Dependent Self-Sacrifice
As Christians, the idea of sacrificing of ourselves is not a hard sell. Whether we are talking about our time, our money, our mental, emotional or physical energy, or even our pride, it is understood to be a way of life for those who profess faith in Christ. It is no surprise that we would take our cues from our Lord Jesus Christ, who stands constantly before us in the Word not only as our Sacrifice, the Great Lamb of God who laid down his life so that we might have new life, but also as our living example of how to give of ourselves as well. Consider this passage on Christ’s suffering as an example from 1 Peter 2:20-21, which says “…But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 21For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.” Peter goes on to describe how Christ served as an example in his going and suffering on the cross. After thinking much about what Christ has done, it might be difficult to persuade me to think anything but that there must be a way to give more of myself for his sake.
Consider a guy like myself. I am a Christian man, a husband, a father, a brother, son, uncle, son-in-law, and relative. I am also a neighbor, friend, a church member, and Gospel Community leader. I am a package handler at UPS and the Missions coordinator at the church. Needless to say, I have numerous avenues from which to consider how to give. As I thought about how I am serving and giving of myself to all my callings or expressions of callings, I found two realities quickly emerging. The first is that I am unable to sacrifice to every one of my callings in a way that would satisfy me. The second is that since I have a limited amount of resources from which to give, I find myself working more on lower-listed priorities in the name of personal sacrifice, realizing that if I had to choose between something else that I value as important and my own needs and desires, that I will choose to personally be without or do without rather than let other important things suffer.
Ok, so now enters a point made by Scott Thomas. About a week and a half ago, we had Scott Thomas in town, the president of the Acts 29 church planting network we belong to, to lead some training in the area of mentoring. In the initial discussion, he pointed us to Acts 20:28 which says, “ 28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” Scott noted that here Paul was telling the Ephesian elders that their ability to care for the church of God was going to depend not only on their attention to all the flock, but also upon the attention they give themselves. Scott said that Christian leaders are all too often prompted, in the name of personal sacrifice, in honor of the example of Christ even, to put their priorities in an order like this: God, others, self, & ministry. He said as a result, men all over the country who are pastors of large churches with what would seem like no reason to be despairing or empty were finding themselves burnt out and done. These pastors were serving others so much that they were becoming starved and sickly themselves. It’s easy to see how they might have allowed the apparent success of all that they were investing themselves in to be a sign of God’s blessing when in reality it might have been blinding them from seeing how close they were nearing to the point of utter exhaustion and despair.
Now I want to direct us all to this one point and broaden it. Here's the issue: Our faithfulness to all that God has called us to care for and watch over, whether you’re single or married, a full-time student or full-time worker, serving occasionally or a megachurch pastor, is dependent not only on how we are intentional and diligent with that which we’ve been given, but also dependent on how intentional and diligent we are with how we care for ourselves. Consider what the words “pay careful attention to” mean from one study resource: to be in a continuous state of readiness to learn of any future danger, need, or error, and to respond appropriately.
So I want to close by posing a question. Are you allowing, in the name of self-sacrifice, to neglect your own well-being? Like I mentioned above, any one of us could find ourselves in this position but the outcome is the same. Are you finding yourself too busy to deepen your relationship with our Savior? Scott Thomas argued in the end that we ought to arrive at this order: God, Self, Others, Ministry. You cannot neglect your own soul or worse, eventually the well-being of those persons or responsibilities closest to you for the sake of something that looks successful because in reality it’s not as successful as you might think and would be wholly invigorated by you just grounding your mind, heart and energy in the love of the Savior. Will you join me in paying careful attention to ourselves as well?
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