Retreat Recap, Part 2

I was told a few weeks ago that some of my posts might be too long, so I'm trying to break them down into shorter posts for my ADD friends.

Over the weekend, we had some hard conversations about sacrifice. I posed some tough questions and made some hard statements. The truth of the matter is that nothing God calls us to do as a church and nothing that we decide to do as a church will come without our personal, gut-wrenching sacrifice. I've asked several people over past weeks if they'd be willing to give up things - not the usual like money or time, but their honored traditions. Would you be willing to give up your Sunday school class to help start another one? Would you be willing to give up the space we use as a library (and we use that term loosely) so we could have space for some other ministries? Would you be willing to give up a traditional annual event in favor of doing something more outreach and evangelism effective?

You can guess how most people answered. When asked a direct question like that, how many people do you know who might answer "Absolutely not!"

One of Jesus' encounters that we read or hear about on a regular basis is his meeting with the rich young man. The devout man who obeyed Jewish law carefully and wanted to know how to inherit eternal life. Luke tells us [click here] that the man had great wealth and Jesus instructed him to sell everything he had, give it to the poor, and to follow him. With that, the man went away discouraged, because he wasn't willing to make the sacrifice.

Oh how I wish Luke would have just called him the "Rich Man" and left off the "Young" part. I think too many people might read this and chalk it up to the naïveté of youth. I believe this also speaks to the stubbornness that comes with age. Now, before you start sending me emails and leaving your comments, I've posted about age-related issues before and I'm fully aware that this may stir up some animosity. In fact, I'd like to point out that age often has very little to do with the number of years you've been living. I have a man in my congregation who embodies this stubbornness well and isn't but a few years older than me. I also have a few people who are well into their 70's and are some of the most generous, forward-thinking people I know. We also cannot neglect that this stereotype exists for a reason.

I fear that too many Christians today are going the way of the Rich Young Man. They follow all the rules, but they just aren't willing to sacrifice their treasures in this world for the sake of God's Kingdom.

Every bit of our work over the weekend will hinge on how willing people are to sacrifice. Many of our available resources aren't so available simply because they're tied up in other things. In the process, I'm convinced that someone will walk away just like the Rich Man - I pray that they would have peace and that it wouldn't get to that point, but I believe that it's an inevitability. I pray especially that their departure wouldn't cause anyone else to hesitate or waver in pursuing God's plans.

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As a bonus, here's a joke for you:

Q: How many ADD/ADHD kids does it take to change a lightbulb?

A: Wanna go ride bikes?