The Crushing Obligation to Keep Doing More and More

 

by Kevin DeYoung

Doing More for God

I understand there are lazy people out there who need to get radical for Jesus. I understand that many people are stingy with their resources and fritter their time away on inane television shows. I understand there are lots of Christians in our churches sitting around doing nothing who need to be challenged not to waste their life. I am deeply thankful for preachers and writers who challenge us to risk everything and make our lives count. I know a lot of sleepy Christians in need of a wake-up call.

But I also know people like me, people who easily feel a sense of responsibility, people who easily feel bad for not doing more. I was the kid in grade school who was ready to answer every question the teacher asked. I signed up for things just because they were offered. I took on extra credit just to be safe. I never skipped a class in college and would have felt bad for missing any chapel service. I took the practice ACT the year before I really took the practice ACT, which was a year before I took the real ACT. For all sorts of reasons—pride, diligence, personality—opportunities have often felt like obligations to me.

And surely I’m not the only one. Surely there are many Christians who are terribly busy because they sincerely want to be obedient to God. We hear sermons that convict us for not praying more. We read books that convince us to do more for global hunger. We talk to friends who inspire us to give more and read more and witness more. The needs seem so urgent. The workers seem so few. If we don’t do something, who will? We want to be involved. We want to make a difference. We want to do what’s expected of us. But there just doesn’t seem to be the time.

Calming the Crazy Man Inside

I think most Christians hear these urgent calls to do more (or feel them internally already) and learn to live with a low-level guilt that comes from not doing enough. We know we can always pray more and give more and evangelize more, so we get used to living in a state of mild disappointment with ourselves. That’s not how the apostle Paul lived (1 Cor. 4:4), and it’s not how God wants us to live, either (Rom. 12:1–2).1 Either we are guilty of sin—like greed, selfishness, idolatry—and we need to repent, be forgiven, and change. Or something else is going on. It’s taken me several years, a lot of reflection, and a bunch of unnecessary busyness to understand that when it comes to good causes and good deeds, “do more or disobey” is not the best thing we can say.

Here are some of thoughts that have helped me get out from under the terror of total obligation.

I am not the Christ. The senior sermon for my graduating class at seminary was given by Gordon Hugenberger of Park Street Church in Boston. The sermon was based on John the Baptist’s words, “I freely confess I am not the Christ.” Hugenberger’s point to a group of soon-to-be pastors was simple: “You may be part of the bridal party, but you are not the groom. You are not the Messiah, so don’t try to be. Along with the Apostles’ Creed and the Belgic Confession and the Westminster Confession, make sure you confess John the Baptist’s creed: I am not the Christ.” I still have a copy of the sermon and listen to it whenever I can find a tape deck. Our Messianic sense of obligation would be greatly relieved if we confessed more regularly what we are not.

There is good news. I was also helped with my busyness issues in seminary by reading a little book by Tim Dearborn called Beyond Duty: A Passion for Christ, a Heart for Mission.2 Dearborn, the director of faith and development for World Vision, argues that for too long the church has motivated people to mission by news of natural catastrophes, complex humanitarian disasters, unreached people groups, and oppressed and exploited minorities. We’ve been given statistics and stories about the all-too-sad conditions of the world. The good news of Christ’s death and resurrection, Dearborn maintains, has been turned into bad news about all the problems in the world and how much more we have to do to make things right. The take-home then becomes: serve more, give more, care more, do more. Dearborn reminds us that the gospel is good news of great joy, and that God is the only hope for the world.

Care is not the same as do. At the Lausanne missions gathering in 2010, John Piper made the statement that “we should care about all suffering, especially eternal suffering.” He chose the word “care” quite carefully. He didn’t want to say we should do something about all suffering, because we can’t do something about everything. But we can care. This means when we hear about grinding poverty or legal abortion or biblical illiteracy, we are not indifferent. We think and feel that these things ought not to be so. We won’t all care about every issue in the same way, but there are some issues we should all care about, some issues that should at least prick our hearts and prompt us to pray. Not giving a rip about sex slaves is not an option for the Christian. Not doing something directly to combat this particular evil *is an option.
We all have a cross to carry. But it’s a cross that kills our sins, smashes our idols, and teaches us the folly of self-reliance.


