What are you willing to lose for Christ? It is really not my question, but His. He issued the challenge a number of times during His ministry, but perhaps none is as strong a statement as the one found in Matthew 10:39, when he says, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” This came at the end of a rather long speech to His disciples just before He sent them out into the world to teach His message of the kingdom. In the speech, He told them where to go, what to do, and then warned them that the message may not be received well. In essence, Christ revealed that the road was going to be a difficult one, and they should not be surprised when they were betrayed, slandered and make enemies even in their own households.
At the same time, He empowered them with the knowledge that they were not be alone, but the Father in heaven had even the very hairs of their heads numbered and would more than take care of them on their journey. Furthermore, they would be rewarded in full for their efforts.
What I want you to notice, however, about this wonderful section of Scripture is the list of people to whom they were supposed to go and to minister. They were forbidden, at least at this time, to go to the Gentiles (10:4-5), but others they were to seek out and teach. Who? The lost, the sick, the dying, the outcast and the dangerous (demon possessed). It is no wonder that Christ gave them warning. It is no wonder Christ spoke of this mission in terms like of “losing your life.” These folks were not the upper crust or the middle class or even, in many cases, the lower class. They were the lowest of the low, and yet the ones in most need of hearing the Gospel.
This has not changed. The church should not be a collection of pious elites who simply gather to stroke each other’s spiritual egos, but rather a group of believers who gather to figure out how they can best lay down their lives to reach these same groups, which still exist in abundance today. Do not get me wrong; many have no problem “laying down their lives”; they just want an adjustable, pillow-top, king size luxury laden work to lie on. The moment the slander or the betrayal or the making of enemies (especially in their own homes) begins, is the moment they trade that pillow of stone for something a little cushier.
So, again, what are you willing to lose for Christ? Are you willing to lose enough to embrace the radical idea of mixing with the lost, sick, dying, outcast and dangerous? Are you willing to go to the places and be with the people from whom others shy away? You do not have to go far to find them.
In this day, simply ask yourself, “How am I fulfilling this mission Christ gave? How am I laying down my life so that I may win it?”
