The cruise ship industry is an estimated 8 billion dollar a year business. Last year alone, millions of individuals made their way on board ships averaging over 1,000 feet long and several stories tall. It’s not surprising that the experience of a cruise is highly coveted. Passengers are greeted warmly by a small crew of dedicated workers set on meeting the desires of each and every passenger. People choose to go on cruises so that they can enjoy a limitless amount of luxury and comfort. Cruise ships are dedicated to meeting not only the needs but the wants of each of their customers. Take a stroll across the deck of a typical cruise ship and you see people swimming in pools, going down waterslides, sunbathing, eating obscene amounts of food, and drinking until they can no longer walk straight.

A Better Way

Battleships, on the other hand, are full of people who are gathered together for a single mission. Every person onboard the vessel is there to participate. Instead of a small minority working to provide extensive comfort for the majority, all on board work for the sake of the fulfillment of the assignment. Instead of chasing comfort, the sailors deliberately embrace discomfort for the good of their nation.

All too often the Christian church seems to possess the mentality of a modern-day cruise ship. A small group of people working hard to provide entrainment, comfort, and service for any that would find themselves “onboard.” Christians seem content to stroll through their lives demanding amenities rather than submitting themselves to service.

The Example of Jesus

Jesus makes no such allowances for those who would call themselves His followers. Instead, He said in Matthew 8:20 “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” He makes it clear that if you are hoping for a life of comfort and ease it won’t be found following Him. He came not to be served, but to serve. He traded the comforts of heaven for the difficulties of earth. He didn’t let a desire for a life of comfort and ease keep him from His assignment.

Caught in Comfort Unaware

Satan would love for you to be comfortable. He wants you so comfortable you forget about the war you are supposed to be enlisted in. He wants your comfort to send you drifting off to a sleepy sort of apathy that keeps you from ever doing anything consequential. He wants you so comfortable that you never actually need God to come through for you.

I’m afraid that the reality is many of us are more comfortable than we even realize. The problem is we can be so accustomed to this comfort that we don’t even recognize it. We fail to understand that we have allowed ourselves to be lulled to sleep by a lullaby leaving us in a state of spiritual lethargy and indifference. If you are going to do anything worthwhile it will require that you leave the clutches of your metaphorical couch.

Embracing the Difficulty 

If Jesus was as concerned for His own comfort as you and I are tempted to be, we would be left with no hope of salvation. But instead, He not only allowed discomfort into His life but in submission to His Father He intentionally sought out discomfort. The same must be true of you and me if we want to be used by God. As Jesus told His disciples in Luke 9:23, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” We need to go beyond allowing discomfort into our lives, and instead, throw ourselves into it.

Jesus did it for us. Will you do it for Him?

Ballast is a material that is used to provide stability in many sea vessels. It is usually a heavy substance that is placed in tanks low in the vessel to prevent possible disaster, commonly counteracting the tendency of a tip-over and eventual shipwreck. The lack of proper ballast has been the primary cause of many tragedies at sea, some, such as the Sewol ferry in Korea cost the lives of over 300 people. The ballast provides much-needed stability when the waters become treacherous and seas seem insurmountable. It is critical for the lifetime of a ship and should not be overlooked by any sailors desiring a long and successful career.

What about us?

The storms of a life fiercely following the lead of Jesus are unavoidable. To go where He is leading necessitates that you pass through them. How can you be sure that you will make it through those storms without making a shipwreck of your faith? What is the ballast in your life that steadies it in the most tumultuous of situations? When you receive a tragic phone call, what keeps you going? When your emotions tell you that everyone around you is against you, how do you stay in the fight?

Improper Ballast

Filling ballast tanks with the wrong substance does nothing good for the ship. In fact, the wrong ballast can actually achieve the opposite of the desired result, instead of leading to stability, it can induce weakness and vulnerability. Sometimes we cram our lives with things thinking they are going to give us what we need. We fill our life with unhealthy relationships, passions, and desires and then we act surprised when those things cause more problems than they are worth. They don’t enhance our life, but instead pull us beneath the surface.

