Stuck in the Middle

It’s not easy living in the middle, especially when your middle is between good and great.   It may as well be the middle of a rock and a hard place, only I think it is actually worse to be stuck between good and great.  At least a rock and a hard place there is no right answer, so you can go with your gut and shrug off the results.  Not so with Good and Great.

You see, Good and Great demand a choice, demand a sacrifice of one over the other.  Good and Great involves risk taking, faith and dealing with fear.   Good and Great demand a decision and for you to put action to words; where as a rock and a hard place, well, they really don’t.  Good and Great can be the choice of teaching music or playing music professionally; it could be teaching Biology, or actually getting out of the classroom and into the Wild.  Good and Great can be between showing up on Sunday morning for an hour of worship before football, or leaving the comforts of your home town or country to take a six month mission trip.  The rock and the hard place will never make you suffer the way choosing between Good and Great will. 

Most Western Christians probably feel this struggle on a daily basis.  Do I choose the comfort and security that God has provided for my family, or do we step out of that comfort into a lifetime of service?  Do I keep my high paying job with fancy car and half million dollar home?   Or, do I take the offer to go build homes for the poor? 

I mean, the good job and nice car and home aren’t necessarily bad, and living in security and comfort are not by any means bad.  However, is that what Christians are called to do?  Are we called to just show up on Sunday and go throughout the other 6/7ths of our existence just kind of being good?  Or are we called as Christians to leave behind what the world values as Good and pursue what God calls Great? 

Let me start by saying that this is not about dropping everything and running out to the middle of Africa, I understand that many are not called to that (though more are than realize it), this is actually for those of us who say, “there is plenty to do right here.”  We use this as our excuse to not go around the world and live in poverty, because there is “plenty of ways to serve right here.”  Only…we don’t do anything right here!! 

I am going to say this, quite plainly, Jesus demands more from us than simply showing up to service on Sunday and dropping a few dollars in the bucket to think “there, I’ve done my part.”  You haven’t done squat.  You like the idea of Jesus, you like the idea of missions, but you think that missions are for the “Real Jesus Freaks”,  but you…you have bills to pay, with money you don’t have and so you have to work harder at a job you don’t even like, earning money to pay the bills for the stuff you bought, which you don’t need, to impress the friends whom you don’t like anyway.  So, you just don’t have time for any of that hippy stuff.  “Give me my Jesus on Sunday morning, but after that, leave me alone.”  Do you know what Jesus says about this attitude?  “Get away from me, I never knew you!” 

Do you realize that by sitting in the middle of Good and Great, you are missing the ENTIRE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. 

“But it’s hard.” You say..It is supposed to be hard.  Jesus carrying his cross was Hard, you being a bit uncomfortable is not hard, you just don’t want to.

“But what about my kids.”  What about them?  Teach them that living a life for Christ is more fulfilling than anything they could ever want to do.  Teach them that feeding the homeless, and caring for the sick and loving the unloved is what Christians are actually called out to do. 

“But my husband/wife won’t go with me.”  Who is more important to you?  If your husband or wife is more important to you than Jesus, you need to reassess your priorities.  I am not saying they aren’t important, but even Jesus said that we need to hate everyone else in comparison to Him.  We need to love and obey Jesus first, and anyone else after, to include our spouses, our children, parents and family. 

This is one of the reasons people get stuck in the middle, they have a Good life.  Things are good, the kids are good, the husband/wife is good, the job is good, everything is good.  If I take Jesus too seriously and risk it all what will happen?  I might lose all that is good.  If my spouse won’t commit with me, I might lose them as well.  What if one of my actions following Jesus causes discomfort for my children?  These are the questions that every Christian in the west faces, and sadly most Christians choose Good over Great. 

Just imagine for a minute if you would, all the millions of church going Christians that live in America and Canada. Imagine the thousands and hundreds of thousands that live in each city, town and village.  Now, imagine if every single one of those Christians, rather than leaving church every Sunday morning going on with the “rest” of their lives, not thinking about Jesus or God for the next week …imagine if instead all those millions of Christians went out into the world and witnessed for Jesus, what if they went and took food to hungry, and medicine to the sick and lifted up the broken hearted.  Imagine, just imagine what it would look like if these people went out into their own communities and shined the light of Christ.  Can you imagine? 

Sadly, most wont.  Sadly, most will leave Sunday judging the Pastor, or the Sermon or the Worship style or the lady with the weird hat…or the girl that did not come in dressed in her Sunday best.  Most will block their hearts from actually experiencing the word of Christ and following His invitation to go where He is going.  Guess what, Jesus isn’t going to Golden Corral after service, so if you want to eat lunch with Him, why not follow him to the local shelter. 

Essentially what I am trying to say is that the choice between Good and Great doesn’t need to take you a million miles from home (unless Jesus is calling you somewhere specific), but it does need to take you out of comfortable.  Jesus says in Luke 9:23 “Whoever wants to follow me, must die to himself and pick up his cross daily.”  This is where we are stuck, in the middle, trying to decide to pick up the cross and follow or get left behind chasing after things that are just Good. 

Go for Great, follow, die to yourself, pick up the cross.  Great is the Kingdom of Heaven, Great is easing the suffering of an orphaned child.  Great is letting the tears of mother who lost her baby to sickness fall on your shoulder.  Great is serving food at a homeless shelter.  Great, is loving your enemy.  Great is giving up your anger and loving someone who is unlovable.  Great is forgiveness.  Great is mercy.  Great is giving up fame on earth for being famous in heaven.   For a Christian, it really shouldn’t be hard to determine which path to take…Good or Great.  Jesus took sacrifice, Jesus took our sin, and Jesus paid our way to heaven.  Jesus took Great, and invites us to follow Him.