Being a Christian

Hey everyone, this is Josh from Encounter Church

Henley and thanks so much for tuning into our

podcast. Our prayer is that through this podcast

you can have an encounter with Jesus that will

change your life. And now get ready for an inspiring

message from our preaching team. Hello, hello

church. Today's Bible reading comes from Matthew

Matthew 16:24–26

16 verse 24 to 26. Do you benefit if you gain

the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything

worth more than your soul? This is the word of

the Lord. At the beginning of 2020, I was feeling

great. I was feeling really good. I was a year

into the most stable job that I've ever had.

I had some disposable income to spend on books,

which is always good. We were gearing up to launch

our house church. Judah was one and adorable,

our son. And Ash, just anything Ash touched,

she just crushed. She was going great. Everything

was coming up, Tim, right? And then everything

started to fall apart. COVID crushed our church

plant and by the end of the year, it was over.

We're in lockdown with a one -year -old. One

-year -olds are far less adorable when you're

stuck inside with them all the time. My mental

health started to fall apart and Ash got pregnant

with Ollie and started feeling really, really

unwell. See, I thought that life was supposed

to be up and to the right. Certainly up and to

that point for me, it had been slowly up and

to the right. And why wouldn't it be? Look at

all the things I was doing for Jesus. Shouldn't

Christians expect blessings upon blessings? Doesn't

God want church plants to be successful and to

succeed? Shouldn't God be orchestrating all these

little wins for his children that he loves? Shouldn't

God be blessing people with money for books?

Yes and amen. But slowly and surely it all fell

apart. And I think sometimes we think This way

there's this undercurrent of belief in followers

of Jesus that the following Jesus should result

in a blessed up into the right kind of life Why

else would prosperity health and wealth preaching

be so successful? It's what we want. We want

to prosper But it's not always the reality of

people's lives Life is never really up and to

the right all the time. It looks more like a

toddler's masterpiece and Hopefully we can get

the total my toddlers masterpiece up on the screen

It's just everywhere just a mat. Yeah, there

we go on his bedroom wall Just scribbles everywhere.

It is a masterpiece that I mean you could interpret

that that could be mum That that could be his

teddy bear. I have no idea but it's a masterpiece.

We're in a six week series at the moment on the

habits of evangelism. Habits that every person

can practise to see people come home to God.

And the six habits are this. Hospitality, which

Tex preached about. Asking great questions, which

Jen preached about last week. Being a Christian.

Invitation, which Ash is preaching on next week.

Testimony and spiritual hunger. And this week

we're looking at the habit of being a Christian

and how it can help us share the good needs of

Jesus with our world. We sometimes think that

life for Christians should be up and to the right,

but Jesus in our teaching text today tells us

to give up our lives. If any of you want to be

my follower, if you want to be a Christian, you

must, you must give up your own way. And here

in this passage, the English kind of softens

what Jesus is saying. The Greek word means to

disown. Now disown is a harsh word, but it's

the same word Matthew uses in his gospel later

when Jesus tells Peter, you will deny me three

times before the rooster crows. Peter denies,

Peter disowns is the word, Jesus three times

when he's arrested. He says, I don't know who

this guy is. Why are you asking me? To disown

someone is to refuse to acknowledge or maintain

any connection with that person. It's to totally

abandon them. Wanna follow me, Jesus says. Disown

yourself. Have nothing to do with yourself anymore.

Refuse to acknowledge yourself, abandon yourself

and your way. That sounds really easy. All right,

what's next, Jesus? Take up your cross. Now cross,

of course, is something that you are crucified

on. It's a picture of shame and weakness. You

were forced to carry your cross to where you

would be executed in full view of your community.

It was shame upon shame. And to carry this big,

hulking, great piece of wood, you would have

to literally embrace it. You would have to embrace

the instrument of your own death. Yours, no one

else's. Okay, this sounds fun, Jesus. What's

next? Follow me. Follow you where, Jesus? Well,

where does Jesus go with his cross? He goes to

his death. So here's what I think Jesus is saying

here. You want to be a Christian. You want to

belong to me. Leave yourself behind. Disown yourself.