Finding the right Ballast

We must be careful to not expect our emotions to carry us through rough times. Neither can we always count on the relationships that we have around us, even the best of them. Our stability cannot come from ourselves. Instead, our stability must come from the Lord.

He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. Psalm 40:2

We need to fill our tanks with ballast that comes from God: the reliability that comes from the truth of His word, the peace that is experienced from the love that He has, and the hope for eternity from the promises that He has given. Anything else that we look to for stability in life will eventually shift beneath us. 

The storms are coming, make sure your tanks are full.

Judas wasn’t the only betrayer in the group. Nor was Peter the only denier. Truth is, every disciple is predestined to become not only a denier, and a betrayer, but ultimately, a crucifier as well. Committing these particular acts, like it or not, is inevitable for anyone who truly follows Christ. The real issue, therefore, isn’t whether you’ll eventually do such things as these, but who will be on the receiving end of them.

It’s either you or Jesus…

DESTINED TO DENY

Denial is a dirty word in the Christian dialect, and it’s all Peter’s fault. On the night of Christ’s arrest, when Jesus needed him most, Peter denied knowing Him three times over. And this wasn’t Peter’s first bout with denial either. Just a few short hours earlier, Jesus told Peter that he was destined to deny. And in true form, Peter flat-out denied it! Thanks to him, denial has been associated with sin ever since.

It’s critical to remember, however, that not all denial is a sin. In our case, it’s required. One of the prerequisites of following Jesus is having a propensity for denial. In fact, if a person isn’t willing to deny, they won’t even be allowed to follow Christ at all. In Luke 9:23 Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves”. Whether it’s a dirty word or not, “denial” is a “must”.

Somebody in your Christian life is being denied.

It’s either you or Jesus…

BOUND TO BETRAY

When Judas Iscariot was chosen by Jesus, his fate was already decided. “Jesus knew from the beginning who it was that would betray Him” (John 6:64). His future was as fixed as the Word of God Itself. Judas was bound to betray.

But then again, so were the other eleven.

Betrayal is in the cards for all of Christ’s disciples. The word “betray” means to ‘hand over’ or ‘abandon’, and it carries with it a sense of close, personal involvement. Anyone can do it, and everyone will. We’re bound to it.

All who follow Christ are called to the abandonment, or ‘betrayal’ of self. Jesus encourages all of His disciples to “Give up your life for me, (then) you will find it” (Matthew 10:39). Some, however, will reject that kind of self-betrayal. To them, a second option is given: Abandon Christ instead. Just like Judas.

Somebody in your Christian life will get betrayed.

It’s either you or Jesus…

CALLED TO CRUCIFY

The Nicene Creed reminds us that Jesus was “crucified under Pontius Pilate”. But truth be told, crucifixion is an activity in which everybody takes part. From the High Priest to the Apostles, and the ancient Jew to the modern gentile, everyone is a crucifier. This, of course, includes me and you. We may not have held the mallet, or delivered the blows, but I assure you, it was our sins that got Him killed.

Rising from the dead, however, Jesus now calls us to become active participants in yet another crucifixion: Our own.

Jesus commands us to “pick up our cross” (Mark 8:34), and to “crucify our flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24). We’re commanded to “Put to death (crucify) whatever is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5).

Once more this leaves us with a choice: We can either crucify ourselves, or we can “crucify Christ all over again, putting Him to open shame”. There’s no way around it. We’ve been called to crucify.

Somebody in your Christian life is being put to death.

It’s either you or Jesus…

MAN ON A MISSION

By choosing Judas, Jesus was making the conscious decision to offer Himself up for betrayal. By choosing Peter, Jesus presented Himself to be denied. And by choosing God’s will, Jesus willingly offered Himself up for crucifixion.

Your Savior already knows what it’s like to be the victim of denial, betrayal, and crucifixion. Do you?

Your desire to be like Jesus is a single decision away from being fulfilled. Yield yourself to the only experiences that will truly unite you to Christ. You have been given the power & authority to deny, betray, and crucify.

Use that power wisely. 