We have different gifts and different callings. Every Christian must be prepared to give an answer for the reason for the hope that we have (1 Pet. 3:15), but not everyone will do beach evangelism. Every Christian should be involved in the Great Commission, but not everyone will move overseas. Every Christian should oppose abortion, but not everyone will adopt or volunteer at a crisis pregnancy center. We need Christians who spend their lives improving inner-city schools and Christians whose dream is to get great theological books translated into Polish. And we need Christians who don’t make others feel guilty (and don’t feel guilty themselves) when one of us follows a different passion than another. I read and write a lot. That’s what I do well. But that doesn’t mean anyone should feel guilty for not reading and writing as much as I do. You have your own gifts and calling. We have to be okay with other Christians doing certain good things better and more often than we do.

Remember the church. The only work that absolutely must be done in the world is Christ’s work. And Christ’s work is accomplished through Christ’s body. The church—gathered in worship on Sunday and scattered through its members throughout the week—is able to do exponentially more than any of us alone. I can respond to Christ’s call in one or two ways, but I am a part of an organism and organization that can respond and serve in a million ways.

I can always pray right now. Prayer can feel like the biggest burden of all. We can always pray more, and we can’t possibly pray for every need in the world. Even if we are extremely organized and disciplined, we won’t be able to consistently pray for more than a handful of people and problems. But that doesn’t mean our prayers are limited to the items we can write on a 3 × 5 card. If your aunt’s cousin has upcoming heart surgery, pray immediately after you hear about it. When a missionary shares her requests, pray right on the spot for them. Don’t let the moment pass you by. Pray a short prayer. Trust God for the results and, in many cases, move on.

Jesus didn’t do it all. Jesus didn’t meet every need. He left people waiting in line to be healed. He left one town to preach to another. He hid away to pray. He got tired. He never interacted with the vast majority of people on the planet. He spent thirty years in training and only three years in ministry. He did not try to do it all. And yet, he did everything God asked him to do.

Take Time to Be Holy

I pray that nothing in this encourages you to embrace cheap grace or easy believism. We all have a cross to carry. But it’s a cross that kills our sins, smashes our idols, and teaches us the folly of self-reliance. It’s a cross that says I’ll do anything to follow Jesus, not a cross that says I have to do everything for Jesus.

No doubt some Christians need to be shaken out of their lethargy and to get busy for the kingdom. But many Christians are too busy already. I can take “redeem the time” (see Eph. 5:16, KJV) as a summons to better time management when in reality it’s a call to be holy more than a call to possess the seven habits of highly effective people. I can turn every “is” into an “ought.” I can overlook the role that necessity and proximity play in establishing divine obligations.3 I can forget that my circle of influence will inevitably be smaller than my circle of concern.

Above all, I can lose sight of the good news that the universe is not upheld by the word of my power (see Heb. 1:3). That’s Christ’s work, and no one else can do it. Hallelujah—he doesn’t even expect me to try.


Notes:
See my chapter “The Pleasure of God and the Possibility of Godliness,” in The Hole in Our Holiness (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012).
Tim Dearborn, Beyond Duty: A Passion for Christ, a Heart for Mission (Federal Way, WA: World Vision, 1997).
Cf. Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert, What Is the Mission of the Church: Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission(Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2011), 183–186, 225. See also my article “Stewardship, Obligation, and the Poor,” at http://www.9marks.org /journal/obligation-stewardship-and-poor.

This content was originally published on Crossway

Trip to Philadelphia

My husband, daughter and I were able to make it into downtown Philadelphia a couple of Saturdays ago and were so blessed by the Lord.  It was a brisk and sunny day for which we were grateful. We gave out around 35-40 survivor bags and were able to pray with many of the recipients.  Some were asleep on a bench or a grassy knoll in the park, so for those we gently lay the bag next to their belongings - a "surprise" when they awoke no doubt.  Many are so very grateful and express their gratitude for the bags while others refuse any help at all - one never knows how each person will react.  God has His plan and we need only obey His will - leaving the results always to Him.

We did have a happy surprise.  Several years ago when we were just starting to go to Philly with this ministry we came across a gentleman by the name of Rinaldo.  I believe he was from Cuba and didn't know much, if any, English.  On this trip my daughter and I happen to go down some stairs to the underground shopping area (part of the subway system) and in the distance it looked like Rinaldo.  We hurried over to the gentleman and said "Rinaldo?" to which he shook his head yes.

Rinaldo in 2012

Unfortunately, due in part to the language barrier and maybe the years on the streets taking its toll, we couldn't get much further in conversation with Rinaldo.  But it was so good to see him and know he is well. Please keep him in your prayers as we will, too.