Let go of anything you think you want or need

in this world. Literally abandon yourself. Embrace

your suffering and your weakness. And follow

me wherever it takes you, even if that is to

death. Now we love a high bar at Encounter Church.

We love just setting the bar high, but this is

insane. This is so high. Give up your life, Jesus

says. Give up the entire up and to the right.

Give up the whole life graph. Forget about it.

Disown yourself. Embrace your suffering and follow.

And if you do that, you will save your life.

Or you can try to keep your life and lose it.

See Jesus gives us two options here and one of

them actually is not an option Give up your life

and save it or try try the keyword try to keep

it and lose it anyway But I think we want a third

option We want to hold on to our life and save

it and that's because we like our way Like our

plans and our dreams our stuff our lives We want

to buy a house. We want to find a partner We

want to have a family. We want semi -frequent

overseas holidays. We want a holiday home by

the beach. We want to write a book or start a

business. We want to not have to talk to people

that we don't know. We don't want to go to the

hard places, the hard people, the other. We want

to do ministry with people who are exactly like

us. We want to spend our money our way. We want

to use our bodies our way. We want to spend our

time our way. We want, we want, we want. We want

to fulfill our own vision for our lives. We want

to drive the car. And I'd argue that we've actually

tried this way in the church in the West for

the last 80 -ish years. We've had churches that

have preached that we are saved by grace through

faith and it's belief in Jesus alone that punches

our ticket to heaven and that is true. We are

saved by faith in what God has done for us, not

by what we do, our good behavior. But that's

where it's ended. Tick the box, I believe, and

then live life however you please. And so what

we've found is that we've had churches filled

with Christians who have saved their lives because

they've declared with their lips that Jesus is

Lord and believe in their hearts that Jesus was

raised from the dead. But their lives have looked

exactly like everyone else's, with Jesus tacked

on for insurance. We tried the third option in

the Church in the West. People have kept their

lives and they've saved it and what has it created?

Decline in faith, abuse in the Church, hypocrisy,

passivity, tepidness and a generation lost. So

clearly keeping our lives and saving it doesn't

work. So what if we took Jesus at his word here?

What if we disowned ourselves, embrace our cross

and follow Jesus wherever it took us? What would

happen to our lives? Two weeks ago, I got to

hear Jackie Pullinger speak. Now Jackie Pullinger

is an absolute vibe. As a speaker, she took no

prisoners. No one was safe. No one was safe.

She's in her 80s now, and Jackie, as a 22 -year

-old, took a boat from England to Hong Kong with

nothing but 10 pounds and a prayer, convinced

that God was calling her to be a missionary.

And for 60 years, she has worked with the poor

and addicted. She went and moved into the Walled

City, which is a place that neither the English

nor the Chinese had any jurisdiction. So there

was no police. No one was monitoring it. And

crime was abundant. She spent 60 years freeing

people from poverty and sex slavery. And there

was this moment that captivated me. There were

many moments that captivated me about Jackie

Paulinger. She talked about what Jesus, what

it cost her to follow Jesus. She said, look,

I've left everything. I left my home. I left

my family. I missed my own parents' funeral.

I missed all my nieces' weddings. She was married

once at 55, but he died shortly after. She had

no kids. She's given up her whole life to follow

Jesus. She's given up her dreams and all her

hopes. She's disowned herself. She's picked up

her cross and she's followed. She's laid her

life down. And I sat there and I thought, as

I was hearing her, what does it cost me to follow

Jesus? I've had to let a couple of half -baked

dreams die. I've had to give the time and effort

and sacrifice to try to live a holy and sanctified

life, imperfectly. I've had to give up 10 % of

everything I've ever earned and whatever Ashley's

decided to give on top of that. It's me as well,

but she's very generous. I mean, I've had to

move five minutes from the beach. Guys, it's

been tough. It's been really tough. It's sometimes

awkward for me when someone asks me what I do

for work. Like, that's really it. if I'm honest.

