer is a resounding “NO! I don’t have what it takes!” I am incapable of any and all of those things. It is only by falling on the much needed grace of God, and fervent prayer for the Holy Spirit’s guidance that I’ll stand a chance at doing ANY of those things. Living the Christian life isn’t only a daily act of repentance, it is a daily fight. A fight that is only a small part of the cosmic war that has been raging throughout the ages. A fight that I am woefully incapable of winning.
Fortunately, none of this rests on me. Jesus, the Christus Victor, has won the war already, and it is by His Spirit that I, that you, are able to keep fighting. It’s Jesus who makes this fight worth it. It’s the love of Christ that compels us to pick up our Swords and fight!
As with any war, there are casualties. We will suffer loss. We will get our hearts broken when we others leave the church. We will get frustrated when we see men who we believed to be Godly and a source of encouragement do something we would never have expected. We will be left speechless when we call fellow believers to repent, in the name of Jesus by the power of the Spirit, and they simply refuse and walk away. Yet, in all of this, our hope is that Christ has purchased for us redemption, justification, restoration, and our future glorification. It is the very works of God in our salvation that give us strength, that give us the only reason to press through the muck and the mire of this life.
So, the question I leave you with is this: Will you be intentional in falling on God’s grace and strength as we press on and make disciples, or will you allow the fear of temporal failure and pain to stop you from ever trying to advance God’s Kingdom?
2 responses to “Fading Away”