Réveille… (Part 15)
I'M THERE…
“My joe’s crossed over.”
In the 1990 movie, The Russia House, when Barley declares his heart for Katya: “You’re my only country now,” his handler is clueless about his deception. He’s about to trade secrets to the other side in order to save Katya and her family. When his handler realizes—too late to repair the damage—what’s really happening, he announces to his team: “My joe’s crossed over.” At the end of the movie, he receives the letter. In it, Barley explains:
It was my first good contract - real people for unreal arguments. I got everything I wanted.
I remember when I crossed over. The mental gymnastics required to get “there” are behind me now. Committing to Gospel kingdom work was not an arbitrary decision… as in “everybody needs to commit to something.” I felt the empty space that’s in every human heart… I became convinced there was only one way to fill it.
“For in him [Christ] the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.” (Colossians 2:9-10, ESV)
Life’s priorities fell into their proper order. Sabre rattling among nations or arguments over differing sociopolitical visions were unworthy of my highest devotion. I understood Jesus’ marching orders. I embraced the only “something” worthy of living and dying for—knowing Jesus and helping others to experience his redeeming love. Like Barley, I can say:
It was my first good contract - real people for unreal arguments. I got everything I wanted.
Crossing over…
It’s something pioneers share in common. They’ve crossed a line. They’re not coming back. It’s something we see in our heroes down through the ages. When I think about key figures influencing my decisions, I remember why I chose the life I did. I reconnect with the all-consuming joy and passion they exuded in carrying out the Lord’s command.
Jesus was unflinching in his determination to follow through with his own crucifixion. “…I have set my face like a flint,…” (Isaiah 50:7, ESV) It was more than commitment and sense of duty. It was the blazing love of the Creator for his creation… an immeasurable passion to redeem a people for himself. He had crossed over long before he actually came to die for us. Following through was a given. Hear his own words as the hour approached:
“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39, ESV)
The Apostle Paul exemplified the mettle of a kingdom pioneer. He knew what “going” meant:
“And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.” (Acts 16:10, ESV)
My Réveille series is intended to be a wake up call.
If in the sight of God you cannot say you are sure that you have a special call to stay at home, why are you disobeying the Saviour's plain command to go?” - Hudson Taylor (1832-1905)
It’s a plea for volunteers—particularly pioneers with a passion for real life. We’ll be in good company, but it won’t be a center-stage, Superbowl-halftime experience… more like a back room, behind-the-scenes kind of experience.
God seeks people who won’t settle for cheap substitutes. Only life lived with eternal consequences at stake will do. Anything less dies with us and condemns us to a life of meaningless nothingness.
Much of what we do is in the interest of securing stability, peace and comfort for ourselves and our families. Taming our outsides—even if possible—would not tame our insides. At best, it’s a temporal peace, both fleeting and hollow. So what will we seek: Peace with ourselves or peace with God… Peace on earth or peace in eternity? Risking our lives and lifestyles for the Gospel may look like the harder road. But, living for self and avoiding God will be harder now and risks missing out on the forever peace he came to provide.
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”” (John 16:33, ESV)
As I slowly progress through the development of these themes, I grow increasingly aware of no final answers… no new and improved strategies… no miraculous ways to ameliorate attrition rates, derailments, unpreparedness, or damage done to the locals by people who claimed to be sent by God.
I offer a few observations in the spirit of broadening our horizons and embracing our part in the “Great Commission” with renewed passion and forward thinking. These are the thoughts of one person who lived more than four decades in one particular area of the world outside of his country of origin.
Symbiosis - “a mutually beneficial relationship between different people or groups.”
Symbiosis is a good word for what I want to bring to the fore in the next few posts. Being “there” ought to be a settled decision—a commitment set in concrete—apportioned equally among “goers” and “senders.” It should translate into a radical awakening—a breaking free from the sleepy drudgery of life in search of creature comforts and a delusional sense of security.
It’s time to rectify the perennial dilemma of supply and demand. It’s time for everyone to own the Great Commission. We’re praying for people to go. We want to see boots on the ground in new places as quickly and seamlessly as possible. We also pray for people who will be as committed to the “goers” as if they were going themselves… people who will do everything possible to back them and enable them to stay… never letting go nor ceasing to intercede in prayer for them.
One of the first foreign missionaries to set sail from American shores sent a plea back from Burma to his homeland. It was a warning and an urging equally fitting for all of us today. Can you hear the challenge?
Let me beg you, not to rest contented with the commonplace religion that is now so prevalent. —Adoniram Judson 1788–1850