Really peanuts compared to what following Jesus

has cost her. She is a badass. And I'm probably

just, if I'm honest, an ass. But it's what she

said next that took me by surprise. She said,

I've left all these things and it's been such

fun. It's been fun. It cost Jackie a lot to live

the life she's lived, but you would be astounded

by what she's gained. How many people have come

to faith in Jesus through her 60 years of ministry?

Thousands? Tens of thousands more? She's way

too humble to say. How many people has God set

free from child prostitution and heroin addiction

through her ministries? How many poor people

have been shown love and dignity through her

ministry? hundreds of thousands. She got up at

a church planting conference and told the room

that she'd planted more churches than we have

by accident. Look at what she's gained. But I

think we look at her life and the enormity of

her sacrifices and even in the light of what

she's gained go, well I couldn't possibly do

what she did. What about this. What about that?

I could never be like her. But what we really

mean is, well, what about me? What about my dreams?

What about what I want? Jackie is an example

of a life laid down and what it shows us is that

if we'll disown ourselves and pick up our cross

and follow Jesus. If we'll give up our own life,

we will find the things that we most deeply want.

Now, you might be wondering, what does this all

have to do with evangelism? Because we're in

an evangelism series. And I want to say everything.

When we talk about being a Christian as a habit

for evangelism, here's what we're not talking

about. Living a life where faith is tacked onto

everything else that you do, like an extracurricular

program. Like I go to school, and also I'm learning

piano. Nor are we talking about being the kind

of Christian in which faith is a private value

or an opinion that you hold, rather than the

most true thing about you. We're talking about

it being a Christian as Jesus defines it, a life

that is laid down and given up. Paul calls it

being a living sacrifice. Because it's this kind

of life, this kind of Christian, one who has

willingly disowned themselves in their ways,

willingly embraced weakness and suffering willingly

followed whatever the cost this kind of Christian

is a signpost to the world friends that the gospel

is true and here's why if I believe because in

exchange for my belief my life is up and to the

right or my life you know I believe that my life

looks identical to the world if I believe but

I'm also focused on health wealth and success

Then the people around us will look at our lives

and we'll say oh That person is just a Christian

because she gets everything she wants from her

face Well, he's just like us, but he has this

this value that he holds. It's just his opinion.

It's not it's not true But if I believe even

though I'm poor I'm suffering I'm sick If I believe

even though it may cost me my life If I believe

and I give away my wealth, if I believe behind

success, if I believe behind friends and family,

my preferences, my comforts, if even my life

is not off the table, then they'll say, why would

they do this? Why would this person do this?

How can they believe despite everything they've

been through? How could they make these decisions

to do these things? How could they give up that

promotion? How could they give away so much of

their money? How could they leave this behind?

How could they be so happy despite not having

everything that we think we need to be happy?

See, we get sucked into thinking that being a

Christian should take our life up and to the

right. But it's actually our weakness. It's our

failure. It's our sickness. It's our suffering.

It's actually that our life does not go to plan.

It's our willingness to disown ourselves, to

embrace the cost and to follow Jesus in the midst

of that all. That it's a signpost to the world

that Jesus lives. That's all true. Why else would

you be willing to give up everything the world

is looking for unless you found something in

Jesus that the world cannot offer you? Something

better. Friends, being this kind of Christian

is the Some of the best evangelism you can do,

other than Red Frogs of course. At the same time.

Living a life that is laid down will provoke

questions, as Leslie Newbegin says, for which

the gospel is the answer. When you're willing

to give up your way, embrace suffering and follow

Jesus whenever it takes you, that will provoke

questions. Why? Why are you doing this? How are

you out of your mind? For which the gospel is

the answer. I give up my way because Jesus gave

up his way and he chose the Father's way. I embrace

my suffering and weakness because Jesus embraced

his. I follow Jesus wherever it takes me and

whatever it costs me because he loved me so much

he gave up even his life for me. And this is

not a new thing. This was the witness of martyrdom.

in its extremity in the early church and in the

global church today. Tertullian around the year

200 AD said this, the blood of the martyrs is

the seed of the church. The church has always

exploded in the midst of difficulty, of persecution,

suffering, because suffering and persecution

and the weakness of the church lays the truth

of it bare. It provokes questions for which the

gospel is the answer. Why would you give up your

life for your faith? Because it's true and because

I've had an encounter with the one who gave up

his life for me. See, if Christianity was just

a man -made fairy tale, it would have died off

by now. If all Christianity was was a public,

a personal value or an opinion to keep to yourself,

we wouldn't be here in this church today. But

Christianity is the true story of the universe.

