What Story Will You Tell?

January 03, 2016

What Story Will You Tell?

I have a little story for all of you. A little story pertaining to the last week.

Please─enlighten yourself, and read on:

On December 27, at 5am, I headed out to St. Louis with a group of students from my college. We spent four days attending seminars, Bible studies, and large-scale worship services all in the name of Jesus. (When I say large-scale, I mean it. I'm talking 16,000 people. That's a lot of people.)

[What is Urbana? According to the lovely Wikipedia, "Urbana is a major Christian student missions conference sponsored by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship for college students. Urbana is a discerning space to discover where gifts, dreams, and calling meet God's global mission."]

Over the course of our time there, we were filled with the Spirit, commissioned to go and spread the Gospel. People shouted Amen and Hallelujah and Yes Lord, Send Me. We heard of the persecuted church and the brothers and sisters who are literally following God's call to "go and make disciples of all nations." After celebrating the new year and the reality of the salvation we have through Christ, the 16,000 individuals at the conference packed their bags and were off. We traveled far and wide, some across oceans and some across states. (All in all, we represented 88 countries.) And all the people said Amen. What a week. Yay to fuzzy feelings, and yay to Jesus.

The end.

Lovely story, huh? No─not a lovely story. The story doesn't end there. It didn't even begin there. The message of Christ, the gospel story─it doesn't have an end, for we will continuously receive the salvation found in Christ forever and ever throughout eternity.

[Heads up─in my time of reflection I threw my heart at the computer screen and the following popped up. Continue reading at your own discretion. We've got some soul exposing ahead.]

I think that often times it's easy to feel these "Jesus highs" at conferences like these, or on mission trips, or even in little moments at church. But does that passion, that longing to grow closer to Christ, that excitement to go and share the gospel─how long does it last?

The question asked at Urbana was what story will you tell?

That my friends, is a really good question.

When it's all said and done, when I finally come face to face with my Creator, what story am I going to tell? Will I share stories of my highest liked Instagram photo, or will I share stories of moments that brought me to my knees? Will I tell of the outsider who I smiled at, or will I tell of the outsider who I took the chance to know, to truly know, and to befriend? Will I share moments of excitement when I found $20 on the ground, or will I share moments of excitement when my brothers and sisters came to truly realize the love that Christ has for them? Will I share of the times in which God worked through me─when I honestly withheld nothing─when I was open to what God was doing in my life? Will I share of when I stepped out of my comfort zone and gave control to the Lord? Will I simply have moments of devotion to share, or will I share of a lifetime?

We sang songs at Urbana with lyrics such as withholding nothing and I surrender all. And I felt like such a hypocrite.

There I was, singing I surrender all─but do I really?

Do I honestly surrender everything to Christ? I'm really good at twisting things to make myself feel better about things─maybe you are too. In my mind, here's how it's been working: I surrender all(most) everything. I'm withholding nothing (except for this. oh, and except for that. and..okay, yeah─and that too.) Why is it that we feel entitled to so many things?

Among the many great words spoken at Urbana was the following statement:

Jesus is worth so much more than casual devotion.

He is worth so much more than I could ever give. But that's no excuse not to give what I have.

In one of our morning Bible studies, we read Matthew 25:31-46, speaking of the time when the Son of Man will come in his glory. The passage reads that "he (being the Son of Man) will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in..."

Later it reads that "he will say to those on his left, "Depart from me, you who are cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in..."

I think too often it's easy to brush over passages like these.

For me personally, I've heard it many times before so it's easy to just read it and continue on. But just pause with me for a moment.

In verse 44, those on the left (the goats) ask, "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?"

Those on the left didn't realize what they had been missing out on.

Their eyes weren't open to the opportunities the Lord placed around them to share his love and to share his story. They thought they were doing all the right things. And what's even more terrifying is that the Lord says to them, "Depart from me".

This passage is looking at the distinction between the sheep and the goats. Notice that it is the shepherd who looks after his sheep. So what's the distinction? How do I, how do we, distinguish ourselves from the goats?

How do we live in a way that distinguishes that our hearts are after something much greater than this world has to offer, that our hearts are passionately seeking after Jesus?

I like to think it starts with just that─passion. If you aren't passionate about something, what's going to change? If you don't have that drive to pursue something, how quickly will it burn out? Have I asked enough questions for you yet? So once again the question comes up: