Hear The Crack of Thunder
“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.“
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The Christian faith’s definitive characteristic is sacrifice. It is encapsulated in the Greatest Commandment Jesus issued, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Loving God and others requires great sacrifice.
Furthermore, the most integral component of the faith involved the greatest sacrifice before the greatest miracle: painful death on a cross before resurrection. Because Jesus sacrificed, every Christian should follow in His example. When Jesus risked his reputation to reach out to the sidelines of society, he sacrificed. When He gathered disciples, loved them, and healed others, he sacrificed. When, despite his pleading to let the cup pass, he hung on a tree as a man seen as ‘damned by God’ by the Israelites,
He sacrificed.
Unfortunately, Christians have a very low view of sacrifice. (At least, I have. I guess I can’t indict the rest of Christianity in a judgmental way, but I have noticed patterns in Christian communities around me.)
You see, sacrifice is not a pet you and I can tame, keep around in our house as we like, and tout around for spiritual comfort. How do lovely Evangelical Christians sacrifice?
Why, of course, we try not to curse out the driver that cut us off in traffic. Moreover, we purchase a $39,000 car instead of a $40,000 car. Plus, we toss a few coins in the coffer or to the beggar every now and then. We sacrifice so little.
Sacrifice is a terrifying ripple of lightning blasting the darkness back, leaving a crack of thunder like a whip snapping you and I into motion.
I emphasize this truth: sacrifice is frightening. That’s a reality. Jesus went to the cross sweating beads of blood, not excitedly embracing His fate. For you too, sacrifice means giving up what you dearly want more than anything else, embracing the will of God instead. It is frightening, yet it calls you to act.
How should you act? What does this mean?
Lay Your Dreams Six Feet Deep
Everyone wants something that can, and probably does, distract you from God.
Give it up.
I have three recommendations to this end.
First, stop convincing yourself that it’s God’s will. The first commandment in the Old Testament, the very first word God gives to His people, is “thou shalt have no other God before me.” When you allow a goal, a person, a fear—whatever it is—dominate your mind such that these things determine your actions, this is indeed a god’s will: a god of your own making’s will.
There is nothing that can distract you from God’s will that can be God’s will. Desire pleasing a person more than God. Then, you distort the truth to get that person’s approval. You stop building connections with those you ought to have connections with. You base your worth and value on them rather than God. These things are not holy and righteous.
They are wrong.
Second, realize that your hopes are holding you hostage. In Matthew 6, Jesus speaks about not serving two masters. The rationale is simple: you cannot be divided. When you begin leaving one master for another, this already betrays the fact that you no longer desire to abide by your original master’s will. Giving even a little of yourself to a selfish desire takes up your whole heart.
Furthermore, this harms you. It chains you down so that you can’t even continue growing, improving, and living your life without that house, person, or reputation that you want.
Last, let it go. It doesn’t truly matter. Though I write this article to a Christian audience, I want to provide a reason for the sacrifices we make. It’s simple: sacrifice is true freedom. You will always have some deep, fundamental motivation. When this motivation is what you want, your own desires, they control you. You can see it in drug addictions, in narcissism, in plain old people pleasing, and more.
However, living for Christ is different. A person truly obedient to Christ will not find an easy life. However, he or she will discover selfless love, purpose, and truth. These values lift up those around us, healing broken homes, relationships, our world, and more.
Because Christ sacrificed first for this, we painfully, joyfully sacrifice ourselves now.
“The hope of the righteous is joy,
but the expectation of the wicked will perish.”
Proverbs 10:28
Simply put: the reward for faithfulness is joy, not women, riches, power, and so on. When you hope for wicked desires’ fulfillment, these hopes—or you—will perish. Love God and love others. That is our joy. That’s all God wants for us, and this is good.
I cannot expect relationships to exist for my ego and lust, but I can selflessly give with the Holy Spirit. Speaking of which…
May You Be a Heavy Barbell Upon Christ’s Back
As a single man living in a culture that seems to shame singleness on one side and shove naked people into singles’ faces on others, it’s barely a stretch to say that I’ve desired a close romantic relationship almost my entire life.
Naturally, it’s quite hard to sacrifice this desire. There are others too. Allow me to detail the desires I need to sacrifice:
Control
Frankly, I fear failure. Being in a rigorous PhD program with exams I can possibly fail and face subsequent expulsion doesn’t help. Of course, I don’t expect to fail, and I intend to put my full effort into performing well.
However, relinquish control. That’s necessary for me.
I can’t control the results, and when I try—typically by studying for 8+ hours every day including weekends—it requires sacrificing that which God does command me to do on an altar of my own ability to control my outcomes.
If I fail because I refused to destroy myself for a degree, it’s better that I fail.
Fear of Judgment
I need more truth. Frankly, I fear any negative feedback and attention. I don’t want to be wrong, to appear strange, or to say something someone didn’t want to hear. Therefore, I find myself picking words very, very carefully and avoiding opportunities to really impact others.
If I am to be like Jesus, I must know when to encourage and when to challenge. Challenge when the consequences are great, and demonstrate grace too when the consequences are great.
Previously, I thought my idolization of a romantic relationship was because romance itself was the idol. Now, I don’t think that’s true. The real underlying problem—that avoiding 50% of the human race could never fix—has been my appetite for approval. I hate disappointing others. I grow anxious when I think I might.
It’s time to turn around and sacrifice this desire.
My life needs to go on. I can’t wait for someone to approve me so that then I can pursue God’s mission for me; by definition, only I can choose to obey God in my own life. To be honest, this realization came at great pain to my hopes, pride, and male hormones. However, it’s true.
Run toward dedication in practicing faith and doing God’s will. Let no desire to please anyone else dissuade from this path. That’s my resolution.
Time
Finally, I must sacrifice my time.
In this stage of my life, this is incredibly difficult, because I seemingly have a million things calling my attention and only twenty-four hours to answer them all (if I don’t sleep at all).
Yet, God wants me to use my time for His purposes. That means sacrificing everything else that prevents me from this.
I have used my time to gain approval, to watch anime/play video games, and to indulge in what I like to do. Though none except the first of these are explicitly wrong, for me, sacrificing time means not allowing these things to distract me from focusing on building relationships where I can be a genuine friend to others, learning so I can create good research that will contribute to the least helped in our world, and creating healthy habits in my life.
Your Burdens Aren’t Your Own
The same Jesus who said, “Pick up your cross and follow me,” said also,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30
You and I sacrifice, but we rest in the Lord as we do so. We have no power to accomplish His commands, to even sacrifice at all. He does.
Carry your cross as you ask the Lord to rest on His back.
Meditate on the character of Jesus, and learn from Him to know where you ought to sacrifice. In this, accept sacrifice. Obey Him. Seek out ways that you can contribute to loving God and others instead of pursuing selfishness. This will lead you to true life.
See, when Christ bids a man to come and die, Christ goes to die with that man.
Therefore, since Christ resurrected to eternal life, we will resurrect to live forever with Him.
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