We did come across a couple of women while there and luckily we had a few bags with pink hats in them.  I often wonder if women living on the streets miss some of the girlie stuff they might have grown up wearing - so maybe a pink hat will put a smile on their face.  Later in the day we happen to walk by one of the women and she was wearing her pink hat!  God always knows and provides. Praise Him!

In closing I want to ask you to pray for the homeless in Philadelphia and all over the world. It is a hard and dangerous life living on the streets.  We are all one or two steps away from that life ourselves - seriously.  Praise God for all He does and for all He provides.  May all the glory go to Him for He alone is worthy.

For You are great and do wondrous deeds; You alone are God.

Psalm 145:3 

Survivor Ministry

My husband, Paul, and I (and often our grown kids) have been led by the Lord to minister to the street homeless in Philadelphia. This is a video we put together several years ago after one of our trips there.  We live 3 hours away and because it has been getting increasingly difficult to go there as often as we would like, we are hoping to find a way to move closer to Philly. With God all things are possible.

While there are many shelters in the city, the street homeless often don't use them for various reasons (mental illness, addictions, paranoia, etc.).  These are the people we seek to find.  Some are new to the streets - others have been on the streets for many years.  They are different ages, ethnicities, genders and have different belief systems. We try to meet them where they are in order to show them the love of the one true God.

We make up what we call "survivor bags" -  zip lock bags filled with a variety of items depending on the season.  The bags usually contain something to drink, a protein, raisins, applesauce, crackers, granola bar, band aids, wipes, gum, socks, trash bag, tissues, Bible tracts, daily devotions and in the winter hat/gloves/scarf.  We witness to the homeless and often pray with them if they are willing. If you are interested in doing something like this for your town you can visit www.loveinabag.com to get a list of what we put in the bags.  It's a great project for a youth or women's group!

We hope to go again soon - the bags are made up and ready to go!  Please pray for softened hearts that are ready to hear and even accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior; that God would be glorified in all we do and say; that we would be obedient to our Lord; and also for our safety.  We give Him all the glory and praise Him for we could do nothing without Him. Thank you so much and may God bless you!

A Mission Story

It was a sunny, cool morning - perfect weather for what we were about to do.  My daughter and I had packed our backpacks the night before and were laughing over the fact they weighed around 50 pounds each.  Add to that another tote bag full of CD players and Bibles and we were wondering if we'd even be able to walk!  We woke early, had breakfast and drove down to the train station.  We had started our adventure - the one God had been calling me to do for the past year or so.  And He had blessed us with beautiful weather.

Arriving in Philadelphia about 50 minutes later we paused in the train station to pray about our mission that day -  ministering to the street homeless.  We had 16 survivor kits, 10 CD players with the CD The Invitation, and 8 New Testaments.  Our brothers and sisters in Christ had contributed in so many ways - finances, materials and prayers.  We asked God to guide us, give us a boldness, soften hearts, keep us humble and most of all, give all the glory to Him.  We were excited!!

The first homeless man we came across was playing a guitar while sitting on the sidewalk, leaning against a building.  No one was paying attention to him.  We approached, I bent down and asked him if he could use a kit.  He nodded, stopped playing and started talking. It took me about a minute or so to realize he was rambling and making no sense whatsoever.  Just disjointed words racing from his mouth.  It broke my heart.  In fact, the next couple of homeless were the same.  They all had lost their minds.  We tried to talk to them about Jesus, but it was difficult.  One said he knew Jesus and then went on to tell us how Jesus had a steel plate in his head.  Another one told us Jesus lived next door to him.  All we could do is love them and pray for them. 

Perhaps God was testing us - or maybe preparing us to be bold.  Because after that He put homeless in our paths that were coherent.  There were also some that were asleep so we would leave a pile next to them of the kit, CD player and Bible.  Wonder what they thought when they woke up!  There were a couple of men that told us we were the second ones that day to give them something - that others had given them some tracts about Jesus.  Of course we smiled and told them God must be trying to reach them!  Praise the Lord!

My daughter and I started walking down one street and I spotted a homeless guy with a cardboard sign up ahead.  He was sitting on the sidewalk leaning against the building.  We also saw a family of tourists coming the other way.  As they passed the homeless man, they all looked at him and his sign, then the mother actually made a face of distaste and rolled her eyes.  It could have been something right out of a movie it was so surreal.  We stopped to talk to him and give him our goodies - he was so excited!  He stood up and thanked us.  We asked him his name (Bobby) and could we pray for him.  He seemed apprehensive but excited at the same time and said yes.  So we held hands and prayed for him.  Will you keep Bobby in your prayers, too? 