And when we live into this story, by being this

kind of Christian, we show it to be true to everyone

we know and everyone we meet. Now this all sounds

great, or maybe it doesn't. But how do we live

into this story? How do we do what Jesus is asking

in this passage? Well, we follow Him. Jesus doesn't

tell us to go somewhere and to do things that

He has not already done. He shows us how to do

it. Jesus shows us how to give up his own way.

In the garden before he's arrested and before

he is crucified, he surrenders to the will of

God. He says, my father, if it is possible, let

this cup of suffering, his crucifixion, be taken

away from me. But then he says this, yet not

mine, I want your will to be done, not mine.

He makes his request known to God. I do not want

to be crucified God, but then chooses God's way

anyway. He shows us how to surrender. Jesus shows

us how to pick up our cross. He embraces his.

He embraces whatever discomfort and suffering

that will come. Jesus does not retaliate. He

does not find a way out. The only way is through.

So he stays, he blesses those who persecute him,

he prays for those who beat him, and he embraces

what it is that is required of him. And Jesus

shows us how to follow all the way even to death.

On the cross he prays this prayer, Father, I

entrust my spirit into your hands. And then he

breathes his last. Jesus shows that he trusts

God with his whole life, even to the last moment.

See, Jesus shows us how to follow Him. Take your

wants to God, take your dreams, take your desires,

take the things that you want from this life,

but always choose His way, regardless of the

cross. Embrace whatever it is that's required

of you and entrust the Father with your whole

life. Now, here's how I do this in practice,

and this is just one way. In my heart and my

mind and my spirit, There is so much desire in

my heart for my own life. I want to drive the

car. My heart wants to go this way or that. And

there's so much that is required of me that I

want to run away from. And there's so many situations

in my life that I worry about. And so every time

that I realize that I'm choosing my way and I'm

not choosing God's way, or every time I wanna

run away from the suffering and discomfort in

my life, or every time I struggle to trust God,

in my heart, in my mind, in my spirit, I imagine

myself holding whatever it is in my hands that

I wanna avoid, or my wants or my desires, or

my struggles to trust, the dreams that I have

for my life. And in my mind, I kind of lift them

up to God and release them. And sometimes, Like

I hand it over almost. And then it's just relief.

It's just, I've given it up. Like God, I can't

hold this anymore. I need you to take it. Please

take it. But sometimes I forget to do it in my

mind. So I'm in the grocery store and I'm just,

and people I'm sure are wondering what's going

on. But all that's happening here is I'm just

doing what Jesus did in the garden. God, this

is what I want right here. This is what I'm afraid

of but even so I choose to trust. I choose to

want what you want. I choose to embrace whatever

it is that you want from me in my life. I choose

to trust you and let it go over and over and

over again and I find this very helpful but it's

not easy and it's costly because it requires

me to again and again and again hand over my

life to God. See Paul, remember how Paul calls

this being a living sacrifice in Romans 12 he

pleads with us give your bodies as a living sacrifice

and I think a living sacrifice is brilliant language

because it's like who doesn't love a good oxymoron

but it creates this picture in my mind of an

altar a place in which uh which in which sacrifices

are made to god now most sacrifices uh stay on

the altar because they are dead right A sacrifice

is dead. That's a part of being a sacrifice.

