"Why Good Isn’t Good Enough: The Call for Real Commitment in a Lukewarm World"
(Matthew 10:1-15)
Crisis always has a way of proving commitment. Four years ago today at 8:48 a.m. Eastern Time our nation was brutally attacked by terrorists. That attack resulted in over 3000 deaths and was designed to cause our nation to crumble. Yet, in the moment the attacks began true heroes stepped forward to save lives and in some cases changed the destiny of a nation. The acts of bravery from police, firemen, rescue workers and civilians are legendary. On this September 11, 2005 we remember that their sacrifices were not in vain. They showed us the meaning of real commitment.
In the early morning hours of August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina slammed ashore along the Gulf Coast brining with it a tide of death and destruction. The death toll will possibly exceed the terrorists' attacks of 9/11. There were immediately acts of heroism and bravery. Persons, both civilian, police, rescue and military personnel, responded with sacrifice and devotion. Yet, for whatever reasons, due to trauma, shock or lack of resources, some who were there to serve and protect are reported to have abandoned their post. Crisis always has a way of proving commitment.
What is true in a world assaulted by terror, both diabolical and disastrous, is also true spiritually: Crisis always has a way of proving commitment. In the passage read to you earlier Jesus called twelve to follow him with absolute commitment. They would leave homes, jobs, families and relationships to follow him. In the hours of his arrest, trial and execution, one would betray him while others abandoned him. Crisis always has a way of proving commitment.
Yet later those eleven would gather, along with others, and seek to regroup, cherishing his resurrection appearances to them. They would be given Holy Spirit power to fulfill his calling to them to be his witnesses. This time when the crisis of persecution and pressure came, the Bible says, "The apostles left…rejoicing that they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name" (Acts 5:41 NIV). Crisis always has a way of proving commitment.
Crisis always has a way of proving commitment in your life. That’s true in marriage, in your family, in your job, in your church and in your personal faith. When crisis comes in your life spiritually, you suddenly discover whether or not you are just good or if you are a disciple—a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ. Believe me, there is a difference—a big difference—because good isn’t good enough when the call of Jesus is to be a committed disciple.
You see most people have an idea about their personal faith that if they are just good people, then that somehow equals being a disciple of Jesus Christ. I hear things like this about people:
What’s missing? What’s missing is a statement of testimony to the depth of personal relationship to Jesus Christ. You can be good but never godly. You can be good and never be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Jim Collins said, "Good is the enemy of great. And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that become great…Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life." (Good is Great, p. 1) Many of you here today have settled for a good moral life but are missing what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
So how do you move from being good to being a disciple? How do you make the steps to real commitment where everyone else settles for mediocrity as a Christian? That’s what we want to talk about today and it begins with you and me answering Christ’s call for real commitment in a lukewarm world.
In Matthew 10:1 we read, " Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to cast out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness." We hear the word "disciple" and fail to understand that Jesus used that term to distinguish between those who were merely followers and those who were devoted to him personally. In the culture in which Jesus lived a disciple was someone who gave his or her mind and life to a particular course of knowledge. If someone wanted to play an instrument, learn a trade or become a professional, they would go to that person and literally follow that person in all they did. They were more than a pupil. They wanted to duplicate the life of the teacher.
In the New Testament the word "disciple" is used over 250 times. It always means those who have attached themselves to Jesus as their Teacher and Master. To say that one was a disciple of Jesus Christ says that you are totally committed, dependent and submissive to Jesus. This commitment was so strong that it meant that when it comes to the will of Jesus in a disciple’s life that there was no room for the person’s individual will.
Understand that Jesus himself is the one who made the distinction between merely being a follower and a disciple. Three times in Luke 14 Jesus mentions things that would disqualify a person from being his disciple. He said: " If you want to be my follower you must love me more than your own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, more than your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And you cannot be my disciple if you do not carry your own cross and follow me…So no one can become my disciple without giving up everything for me. (v. 26-27, 33)
Let me ask you: Does that say to you that all Jesus wants from you is to be "good"? Does that say that all Jesus wants is for you to be nice and come to church and toss some change into the offering plate and be satisfied that you’ve done a "good" thing? Is it enough to say that our church is a good church, full of good people who do good things? When it comes to being a disciple of Jesus Christ, good isn’t good enough!
Now that these twelve had been called by Jesus to be disciples, what was expected of them? In verses 5-15 he tells them where they were to go, what they were to do, how they were to do what he asked them and warns or cautions them about the risks that were involved. Yet before we look at what was expected, I want you to see what he gave them in order to do what he asked. Notice in verse one it says, "he gave them authority." What does that mean? It means that the disciples were given power to accomplish what Jesus was asking them to do! It would be that power that would enable them to allow God to use them in the mighty ways that he desired!
What I want you to understand is that this power is not just something available to those disciples two thousand years ago. It is power that is available for you and me today. Today I am not asking you to try to be a better person. I am not asking you to just come to church more or give more or do more. I am not telling you to be a good person. That’s what most of us are already doing! What I am saying is that the level of commitment that is called for as a disciple of Jesus Christ is not something you can do on your own! It is the result of your surrendering your life to the call of Christ and allowing His power to come in and through you! Good isn’t good enough when the need is for power in your life and more. Are you willing to receive and experience the power of God entering you to be a disciple? Real commitment requires power!
After being given power for their mission, Jesus tells the disciples where they were to go in Matthew 10:5-6. I realize that it sounds very "unmissionary" to be as narrow and restrictive as Jesus says. The reason he said it was that the disciples were not ready for the collision of cultures that they would face if they went to the Gentiles or the Samaritans. He also wanted them to build a strong local base among the Jews first before they began going to people unlike themselves.
