No Longer I

“Follow me.” If we consider ourselves to be followers of Christ, then you and I have sensed a clear call to follow Jesus. That call may have been a long time ago, or it may have been yesterday, or it may have been both. In its simplest form, Christ’s call to His disciples was, “Follow me.” In restoring Peter, the risen Jesus issued the same simple call (John 21:19): “Follow me.” With those words, our Lord asks us for our personal trust in Him. He wants us to identify with Him, to stay close to Him, and to commit ourselves to saying “yes” to wherever He may lead us along the way.

Now, in order to follow Christ, I have to be willing to hold my own plans rather loosely. As you know, that’s easier said than done. I tend to like my plans. That’s why they’re my plans. I tend to think that my plans make perfect sense. After all, they’re my plans. But Jesus has called me to something better. He’s called you too. The path that He has marked out for us is the best path, but you and I won’t always perceive each twist and turn in the road as a welcome detour. It’s really not a “detour,” but it can certainly feel that way on any given day, or during any given season. Can you relate?

John Stott used to refer to our “lesser loyalties” as he described the myriad distractions which plague us. Those personal allegiances always seem to get in the way, don’t they? I don’t even recognize how much power they have over me until Jesus turns me away from them. “Charles, we’re not going that way. We’re going this way.” Charles: “Say what?” By way of a small example, when I lost my taste earlier this year, I suddenly discovered how passionate I am about eating! “Not the lemon icebox pie, Lord. Surely not the lemon icebox pie.” Simon and Andrew had to leave their fishing operation. James and John had to do the same thing, and even leave their dad right there in the boat. Matthew had to bail out on a lucrative tax business. And then there’s Charles, who gets upset about a lemony dessert.

You and I have been called to walk the way of Jesus. It’s His way. “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:33. Ouch.

And it’s not just an outer surrender to which we’re called, is it? Sometimes the inner struggle is even more real. Will I trust Him with my fear? Will I trust Him with my reputation? Will I trust Him with my lust for being in control? (Sometimes I try to disguise that last one as my pesky little problem with “perfectionism.”)

Christ has called us to radical faith.

Christ has called us to gut-level repentance.

Christ has called us to rock-solid obedience.

Christ has called us to dying-daily-to-self love.

Christ has called us to other-worldly joy.

Christ has called us to embrace every twist and turn along the path as if it came from the gentle hand of God. Because it does. Ultimately, it does. We’re walking a good road to a good place.

And Christ has called us to renounce everything that is in the way. Every. Single. Thing. Because He is the Way.

And I don’t have to tell you: we can’t. Not without Him. We just can’t do any of these things. You and I come from streams of too much dysfunction to thrive on our own. You and I struggle with too much personal sin to rise above it on our own. You and I come from too much of-the-world-and-not-just-in-it kind of thinking to sort it out on our own. We just can’t.

But He can.

If we are in Christ, then His Spirit is already ours. His Holy Spirit. The same wonder-working Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead! Galatians 2:20 is hopeful music for our overwhelmed souls: I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

It is no longer I.

Pastor Charles