The Cost of Comfortable

"But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,"

Philippians 3:7-8

I have read these verses a thousand times, always with a certain apathetic regard for the passage. For a moment my heart exults in the knowledge that this is the way I was made to live, but this fleeting thought succumbs the fact that I am too comfortable to truly endure the "loss of all things." 


But this summer, the time came when God would allow my lazy heart to sleep no longer. My mother checked out a book-on-tape called Kisses from Katie. The passion and joy this book excited in my heart brought those verses to life. Katie, the author, is a 22 year old missionary to Uganda and she wrote this book about how her ministry came to be (she's been there since she was 19). I don't personally feel called to the mission field, but this book cut sharply through my contented passivity. You see, my ideal lifestyle has always been this: a calm, easy existence. To be successful was to have enough. But Katie truly discovered the heart of God. As I read her words heavy with compassion, love, and burdened care for the least of these, God exposed my ideal existence for what it really was: fearful selfishness. 

I have always wanted to adopt children, particularly ones with special needs. God has firmly placed it on my heart. I would love to have 10 of them! The other day, I told someone about this dream and they asked me if I really wanted to be under that much stress all the time. In those moments, I suddenly questioned if adopting children - some with special needs - was the best idea. After all, homeschooling 10 normal children wouldn't be exactly easy, nonetheless caring for disabled children. However, after reading the stories from Kisses from Katie, I realized that God hasn't called us to live "easy" lives - He's called us to live lives absolutely sold out for Him! Perhaps I will be half-crazed with my ten children, most of them adopted, some of them with special needs. But God has chosen a life for me where I will need to be totally dependent on Him. Wouldn't I rather be there, in the center of God's will, than have a stereotypically good life? 


You probably agree with everything I have said thus far, but has it burdened your heart? Can you hear Paul's urgent words now with a greater sense of what must be lost? Let me repeat Paul's message. He said he considered all things to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ. If you have ever lost a job, lost a person you loved, or even lost your keys, you understand that a loss is something depriving, costly, harmful, or bereaving. Yet Paul says that everything the world counts as gain - the best job, your nice paycheck, the A on that test, a life without want or worry - this stuff he considers a loss. Could it be depriving to have the best job, costly to receive that paycheck, harmful to get an A? Could a life without want or worry be bereaving? 


When I sit at the feet of my Savior, He whispers those sweet words of sacrifice. "Lynley, live without fear; perfect love casts out fear. Give all your resources away; I will provide for you. Sacrifice yourself to others; I sacrificed my son. Life wasn't meant to be easy; to Me, an easy life is a wasted life." 


Amy Carmichael and George Muller are two heros of the faith that I have looked to ever since I was a child. This past year, I sat confused and discouraged asking God to show me how it was possible to have their kind of faith. The kind of faith that touched the lives of so many. Now I think I have my answer. They didn't merely ask God to make them more dependent on Him; they gave everything up so that they had no choice. How could I ask God for faith when I was unwilling to exercise it by letting go of everything I ever gained? For Amy Carmichael and George Muller, relying on God for their most basic needs was nothing out of the ordinary.

The Christian life means to sacrifice and not just to sacrifice for a day of service or for a week at camp. It's a life long commitment to die to ourselves and give all that we have (materially, emotionally, and spiritually) to the cause of Christ. Christianity may come with a worldly cost, but comfort comes with a higher, spiritual one.

Paul didn't stop at losing what he'd gained, or even at suffering. He realized that he had to die.

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ...that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

"Lynley," my Savior calls, "it is time for you to leave all you have and follow me. I am going to make you a fisher of men." And indeed, what could surpass that exciting calling?