This morning I was greatly struck by the devotional for today from Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost for His Highest. Here is a partial quote:
“We do not need the grace of God to withstand crises—human nature and pride are sufficient for us to face the stress and strain magnificently. But it does require the supernatural grace of God to live twenty-four hours of every day as a saint, going through drudgery, and living an ordinary, unnoticed, and ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus. It is ingrained in us that we have to do exceptional things for God—but we do not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things of life, and holy on the ordinary streets, among ordinary people—and this is not learned in five minutes.”
As someone who once dreamed of being a missionary, this really hits home for me. It is so easy to want to do the “big thing,” the “heroic deed” for God, but oh how hard it can be to do the ordinary, little things for God! Bethel just started a new chapel series titled, “Radical Discipleship,” with the first one being on “sacrifice.” I have to wonder, though, perhaps it is not the big sacrifices that the world and the church notice that are important to God, but rather, maybe it is the small little sacrifices of everyday life that get God’s attention and please Him the most. I think of another Oswald Chambers’ quote: “Prayer does not fit us for the greater works, prayer is the greater work.” I know the women who work in housekeeping here at Bethel are great intercessors in prayer for students. No one sees them or knows how they pray as they work, but they are bringing glory to God and magnifying His Presence on our campus by their little acts of service in a way that a great evangelist, preacher, or professor may never do. Mother Theresa also is well-known for saying, “We can do no great things, only small things with great love.” Amy Carmichael, who dedicated her life to rescuing Indian children from Temple prostitution, saw the little, everyday acts, as being as much, if not more, significant than the rescue work. Every opportunity to serve, to give, to put others first, no matter how small, was seen by her as “a chance to die.” She put together a wonderful little collection of sayings about Calvary Love. Here is one, “If I can write an unkind letter, speak an unkind word, think an unkind thought without grief and shame, then I know nothing of Calvary love.” Yes, perhaps the radical disciples are not those who do the “great deeds” but those who choose to die every day on the little things of life.
As I think of our Bethel community, and ask the questions, “How can I love like Jesus today? How can I be a radical disciple today?” These things come to mind for me as a professor: maybe I can delay my lecture in order to pray with students who have requests instead of being so concerned with covering all the content; maybe I can take the time to listen to a student who is not as strong academically as others and to spend extra time with them; maybe another professor will come to mind and I will take the time to walk down to their office (or across campus) to encourage and perhaps pray with them rather than being so concerned with my “deadlines”; maybe when walking across campus I will see a piece of litter and bend over and pick it up rather than ignoring it or thinking, “that’s not my job;” maybe it means sitting in the cold rain to watch a soccer game so my students know I love and value them; maybe it's choosing to give up one hour of my week to mentor a student. For students, maybe this means washing your roommates’ dishes rather than getting mad about them not being done, or perhaps it means getting out of bed in time to go to your 8am class (loving God with all your mind), or giving 100% effort to your course work rather than just sliding by out of respect for your professor and their preparation. All of these are chances to die – to die to my rights, to my reputation, to my own agenda. Is this heroic? Is this great? Is this radical? No, but it is discipleship.
I think of my friend Brent Reimer, who serves as Team Leader for Bethel’s semester abroad trips. Yesterday in chapel he spoke of how God has called him to ministry and to encouraging and equipping students on overseas trips. He is a radical disciple because he has chosen to listen to the Lord and to follow him anywhere. However, I have served on travel trips with Brent, and to me he is a hero not because he has chosen to obey God in his calling, but because he loves in the little things. He goes out of his way to serve his students and meet their needs, whether that means giving up sleep in order to fix a generator, or if it means being awakened at midnight to encourage a student who is stressed about coursework, or if it means going out of his way to fix a favorite meal for one of the students who misses home. He puts the students’ needs before his own, and this is radical discipleship.
