God spoke to me in an amazing way today. What He told me was even more awesome.

This is a long one, so you might want to go get a snack.

Sometimes I would skip this part- the circumstances surrounding Him speaking- to get down to the core quicker, but God orchestrated this amazingly, and I shouldn’t rob Him of even the ounce of the glory that telling this story might bring Him.

So, starting with some adventures on Friday, it ends up I didn’t have the keys to my car Saturday night, and I had to leave it in Cleveland. There was absolutely no way I could have gotten it that night. Now, today. My alarm woke me up at 8:00 ride to church with my parents, but I instantly fell asleep again. That’s not like me. Strike one. I slept through Sunday school, but at least I can make it to the service. Oh, wait, I don’t have a car! Strike two. Hey! I’ll just borrow my grandpa’s truck across the street! And so I grab my outfit and hop in the shower. I tried REALLY hard to get there this morning, but God tried harder to keep me home- somehow space and time warped (did I fall asleep in the shower or something??) and the next time I looked at the clock I had already missed half an hour of the service. Strike three.

Alright, all is not lost. I decided to watch a sermon I had previously downloaded. And while watching this, God does something that only God can do- He slaps me across the face, yet encourages me at the same time.

In this series, David Platt completely rips apart the concept of Christianity our American culture has fabricated. This particular sermon was over the Gospel’s demand for personal sacrifice. But we have taken the Gospel and replaced its demands with suggestions. We have become content with going to church on Sunday morning, putting a five in the offering plate and doing an occasional good deed. We have taken Jesus’ own words and softened them to make ourselves comfortable living life as we want to live it. In reality, here is what Jesus and the Gospel say:

In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. -Luke 14:33

“Sure, Jesus said that, but what he meant was…” Is it possible that maybe, just maybe, Jesus meant what he said, both here and in other passages? There was a reason he wasn’t a popular guy. Also, I’m pretty sure you are included when he said “any of you,” so that’s how I know this sermon is for you as much as it is for me.

Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.” -Matthew 22:37-38

Here’s my thought on that: if you play the Xbox for hours everyday instead of voluntarily calling your girlfriend, and you’re too busy watching TV to read her texts or pick up the phone; if it is a chore to talk to her and spend time with her, I would venture to say you don’t love her very much. But yet we play games and watch TV and talk to our friends and fill our day with anything and everything we want to do. How much time do we spend talking to God or reading His word? No matter how short that daily time is (if it exists), we would still be quick to say we love God. But do we love Him with all our hearts?

And there is quite a list of other demands the Gospel makes, that Jesus himself says we must do if we are to be disciples, to be worthy of him, to follow him. Here are only a few.
    ~Matthew 7:18-22
    ~Matthew 10:37-38
    ~Luke 14:25-35
And yes, you should probably go look these up to see what they actually say.

And the scariest thing of all is that I see a picture of myself in these descriptions. Giving what I am comfortable with, but not to the point that it disrupts my lifestyle. Spending a bit of spare time in the word, but not loving God with all my heart. Living like a “good person” as long as I pretty much still get to live life how I want to live it, instead of sacrificing everything for the sake of the kingdom. Every bit of this is like a punch to the gut as I realize that I am just another American living little, if any, better than this false American portrait of Christianity.

Something I, personally, have seen rapidly replace God in many American lives is a career. Getting a college degree. Finding a job. Buying a house. Seriously, what did America condition us to think as teenagers? When we graduated high school, was there ever any question as to what the next step was? Go to college, of course! You can’t make a good career without a degree, after all. It’s just smart. Logical. And indeed, what would America think if I said I was going to drop out of college? That not only was I not going to get a degree or a high-paying job, but that I didn’t want to? It would think I was stupid. It would say I was crazy. “Think about your future, your family! Don’t you want to give your kids the best?”

But Jesus tells us we must carry our cross if we want to follow him (Luke 14:27). The phrase is thrown around a lot, so let’s take a second to refresh what it really means. A cross is only carried for the public humiliation of the person carrying it, who will quite shortly die a slow, agonizing death (fun, right?). A dead man walking. A dead man has no rights, no privileges, no ambitions, and no desires of his own.

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me…” -Galatians 2:20.

So if I died to myself and gave Christ my body, what would he do with it? What would he do if he were us? Spend four years and thousands of dollars in an institution to get a piece of paper that will let us give our lives fully to a career because it supports our comfortable lifestyle? Somehow, I don’t think so. Jesus’ purpose wasn’t to make a materially better life for his family, either. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying an education can’t advance the kingdom, but is that the primary reason you are going to college right now? Were you thinking of the kingdom when you chose your major? Because I certainly wasn’t.

Jesus tells us we must give up everything if we want to be his disciples. Honestly, I had been wrestling with this, every bit of the above, in the months before today, but God pinpointed it and brought it to the front of my mind. There are some things God had been leading me to do, which I feel much more solidly about after today. One is taking a semester off college and getting a full-time job instead. Classes consume an unhealthy amount my time and effort for me. That time and effort should be spent to slow down and seek God’s plan for my life. Another is a mission trip to Nicaragua. Before, I knew I was going, but I assumed that I could raise the money, like every other time. In short, cost little out of my own pocket. Instead, it looks like I’ll be paying it all. Earlier, I objected: but that would take everything I have! And now I know that God is saying: “Duh, Michael. That’s the point. Do you want to serve me enough to give everything up?” I only have about half of what it would actually take, so I’m probably going to end up selling some stocks (the New York Stock Exchange kind of stocks) to go. It’s easily within God’s power to provide me with the money or means to earn that much money in a month’s time, and I am praying He will. But if not, I am now willing to do whatever it takes to go where He has called me.