In Luke 14, Jesus is amassing great multitudes who are traveling with Him. Christ, realizing that the vast majority of the supposed “followers” were unqualified and ill-prepared, turns to them to explain that most of their lifestyles were incompatible with following Him. He explains that the cost required to go where he was leading them was great, far greater than many were willing to pay. Jesus will take you on the journey of a lifetime if you will let Him, but it will cost you. Much of what you are tempted to hold onto in a life of following Jesus is going to have to go. For years this reality has been illustrated in many different ways. Below is my attempt to do so.

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The glow of the alarm clock read 4:57. Three more minutes until the alarm would sound, but I didn’t need any alarms this morning. Like a kid on Christmas morning, I had been awake for hours waiting for an appropriate hour to get out of bed. I had been waiting for this day for years. I was finally going to meet Chris Carson (Kit) and begin our accent up Mount Telos. I had been watching his videos for years and after two years on a waiting list, my turn to join his troupe of five other climbers had come. I glanced to the corner of my room and saw the heap of supplies all strapped tightly to my pack. I wasn’t sure it would fit in the trunk of my car but for the life of me, I couldn’t think of anything I could bear to leave behind, after all, climbing Mt. Telos was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

I turned the alarm off at first blare, jumped out of bed, and begin getting ready. Six minutes later I was ready to go, hefting my massive pack onto my shoulders. I sure hoped Kit would be impressed with all my new gear. It had cost quite a bit, but I wanted to ensure that there was nothing that I was going to regret having left behind. I wanted to be ready. I ran out the door banging my tent pole on the top of my door as my collapsible camp dishes knocked over my coffee mug sitting on the counter.

My bag didn’t quite fit in the trunk, but no matter I got it in the back seat and on the second good shove was able to get the door to click shut. I turned my key and looked down at the clock, 5:11. I was going to be way too early, but oh well I guess that just mean more time to spend with Kit before we started our climb. The closer I got the more the peak towered above me. Pictures didn’t even begin to compare. As I pulled up to the shack that functioned as our point of departure, I realized I was alone. Kit was nowhere in sight. I pried my bag from the back and prepared to make a good first impression.

After what felt like hours, my four climbing companions arrived. I noticed smugly that none of their packs were even close to the size of mine. They must have forgotten all the important stuff. Well, I certainly wouldn’t be sharing. I had everything that I needed. Kit pulled up and jumped out of his car. As he approached, I noticed him eyeing all of us up. I thought I caught a snicker forming.

“All right,” he said, “start by dumping all your stuff out so I can get a look at your gear. I need to know you are ready and bringing what you need to make it to the end” I smiled knowing that out of the five of us I certainly had what it took.

We emptied our bags as he started his inspection at the opposite end of the line where a meager pile of supplies laid. Kit dug through slowly and silently eyeing each item and begin to form two piles. I figured some gear must not have met his required standards. He repeated the process without words all down the line and then stood before me. I couldn’t help but grin, I bet I had some stuff that even the great mountain man Kit had never seen. He had to be impressed, I had even managed to squeeze in my collapsible camp oven to make a proper celebratory dinner at the peak. I bet no one had ever brought a solar-powered laptop before, but if I was going to climb Mt. Telos I was going to be sure the whole world knew about it.

His eyes went back and forth between me and my impressive mound of supplies with no words. Finally, a grin broke across his face as he said, “Son, is this some kind of joke.”

“No sir” I replied. “I come prepared, you just wait and see”

I could tell he was taken aback by my uncommon forethought. He dug through my pile and to my delight I was the only person who had only one pile in front of them.

“Okay, the pile on your left is what you are taking, the pile on the right you can leave behind. And you,” he pointed his finger at me, “I don’t know what on earth you were thinking, but you can’t take any of that crap you with. You won’t make it 50 feet without collapsing.”

Was this some sort of joke? I had been planning this for years. How could I climb the mountain without my canon, or my go pro, or my picnic blanket, and what about my 3,000-foot rope. Surely, he was mistaken. I waited for the punchline but after a few moments, it was clear none was coming. My heart dropped. How could I have been so mistaken? How could I have been thinking wrong for so long? Here I had thought there was no climber better in all the world than Kit Carson, but it turned out he was nothing but a fraud. He had no idea what he was doing. How could I have ever trusted him?