This may sound very "unmissionary" to you also but it is often easy for us to imagine that if we are reaching someone far away then that will excuse us from reaching someone right here. The context for your commitment begins here—in your home, on your job, at your school, in your neighborhood and in your community. What value is your expending your focus only on others that are away to the exclusion of those who are near? The context of your mission begins right here. It’s not that we can’t do both and that we should do both. It is that the call for commitment begins individually and personally. Real Commitment gets personal.
What were they to say and do as they went? In Matthew 10:7-8 Jesus tells them that their mission was very narrow as well as very broad. Those seem to contradict one another when really they balance each other. One of them was focused on extending God’s kingdom (v. 7). While the other was focused on showing or demonstrating compassion to those they reached (v. 8). The message was very clear: "The kingdom of heaven is near." The work to be done was very broad: heal…raise…cure…cast out…." They were to proclaim a clear message and at the same time meet at tangible need.
I am thankful that the ministries of First Baptist Church are just like that: proclaiming a clear message and meeting a tangible need. I visited Thursday with one of our guests from New Orleans whose name is Tom. Tom, until Monday, August 29, was the janitor of his church in New Orleans, Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, for the last nine years. I asked Tom how he was doing and he told me, "These people here treat us like kings and queens. It’s beautiful, just beautiful." Can you imagine if those new friends had gotten off the buses, hungry, not haven eaten in almost seven hours, tired and thirsty and we brought them in the fellowship hall and all we gave them was a New Testament? Our ministry as a church and as an individual involves both a clear message and a compassionate heart! Answering the call for real commitment means sharing the message by touching a life! Real commitment touches lives.
Jesus tells them where to go, what to do but he also tells them how they were to follow his call to him. In verses 9-10 he tells them about the constraints or restrictions that they were to have. He tells them they were to have no internal support to sustain them. He tells them to not take any money or to take anything that could contain their own support or defense. They were to go out on absolute faith with only the clothes they were wearing! They were to be free to serve him without any material constraints.
Put yourself in the place of the guests we have with us from the Gulf Coast. Many of them got out with only what they had on and that was not by choice. From the moment of their rescue until now they have been totally dependent upon the compassion of others to provide for them. Now think if that were something you felt Jesus calling you to do. It’s hard to imagine, isn’t it? Yet when you think of the call of Christ that comes to you as a disciple, the call of real commitment, the material cannot be a hindrance to answer the call! We immediately say, "Now you can’t be too reckless! You need to be cautious! You can’t be careless!" Yet that is exactly what Jesus is saying! He is not asking us to be reserved; he is calling us to follow without reservation! Our lifestyle is never to be a hindrance to our call of commitment but to be a servant of it! Today, there may be one place that God is calling you to be materially careless so that you can know real commitment. Real commitment takes risks!
There is, though, a word of caution that Jesus gives to these disciples concerning the risks that were involved (v. 10-15). These disciples were sent out to find in each village they entered a worthy person to support them. If, however, the village refused to receive them, then he warns them that there is a sense of justice or judgment that will come if they are rejected. I realize these words seem harsh punishment for just not wanting to put a stranger up for the night. Yet in Jesus’ day for a Jew to fail to receive a stranger was unthinkable. It was the ultimate of insult to refuse to help a stranger, especially if that stranger was sent from God. Jesus is warning these disciples that there is only so much time to fulfill his call and there is a horrible price to pay for those who reject it.
What this means to us is not that we should say to someone who rejects our witness, "That’s it! I’m through and you are going to pay!" No, it is that as a disciple we have a responsibility to say to someone, "You can’t wait forever!" That’s hard for us to do because we know that God is merciful and kind and we can’t imagine that somehow he couldn’t work things out. Yet one of the challenges of answering the call to real commitment is to say to someone, "You don’t have forever to follow Jesus!" Can you say that? A good person will believe it but a disciple will say it! Being good isn’t good enough when it comes to someone’s eternity! Real commitment understands urgency!
Good isn’t good enough when Christ calls you to be a disciple. When he calls you to follow him with real commitment, he gives you the power, shows you where to go, tells you what to do, guides you in what can hinder you and gives you the sense of urgency to carry with you. Good isn’t enough when the call to real commitment is so clear! Real commitment: requires power, gets personal, tells the truth and touches others, takes risks and understands urgency.
Sgt. 1st Class Paul Ray Smith could have retreated, but doing so would have allowed Iraqi troops to overrun an American aid station at Baghdad International Airport. Instead, Sgt. Smith grabbed a rifle and antitank weapon and continued fighting, holding off about 100 enemy soldiers. When a fellow soldier shouted at Smith to take cover, Smith refused. "He gave me the cut-throat symbol," the soldier recalled. "He was not leaving." Smith received a severe head wound and died at his post. Yet his efforts stopped the April 4, 2003, assault. Two years later, President Bush presented the Medal of Honor to Smith’s 11-year-old son David.
Drawing from this soldier’s example, the Army drew up a new creed as it tightened training procedures: "I will always place the mission first. I will never accept defeat. I will never quit. I will never leave a fallen comrade." Smith’s widow commented, "Paul is showing the soldiers what it means to be a soldier." (Julian E. Barnes, "A Hero Honored," U.S. News & World Report (4-18-05), p. 16.)
The question I ask you is this: Is your commitment to Christ showing others what it means to be a disciple? Because good just isn’t good enough when what is needed is real commitment!
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor
First Baptist Church
Jonesboro, Arkansas