Every morning in Africa, a Gazelle wakes up. I
t knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning in Africa, a Lion wakes up.
It knows it must outrun the slowest Gazelle or it will starve to death.
It doesn’t matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle.
When the sun comes up, you’d better be running.
When you trust Christ and begin a life following Him, the craving you have for impact, for a happy ending, for something more does not go away. In fact, it will likely intensify. After all, God gave you that. I have a greater drive to make an impact with my life at 52 than I did at 22. But the more you understand what it means to follow Christ, the more that craving receives focus, and becomes less like a gnawing hunger and more like a satisfying meal.
The life of a follower of Christ has a variety of descriptions in the New Testament. For example:
Hebrews 12:1-2 refers to following Christ as a race to be run.
Philippians 3:14 refers to a marathon, pressing toward a mark.
We do nothing to earn our relationship with God. When we are changed by His grace, we begin a chase—a chase to be more like Jesus. But we must be careful, or we will shift from receiving salvation by grace to living for Christ by our works. We do want to produce good works, but not to earn either our salvation or our growth in Christ. We produce good works to glorify God and to show others how He has changed us.
This growth that comes after salvation is called sanctification, which comes from a word meaning “to be holy,” or “separate.” We gradually, over time, love Jesus even more and hate sin more as well.
Two things happen in this process of sanctification. The first has both a positive and a negative element. As we grow in our knowledge of the gospel and all God has done for us in Christ through Bible study, prayer, and learning from other believers in community, we confront the idols in our hearts that distract us from Him. When we come to Christ we do not become sinless. But we do attack idols with the gospel. That is the negative side of sanctification, as we continually put to death the things in our lives that keep us from being like Christ. Ironically the negative is actually a positive because the more we hate sin the more we will seek Christ.
Suppose you struggle with jealousy. As a follower of Christ you can see jealousy not as an excuse for a bad attitude but as an idol that will rob you of your joy. So, as you reflect on the gospel and God’s grace, how He has made you His child when He should have judged you, you can increasingly find your security not in others but in Him.
There are some idols I have never really had to deal with; others I cast away years ago. I am never worried about becoming an alcoholic or a heroin addict, or a bank robber. But I still struggle with pride, and I consistently seek to confront my pride with the truth of the gospel, reminding myself that anything I accomplish, any talent or gift or influence I have, comes because God granted that to me by His grace.
What is an area you struggle with? Lust? Anger? Fear? Lack of discipline? Worry? What if you saw these as idols that hinder your love for Christ instead of habits? What if you made it a priority to study the Scriptures to see how you can through the gospel confront these?
Do you want to be a great husband? Here is how: Ephesians 5:25. Start by loving your wife as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her. In other words, you forgive more, you serve more, you sacrifice more, because your motivation is not to be selfish and get your way, but to be like Christ.
Do you have a habit of bearing a grudge, or gossiping about others? Read Ephesians 4, and see how we are told to replace negative speech with edifying words and with a forgiving spirit, because God in Christ forgave us?
There is also a positive side of this aspect of sanctification: we separate ourselves to Christ, consecrating daily to live a life with a goal of becoming who He made us to be. We submit to the author of our salvation (Hebrews 12:2) to write with permanent ink the story of our lives and the purpose for which we were created. This is in fact that greatest adventure one could ever live. We do not pursue position, possessions, or power. We pursue humility, surrender, and service.
Recently I asked the Young Professionals I lead at my church to think about what they would do if money were no object and if they could be anywhere on earth. I wanted them to dream a bit about what God might do if they followed Him.
The next day I had coffee with one who was there, a young man named Stephen. He asked me, “Doc, what would you do if money or geography were unlimited?”
I told him, “I would do exactly what I am doing and be exactly where I am.” The point I was making to the group is this: if you follow Christ, and relentlessly pursue sanctification, or breaking away from sin and drawing closer to Christ daily, you will in fact find yourself in a place where you are doing what you always hoped. Now, I did not think in my early 20s I wanted to be a seminary prof. But the passions God gave me then, the craving for something more, are being more than fulfilled in the role I have: I am a husband and a dad (the best part of all!), I travel the world, I write books, I speak to thousands, I teach remarkable young leaders. I have more friends than I can count. Why? Because I am all that?
No. Because He is enough. And there is more, a second vital part of our sanctification. But that is for tomorrow.