By noon we had given away all of our stuff and decided to make a stop at the bookstore before going home.  Instead of looking at a map I figured I had been in Philly enough to wing it, so we just started walking.  I wasn't sure of the streets, I just knew the general direction to head in.   But God knew - and He took us down a street we had been down earlier, unbeknownst to us.  There had been a homeless man earlier, sleeping on a grate, that we left one of our piles with.  Next thing we know, we are passing him again. And lo and behold, he was sitting up listening to The Invitation CD we had left him!!!  We were so thrilled and knew God took us there to show us and use it to encourage us.  Thank you, Lord.

By the end of our adventure, I could hardly walk - literally.  My calves hurt so bad I was limping. And the next day my pain wasn't much better and my daughter was hurting, too!  But it was worth those pains - they are minor in comparison to the pain of being eternally seperated from God.  And we can't wait to do it again.  I pray this will become a regular mission for us.  God is good - all the time!  I know the weather may not be so beautiful the next time we do this - I think God was generous our first time out - but that's okay because I'm blessed to have a roof over my head while these street people do not.  God bless them.

Please pray for all the homeless.  Pray for their safety; pray they will be fed and clothed; most of all pray they will come to know Jesus.  One last note -  my daughter and I wondered how the mentally diminished will be able to accept the Lord in their lives when they can't understand what we are saying to them.  Well God reminded me that with Him all things are possible - could He not give them lucid moments?  Perhaps when they are listening to The Invitation or reading a passage in the Bible.  So we need to witness to everyone - everywhere - all the time. 

May all the glory and praise go to Him.   

The Audit of a Lifetime by Ron Hutchcraft

Oh, when the auditor leaves from our annual audit, man, our administrative team is high-fivin'. Partly because, well, again we got a clean audit this past year, and our ministry's been blessed with that year after year, and partly it's just because it's over! They worked pretty hard to be ready for all the things the auditor wanted to check out.
In the business world, and sometimes even in the Christian world, audits aren't always happy. Auditors can find things that get you in trouble with your boss, with the government, even with the law. Audits uncover hidden secrets.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Audit of a Lifetime."
Now, I have a meeting scheduled with the auditor in the future. Except, I don't know when it is, because the appointment is with The Auditor, and only He knows when my audit of a lifetime is going to be. Fact is we're all facing the audit of our lives. Our word for today from the word of God in Romans 14:12 says "...each of us will give an account of himself to God."
There will be no exceptions, "...each of us." There will be no excuses, "...will give account of himself to God." No blaming your spouse, your parents, your kids, your friends, your coworkers. I will answer for me and me alone. Also, there will be no secrets. "God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ" - Romans 14:12 says that. The Auditor knows every website we've ever visited, every e-mail or conversation we've been involved with, every sin we thought we got away with.
Many times I've seen a road sign with these stark words: "Prepare to meet your God" (Romans 14:12). Since heaven's all-knowing Auditor will expose everything about my life, it actually makes sense to work on what I'll face in His presence. The Auditor has let us know what He'll be auditing. I'd like to know that now.
Now, I know He'll be auditing the words I speak. Jesus said so: "Men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless (or worthless, that means) word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted and by your words you will be condemned" (Romans 14:12). All our words, including the gossip, the angry stuff, the putdowns, the dirty stuff, will be there to meet us on the day of judgment and there will be no denying my own words.
The Auditor's also going to examine why I do what I do. The Bible says, "Wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts" (Romans 14:12). I'm not too excited about those new full body scans that they're installing at airports; they reveal what no one else can see. But that's nothing compared to God's full heart scan at the judgment seat. No matter how good what I've done may be, it will burn if my real motive was me, not Him. God cares a lot more about why we do than what we do. If it wasn't for His glory, if it wasn't because of pure love, it will never survive the audit.
Then Jesus said, "Give an account of your management" (Romans 14:12). The audit is going to be about what I've done with what He's given to me: my money, my influence, my home, my abilities, my opportunities. I'm suspecting that a lot of us are going to be feeling the shame and sadness of what might have been, of how much we could have done and should have done.
And then there's this really sobering warning of what's going to come up at the audit. "When I say to a wicked man (the Bible makes it clear that's all of us), 'You will surely die,' and you do not...speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood" (Ezekiel 3:18). Whew! God will confront me with all the people I didn't tell about Jesus, whose eternity depended on hearing about Him.
I guess the hardest-hitting exposure at the audit of a lifetime will be about what we do with Jesus. The Bible says about Judgment Day, "...the books were opened. Another book was opened which is the Book of Life...If anyone's name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire" (Romans 14:12). What an unspeakably horrific moment.
Jesus checks the Book of Life to see if a person's name is there. If it's not, it's too late. It's entered there when you pin all your hopes on the Christ who died on the cross for your sin. If you never have, you can have your name put in His Book today by giving your life to Him.
The Auditor's told us how to take the dread out of the audit. It says, "If we judge ourselves, we would not come under judgment" (1 Corinthians 11:31). Face it now so you don't have to face it then. It's no wonder He's so deeply interested in how we live our life. He's pretty heavily invested with His blood.