He looked at me and said, “If you want to make it up this mountain, you’ll do exactly what I say. I know what I am doing. No one has ever done this on their own. You need to leave all that behind and I’ll give you my backup gear to use. You can leave all your toys here in my shack. Reaching the end requires certain things, and you’ll have to leave everything else behind.”

I just shook my head. “Fine then,” he said, “but you aren’t going to come with me if you want to try and climb this mountain your own way with all of that junk, you’ll do it alone.”

He was right. He didn’t own this mountain. I would just go on my own. I had what I needed. Kit could do things his way and I would do them mine. The rest would depart at first light the following day. But there were still a couple hours of daytime. After the way I had been treated, I was going to set out on my own. I didn’t want to lay eyes on Kit ever again. With indignation, I gritted my teeth and begin to carefully repack the contents that Kit had so foolishly dismissed.

I hoisted my pack on my back and left quickly. I was going to show him. After a few steps, I slowed my pace. It was a long journey after all. As the sun sank, I continued on. Growing weary but still determined. As the base camp disappeared from view, I let out a sigh of relief. I could finally lighten my pack. Not much, and I didn’t need to, but I might as well be comfortable as I go. I removed half my rope, and my collapsible oven, I wouldn’t need an oven if I was cooking just for myself anyways, and stowed it behind a tree hiding it from sight so that Kit wouldn’t think he was right.

As time stretched on, my legs grew weaker. My arms ached. Every step seemed like it would be my last. My knuckles glowed white as I gripped my pack. I noticed many of the things I had strapped on seemed to have fallen away as I had gone. The path too narrow to allow the width of my belongings to traverse. I remembered Kit’s words, but what remained of my pack was too precious to let go. I marched on.

Hours went by, perhaps days, and I had lost any understanding of time. The path continued to narrow and my belongings had been stripped back to just a few. I took one more step and was tugged to a stop. Try what I may, no amount of twisting and turning would let me continue. Not with the shreds of my pack still firmly strapped to my back. If I was going to continue on. I was going to have to let it go.

Dismay filled me. I had worked so hard and come such a long way, but the cost of moving forward seemed too much to bear. One more step meant leaving everything behind. It meant admitting my failure in humiliation. I had worked too hard and too long to let go now. My fingers were wrapped so tightly around the straps that it seemed impossible to pry them away. Yet to move forward would require just that. If I was going to get where I was supposed to be, I needed to say goodbye to that which seemed impossible to relinquish. What was I going to do? The cost seemed impossible to pay.

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Now you are left with a question, “will you reach the top?” Jesus will take you on the adventure of a lifetime, but it’s going to be costly. There are things currently in your life, relationships, character traits, long-held beliefs, that your fingers are wrapped around in refusal to let go. You can cling to those things if you want to. But remember if you do, wherever you’re going, you just might be going alone.

Guess what?! I’m 50% more accountable to God this year than I was last year!

Not that I’m particularly thrilled about it, but it’s a reality I can’t ignore. Not without grave consequences anyway. Let me explain…

GROWING PAINS

Not including myself, I’ve now got 18 members at this little church, the last 6 of whom were added since mid-February. In other words, our membership roster has grown by about 50% this year. Now, Hebrews 13:17 reminds me that I will “give an account” for all eighteen of those members. So, if you’re one of them, congratulations, I am now personally responsible to God for how you turn out.

(Woe is me).

Accountability, however, isn’t unique only to the pastor(s) of a church, it’s expected of the members as well. Again, Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey your (church) leaders, and submit to them”. It appears that, by sovereign arrangement, your leaders are accountable to God for you, which makes you accountable to your leaders.

(Woe is you).

OLD CLOTHES

What, exactly, does ‘accountability’ mean anyway? Well, the Cambridge dictionary defines it as “being responsible for what you do, and able to give a satisfactory reason for it”. That said, you and I both have somebody in our life to whom we must explain ourselves. We are to be certain that they are satisfied with the choices that we are making. This means that we don’t live our life as we please any longer. It means that we take others into consideration when making personal decisions from now on. It also means that there will be divine consequences if we persist in selfish, independent living.  