But being a living sacrifice means you can take

yourself up off the altar. And that is for sure

my problem in life. I keep getting up off the

altar. I keep going, oh, I want my way. I'll

have my way. I'll have my dreams, thanks. And

I get myself up off the altar. And then I realise

that I gotta get back on. I've got to get back

on the altar. I've got to make sure that I am

doing God's will and not my own. I've got to

keep getting back on every single day. See, here's

the thing, friends. We won't do this hard, costly,

sacrificial work of disowning ourselves, picking

up our cross and following Jesus because we should

or out of some kind of guilt or obligation. because

it's the right thing to do because if the right

thing to do never works or diets wouldn't be

a thing let's be honest it doesn't work it's

only when we know that Jesus has it's only when

we know what Jesus has done for us deeply in

our heart of hearts does this not just become

something that is possible for us to hand over

our lives to God but something we actually want

to do see Jesus had equality with God and yet

he disowned himself. He disowned his place at

the right hand of the Father. He lowered himself.

He took on human flesh. Jesus, the Word of God

who spoke trees into being in creation, embraced

one as the vehicle of his death for us. Jesus,

the Son of God, followed the will of the Father

to death on a cross so that by faith we may be

united with Him in His death and united with

Him in His resurrection. Friends, Jesus calls

us to first and foremost disown ourselves because

by faith we are no longer our own. We no longer

live. Christ lives in us. We belong to Him. It's

only because of God's sheer love for us that

He has done this. And it's only love that will

make someone disown themselves in their way,

embrace suffering and follow whatever the cost.

Only love will make someone lay down their life,

their wants, their desires for another. Because

this is hard, this is costly. And people do crazy

things for love. Only love makes someone willing

to pay that kind of cost. But it's only the love

of Jesus that makes someone willing to pay the

cost. Not just for those that they love, but

for the unlovely, the unlovable, the enemy, the

ones that we don't like. Because that's what

Jesus has done for us. Friends, I think the biggest

barrier to sharing our faith with our friends

is actually love. Do you know the love of God

for you? How deeply, how costly, how completely

you have been loved? Is your heart filled with

love for those who are far from Jesus like we

once were? Because once you know that God has

paid the ultimate price for you to be brought

home to him You will be willing to pay whatever

cost to see others come home to him, too You'll

give up your career if that's what it takes you

give up your wealth you give up your dreams You

give dignity to the poor the outcasts you you'll

speak up about what God's done in your life You'll

have those critical conversations. You've been

putting off You'll choose to live a holy life

with your body. You'll move house if that's what

it takes. You'll associate with people who are

different to you. You'll inconvenience yourself.

You'll take someone into your home. You'll invite

people to come around for dinner even though

you have not cleaned up. You'll weep and you'll

labour in intercessory prayer. You'll get in

the prayer room. You'll strike up conversations

with people that you don't know. You'll be willing

to be disliked for your faith. You'll get on

a boat with 10 pounds and a prayer. Whatever

it costs, whatever it takes, you'll pay it to

see those come to faith in him. You'll do it.

And you might not be happy about it at first,

but you'll surrender because you're surrendering

to the one who's done more for you than you could

ever do for him in this lifetime. When Jackie

first got to Hong Kong, she did her best to evangelise

to the people there. But she was getting frustrated

because she didn't seem to be accomplishing much.

And then she had a conversation with a man who

said, look, all these Christians, they come with

this message. But then the money runs out or

it gets hard and so they just leave. They just

pack their bags and leave. We're not listening

to you. But we are watching you. We're watching

what you do. And Jackie realized that they were

watching to see whether what she had to say was

really true. Because if it was, then she would

stay. She would stay even if it got hard. Did

she really love them or did she just say that

she did? And if she did really love them, then

maybe they'd realize that God really loved them

too. Friends, if we want to see the people in

our life come alive to God and have faith in

Jesus, we got to surrender to God's will. Embrace

what is required of us and entrust the Father

with our whole lives. We've got to go all in.

We've got to get more radical than we think we've

got to get. And by doing so, we will live lives

that provoke questions for which the Gospel is

the answer. You want your friends to come to

faith in Jesus? Pray for them. Go into Jesus.

Go as hard as you can towards Him. Follow Him.

Strip away the things in your life that hold

you back. Thanks so much for tuning into this

week's message. If you felt challenged or need

prayer, we'd love to hear from you on Instagram

at encounterhenny. Or if you're interested in

how you can support this ministry, please go

to our website encounteradelaide .com .au. Thanks

again for listening. God bless you.