Sold out.
What comes to mind when you read those words?
Have you ever been so excited about a concert and could not wait for the tickets to go on sale? You wake up early the day they go on sale filled with excitement only to find out they are sold out. Maybe you are getting ready for family to arrive and forgot one item at the grocery store. You rush to the local grocery to find out they are you guessed it…sold out. What about the time you and your spouse talked about a specific present for your child at Christmas? The day is Black Friday. You get up early. You go to the store. You wait outside in the rain or snow for hours. You are on a mission. You have one job … Get the specific present so you can save all the inflated dollars so you can witness your child’s excitement of a lifetime. You weave back and forth through the crowd only to arrive at the specific location and no toy. Same outcome … sold out.
We have all experienced the emotional disappointment of “stuff.” The treasures of this world will never satisfy. Matthew 5:6 says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” I am reminded of Jeremiah and his words to the people in Jeremiah 2:13, “For my people have committed a double evil: They have abandoned me, the fountain of living water, and dug cisterns for themselves—cracked cisterns that cannot hold water.”
The problem the people faced in Jeremiah’s day was they were trying to satisfy a longing in their lives in things that would never bring abundant joy. Today, we face the same problem and trap the people faced thousands of years ago. Today, people do their best to base their lives on broken cisterns. There are gospels being preached out there about stuff, status, and significance. These gospels diminish the good news of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.
Recently, we have leaders trying to get to “root causes” in our society. Being the people of God, we have to realize the “root cause.” The root cause can be stated in the following question, “What has your heart?” Jesus spoke to his disciples by saying in Matthew 6:21, ” For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” What do you value above all else?
Where is your treasure?
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Job promotion
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Attaboys
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Toys
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Concert Tickets
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ATV s
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Boats
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Trips of a lifetime
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Money
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Success
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Power
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Control
The things of this life have the potential to capture your heart. I remember someone sharing with me how skilled hunters capture monkeys. They will hollow out a gourd and put something in it that cannot be pulled through the hole. When the monkey grabs what is inside, the monkey will not let the object go and the hunters will throw a net over it. Did you catch that? The monkey will not let the object go. That is what happens when our treasure is in other things. Jesus is telling us whatever we value above all else will ultimately motivate us to action. Jesus is letting everyone know that a surrendered heart to him will reorient our love and lives, and being sold out to the mission of Christ begins with a surrendered heart.
When I think about a surrendered heart I think of the Apostle Paul. Paul, one of the great missionaries in the first century, put it this way in 2 Corinthians 5:14, “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.” That word compels means to completely dominate. Paul was so overwhelmed by Christ’s love, death, power, and resurrection that he couldn’t help but spread the good news.
I believe the Apostle Paul captures what it means to live from a surrendered heart.
The gospel transformed him. Paul went from being zealous, persecuting and killing Christians, to being transformed to spreading the gospel to the nations.
The gospel captured him. Paul went from keeping the law to being completely captured by the grace of Jesus.
The gospel compelled him. Paul went from being dominated by the old way of life to being dominated by the love of Christ.
The gospel motivated him. Paul was motivated to tell everyone about Jesus no matter if he was in prison, shipwrecked, beaten, run out of town, bitten by a snake, or in the town square debating with the elite of society.
Talk about a surrendered heart. Paul was SOLD OUT!
Something that fascinates me to this day is the first miracle Jesus performed. The wine ran out at the wedding party. This wedding was a huge celebration. The wine ran out. Mary, the mother of Jesus, finds Jesus and lets him know about the situation. What transpired following her conversation should be a response to all followers of Jesus. She looks every servant in the eyes and says, “Do whatever he tells you to do.” That’s it! Our response to that very statement reveals our surrendered heart.
Maybe you are a young mother staying at home raising your children. You don’t feel like you are making a difference. You may feel like you have lost something inside of you. However, you reflect on that statement, “Do whatever He tells you to do,” and now you find strength and courage, and gain understanding because you realize you are raising that young child to trust and follow the King of kings and Lord of lords in all the universe. Your surrendered heart is making an impact for generations and for all of eternity to come.
Brother Lawrence displayed a surrendered heart by washing dishes to the glory of God. Are you a waiter or a waitress? Are you a dishwasher? Be like Brother Lawrence and do them to the glory of God!
“Whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). Remember Mary’s statement to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you to do.” Your response to that statement in obedience reveals a surrendered heart to Jesus.
May we will be a people dominated by the gospel, responding by doing whatever he tells us.
Are you sold out?
This post originally appeared at: Sold Out! — The Bonhoeffer Project
Because of the importance of intentionality in disciple making, we at Discipleship.org are going to emphasize this skill set and mindset over the next four months. Please join with us and seek to share understanding, insight, and practical tools so that you can become skilled at intentionality in relational disciple making and you can help those on your team or in your leadership group to do the same. There are four ways in which we are emphasizing intentionality to help you in the next four months.
- Discipleship.org City Tour Forums – our four City Tour Forums are designed to help you and your team both understand and develop an intentionality posture. The tour is comprised of one day, high impact forums where there will be teaching and round table discussions. Every attendee also gets a copy of Brandon Guindon’s new book, Intentional: Living Out the Eight Principles of Disciple Making.
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Take the FREE Individual Disciple Maker Assessment – we designed this assessment with a team of national and international disciple making leaders to help each individual be able to evaluate their disciple making mindset and skill. Just by taking this assessment, you will gain an appreciation for the value of intentionality, along with a sense of how you can increase your own level of intentionality. Click the image below to take the assessment.
- Read the short FREE book, Becoming a Disciple Maker: The Pursuit of Level Five Disciple Making – Bobby wrote this short eBook with statistician Greg Wiens to help you understand the mathematical and practical impact of one person’s disciple making efforts and skills.
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- Read Brandon Guindon’s book, Intentional: Living Out the Eight Principles of Disciple Making – Brandon wrote this Discipleship.org book and Zondervan is publishing, because the understanding and practice of disciple making is so crucial. Every attendee at each of our City Tour events (Nashville, Houston, Dallas and Raleigh), as mentioned above, will receive a FREE copy of Brandon Guindon’s book.
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Please join with us in this quest to better understand and practice intentionality. It will help us all to become more and more like Jesus, the world greatest disciple maker.