Membership here means many things, but among them is accountability.

Biblical accountability is an itchy garment we’re all meant to wear. God has woven it into the fabric of the church, and it’s as comfortable as burlap. Yet refusing to put it on just because of how it makes you feel, is entirely juvenile. Those who won’t, are like spiritual children with no qualms about running around naked in public. They might be enjoying themselves in the moment, but they are oblivious to the fact that somebody else is being held responsible for their behavior.

It’s a concern when this kind of lifestyle goes unaddressed. Those who hold too tightly to their personal freedom are destined to chronic irresponsibility, prolonged immaturity, and shallow relationships. Independence isn’t a mark of Christian adulthood after all, it’s proof of spiritual infancy. The reason you’re not growing up is because you won’t put accountability on.

NEW UNIFORM

Individuality is the air we breathe. Freedom is our life-blood. Answering to someone else is counter-intuitive, counter-cultural, and (in many churches) counter-orthodox. Accountability is a foreign practice in numerous American ministries. But apart from it, you’ll never be anything more than an “average Christian”, and we’ll never be anything more than a run-of-the-mill fellowship. It’s time to trash our old clothes.

The first step in taking responsibility for yourself is to acknowledge that someone else is responsible for you. The next step is to love them enough to make yourself accountable to them. Doing so will transform you into a healthier person, and us together, into a stronger church. Accountability propels us toward maturity.

“A culture of accountability makes a good organization great…and a great organization unstoppable” –Henry Evans

TAILOR FIT

Membership here means many things, but among them is accountability. Not because we like it, but because we need it. Responsibility and accountability are a prickly garb. But only when you put them on will you realize how well they fit. You and I were made to wear them.

Whether our church grows by another 50% next year or not, I hope we’ll recognize the importance of what God has said in Hebrews 13:17, “Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you”.

Scripture and statistics both indicate that I’m more accountable this year than I was last year.

Is the same true of you?

Every Sunday we gather and sing songs to our Lord. If you are anything like the average Christian much of the time you are making noise and on occasion while singing those words you are truly worshipping. Every now and then while singing an often-sung line, something will suddenly hit me differently. It’s as though I’m hearing it for the very first time. It has nothing to do with “liking” the song. In fact, the last time it occurred it happened in a song I felt was overdone and had no strong inclination towards. We were in the midst of repeating a song that I had sung countless times in a mindless dull routine.

The Words We Sing

And the verse started,

One day the grave could conceal Him no longer
One day the stone rolled away from the door
Then He arose, over death He had conquered
Now is ascended, my Lord evermore
Death could not hold Him, the grave could not keep Him
From rising again

And the next verse,

One day the trumpet will sound for His coming
One day the skies with His glories will shine
Wonderful day, my Beloved One bringing
My Savior Jesus is mine  

Words Made Real

The reality of the words we were singing became very real all at once. Guys, one day we are done with all of this. And that is a fact. No more fighting our own sin, no more constant disappointment, no more struggle. One day Jesus is coming back and it isn’t as though any of you reading this do not “know” this. But there is a difference between “knowing” it and believing and living in light of it. I was left with an overwhelming feeling of hope. I was reminded that my hope, fulfillment, and joy do not need to be full now. Because my hope is not in the here and now. It isn’t found in this world. It is found in Christ and one day it will be fully recognized.  

Jesus defeated Satan, He defeated the power of death, and one day our risen Savior is coming to take us out of here. Don’t forget it. On the days you have had enough remember what will happen one day.

I was reminded of Psalm 42

Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him
For the help of His countenance.

O my God, my soul is cast down within me;
Therefore I will remember You.

Why do you let yourself think the thoughts you do? Why do you forget what is true? Do you remember what Jesus did? Do you remember what He will do? Does your life reflect that this life is not the end-all and be-all? How does your life prove that one day Jesus is coming to get you?  

Hope in God, nothing else. Remember what is true. And praise Jesus for what He has already done, and what He will one day do.