When I was conducting graduate work I often had to live with 10-20 people at a time in small quarters while conducting field research. In one of these instances, I had to work with a person who was not easy to get along with. She was unkind, rude, and selfish. The others started to resent her and be annoyed by her, and I found myself, too, wanting to despise her. But one day the Lord spoke to my heart concerning her, “Katie, you do not get to choose who to love, you are simply called to love.” This convicted me and I began to look for ways to love her. This taught me how to be intentional about loving others, how to stay aware and to look for opportunities to love. It would have been easy for me to think that God brought me into her life to influence her, but the truth is, God brought her into my life to influence me. Her hard spirit was sent by the Lord to break my heart over her lost-ness and her need for unconditional love, grace, and acceptance, and to soften my heart and transform me into a person who really sees other people – who sees behind their outward actions and behavior and their personality and sees their heart and need for love.
We are called to be like Jesus, and to be called to be like Jesus is to be called to radical discipleship in the little things of life. Earlier this semester the Lord woke me at 3am and led me to read Philippians 2, and I felt very strongly that this was a word for Bethel:
Phil. 2:6-7 - "[Christ] Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing..."
Nothing. This is sanctification. Not grasping for equality with God, but giving up all rights - the right to speak, to be heard, to be first, to be recognized, to be known. No pride, no vain conceit, no selfish ambition, no fame or recognition, no rights. Only by becoming nothing can all the fullness of Christ dwell within us. This is oneness with God. By becoming, by choosing, nothingness, Jesus reversed the choice of Adam to try and become like God. I believe Phil. 2 is going to be very important this year - the attitude and mind of Christ for sanctification -nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility considering others better than ourselves - looking not to our own interests, but to the interests of others. Becoming nothing so He may fully dwell in us.
Becoming like Jesus and being a radical disciple means putting others people’s interests before our own. It means not gossiping about people or ridiculing others behind their back. It means not being self-righteous and criticizing other Christians for not getting it “right.” It means choosing not to get any credit, to give up my right to be right, to give up my rights to be recognized, acknowledged, thanked, and praised. It means no self-seeking behavior, no selfish ambition.
Revival and radical discipleship starts with something small – my own heart – my own small, weak, prideful heart being broken and then transformed and expanded to love others first and unconditionally. When I pray for revival, I must first pray, “Lord, revive me. Show me my pride, my little resentments, my anger, my desire to be right, my desire to be recognized, my competitiveness and selfish ambition. Teach me to wash others’ feet, to take the lowest position. Teach me how to become nothing. Teach me to put others first.”
Radical disciples are not the “winners” who “win” people to Christ. We do not “win” people. We do not do the work – it is the Holy Spirit who convicts and leads; it is Jesus who, by His blood, saves and justifies, and it is the Father who pardons and adopts. People are not prizes to be won. They are the precious treasure of God the Father. As long as we see people as prizes to be won, we will focus on our ability, our work, our gifts, our church, our program, our strategy, our ministry. No. The work is the Lord’s from beginning to end. We evangelize and become radical disciples not to keep score, to prove our love for God, to achieve success. We become disciples in order to join God and to be in His Presence as He looks for His lost treasure. Discipleship and evangelism, at its heart, is all about God. God desires to spend eternity with people. The treasure of heaven is people. He loves us so much he cannot bear the thought of being separated from us. God’s greatest act of love? It is this: he allows us to choose hell over Him. We don’t win people. We simply show up and love and value people in everyday life – we put them first and then stand back and watch the Holy Spirit perform miracles.
Radical discipleship is everyday discipleship. Radical discipleship is choosing to die to my Self in the little things. It is choosing to love and to expect nothing in return. I am not holy and my attitudes and actions do not make me holy. Only the Presence of God within me makes me holy. He alone is holy and worthy of all praise. He alone is worthy of a crown. Radical discipleship is saying, “I choose not to have a crown, but to throw it at Jesus’ feet and at the feet of those for whom he died.” It is love in the little things. Radical discipleship is everyday discipleship.