Sharing, Giving, Sacrificing

By this we know love, that he laid down his life

for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for

the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods

and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart

against him, how does God's love abide in him?

Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but

in deed and in truth.

1 John 3:16-18

The Good News

I've started reading a book titled Revolution in World Missions by K.P. Yohannan.  I didn't get very far into it before I found my head in my hands.  We have gotten it wrong, so wrong in this country.  Our Father must be sad that once again His children have taken matters into their own hands and messed it all up.  He never intended for us to take our blessings and turn them into material gratification for ourselves.  He never intended for us to hoard our wealth and invest it in material possesions, big houses, fancy cars and lavish vacations.  We have become gluttonous in everything we do - eating, work, play, entertainment, even church.  Yes, even church.

Here are some facts that might interest you:

* Church buildings in the U.S. have become extravagant.  One built years ago in Dallas actually cost $74 million!  And less than a minute away from the $74 million church was one that cost $7 million.   But here's the REALLY horrific part - The same $74 million would be enough to guarantee that the Good News of Jesus Christ could be proclaimed to a whole Indian state - or even some of the smaller countries of Asia.

* If we earmarked 10 percent of our Christian giving in the U.S. for the cause of world evangelism, there would be more than $10 billion available for Gospel outreach.

* "Many churches have gymnasiums and fellowships that cater to a busy schedule of activities having little or nothing to do with Christ.  The orchestras, choirs, "special" music - and sometimes even the preaching - seemed to me more like entertainment than worship."  K.P. Yohannan

* 85% percent of all Bibles printed today are in English for the 9% of the world who read English.  80% of the world's people have never owned a Bible while Americans have an average of four in every household.

* Besides books, 8,000 Christian magazines and newspapers flourish.  More than 1,600 Christian radio stations broadcast the Gospel full-time, while many countries don't even have their first Christian radio station.  A tiny 0.1 percent of all Christian radio and television programming is directed toward the unevangelized world.  Little, if any, of this media is designed to reach unbelievers.  Almost all is entertainment for the saints.

* The U.S., with it's 600,000 congregations or groups, is blessed with 1.5 million full-time Christian workers, or one full-time religious leader for every 182 people in the nation.  What a difference this is from the rest of the world, where more than 2 billion people are still unreached with the Gospel.  The unreached or "hidden peoples" have only one missionary working for every 78,000 people, and there are still 1,240 distinct cultural groups in the world without a single church among them to preach the Gospel.  These are the masses for whom Christ wept and died.

God did not shower such great blessing on this nation for the Christians to live in extravagance, self-indulgence and spiritual weakness.

Maybe that's enough for today.  It's a lot to take in and think about.  I hope your head is in your hands by now, too.  We have a lot of work ahead of us.  Let's pray about it.

Heavenly Father,
  Please forgive us, Lord.  We have gotten it all wrong.  Just like the Israelites did time and time again - when things are good, we turn away and take the credit.  We don't listen to You, we think we know better.  Help us to change, Father God.  Help us to become the salt and the light of the world.  Help us to give up our selfish ways, our extravagant ways. It won't be easy, Lord, but you are a patient God, otherwise we would have been wiped out long before now.
  There are so many people in this world who have never heard of you, Jesus.  How selfish are we to keep the Good News to ourselves?  And why?  Because we are "nervous" or "afraid" of witnessing to others?  What will they think of us! Or what if we say the wrong thing!  We also claim we don't know where or how to find nonbelievers.  Or maybe we think we need more money to travel somewhere when there are nonbelievers right outside our door.  All pitiful excuses, aren't they Father God?  We should know by now that with You all things are possible.  That you will put the people in our path and You will give us the words. You promised us that and You never lie.
  Praise You that we still have hope!  It isn't too late!  With your strength and perseverance we can change our ways.  We can repent and start to make a difference.

  Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few...... Matt 9:37

Help us to change that, Father God. 

In Jesus Name, Amen