75 Sermon Illustrations on Zeal

When is the ABSENCE of fire a cause for alarm? When spiritual fire is crucial for inflaming passion for God and compassion for the world, but one generation ignores the ignition of biblical spiritual formation in the next, then sound the alarm.

Asaph sounded the alarm in his generation by writing Psalm 78, a sad history of one generation’s failure to pass the flame of faith to the next. The prophet-poet was inciting his generation to commit holy arson, to set fire to the household of faith by telling “the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and His might, and the wonders that He has done” and by teaching them to live out His laws of love “that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments” (Psalm 78:4-7).

As in Asaph’s day, the spiritual formation of our next generation is in danger of being extinguished (see my article “Heavenly, Or Hellish, Creatures” in BREAKPOINT WORLDVIEW, September 2007 [Kerux illustration #34895]). Recent research published in books such as Barna’s REVOLUTIONARY PARENTING and The Fermi Project’s UNCHRISTIAN reveal that “we are failing to train children to become the spiritual champions that God intended them to be” (REVOLUTIONARY PARENTING, page 10). When “four out of five young churchgoers say that Christianity is anti-homosexual; half describe it as judgmental, too involved in politics, hypocritical, and confusing; one-third believe their faith is old-fashioned and out of touch with reality; and one-quarter of young Christians believe it is boring and insensitive to others,” it is clear we have left the next generation of Christians confused about the faith we have passed along (UNCHRISTIAN, page 33). My own work in local church ministry to middle-school through college-age students over the last 20 years leads me to conclude along with others that “only 20% of students who attended church regularly before college will attend church at all after two years in college” (COMMENT MAGAZINE, JUNE 2007).

EMBERS OF HOPE

Being a father of young ones myself, I am prone to spiral downward into parental despair in the face of such news. Apparently, I am not alone, considering “fewer than one out of every five parents of young children believe that they are doing a good job of training their children morally and spiritually” (REVOLUTIONARY PARENTING, page 10). But there is always hope. Our Father is working His plan to build His household into a place where He will delight to dwell (Ephesians 2:19-22). We must remember that He is the “faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love” with His children generation after generation (Deuteronomy 7:9; Psalm 105:8). Read Exodus chapters one and two, and you will see embers of hope glowing among a people who were almost convinced they had been forgotten by God. Never forget those fiery, faithful midwives whose trust in their covenant-keeping God rallied them to risk their lives to rescue the next generation of God’s people. Let the example of the parents of Moses, who feared God more than the surrounding culture and shrewdly fought for the life of their son, rekindle hope in you (Acts 7:17-22; Hebrews 11:23). How did the midwives and Moses’ mother and father come to have such fearless faith and pass it on to the next generation? The text does not explicitly say, but certainly during their own childhood they must have had parents and a community of godly adults who diligently told and showed them God’s ways (Deuteronomy 6:7). By faith, the midwives and Moses’ parents kept fanning the flame until Moses caught fire, and Moses was consumed by God (Hebrews 11:25-27).

INSTRUCTIONS FOR LIGHTING FIRES

Our Father is still faithfully passing the torch from generation to generation through the process of what the Apostle Paul might have called “spiritual parenting” (1 Corinthians 4:15-16). In 1 Thessalonians 2, he gives us a picture of this process from which we can learn to create communities that produce consumed Christians rather than Christian consumers. The church at Thessalonica is the only one that Paul commends for having all three marks of maturity in place: faith, hope, and love (1 Thessalonians 1:3). But how did the flame of faith get sparked, the fire of hope get stoked, and the fervor of love begin to spread light and life like wildfire in their world? Beginning in chapter two, the apostle reminds them how this happened and concludes his letter by encouraging them never to quench the Spirit’s fire in light of the imminent return of Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:17). I believe that a pattern emerges in chapter two that will be instructive for every Christian parent, grandparent, church leader, youth worker, Sunday School teacher, small group leader, and pastor. The pattern looks like this: Formation, Fortification, and Vocation.*

This pattern was illustrated for me recently as I built several fires during our family’s first camping trip. The first phase of fire lighting is FORMATION. In order to spark the flame and get the fire going I needed a combination of dry tinder, heat, and oxygen. Some dry twigs and paper, a lighter, and a make-shift fan did the job just fine. Once the fire was burning it was time for the FORTIFICATION phase. I began to slowly add bigger, weightier branches, and as the fire grew in size and intensity I was able to feed it with logs that kept it burning hot. Now the fire was ready to fulfill its intended purpose: to keep us warm, to help us boil water for coffee and cocoa, to cook our food (burgers and s’mores!), to light our campsite at night, and to provide a warm place for us to entertain our campground neighbors. These functions all happen in the VOCATION phase, which naturally flows from the formation and fortification phases.

FORMATION: SPARKING THE FLAME OF FAITH

In 1 Thessalonians 2:7-8, Paul describes the formation stage of discipleship as SPIRITUAL MOTHERING. This stage is characterized by the image of a mother nursing her own children, gently providing the context for a fresh, fragile new life. Paul continues the nursery imagery in verse 8: “So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.” In this FORMATION STAGE the fire of faith combusts and is carefully kindled into a living flame. Notice the three ingredients needed to ignite this fire: the Spirit of God blows on the dry tinder of the Law as it meets the heat of the Gospel, sparking a relationship with the Father that burns with holy passion. Paul knew that the Spirit loves to blow faith into a soul that is given the CONTENT of the Gospel in the CONTEXT of a loving relationship with a Gospel-driven discipler (v. 8).

We must offer the students and children in our homes, neighborhoods, and churches the MESSAGE of the cross in the MIDST of loving relationships with people who are being shaped by that same message. In his modern classic on parenting adolescents, AGE OF OPPORTUNITY, Paul Tripp explains that our children must know that they live in a THEOLOGICAL community. We need to show and tell them that everything in life has to do with their relationship with God (the first great commandment: “love God”). They also must realize that they live in a SOCIAL community. We must explain and exemplify the truth that everything in life has to do with our relationships with people (the second great commandment: “love your neighbor”). They must learn and live in households and houses of God that help them see that they were made to love God and others, but that they, like us, miss the mark again and again. But we must never let them forget that they live in a REDEMPTIVE community (the Gospel: “repent and believe”).

When they discover that they are sinners and law-of-God-breakers, we must bring the glorious warmth of the Gospel of Jesus to bear on their tinder hearts, praying that the Spirit will blow and set them ablaze. We must teach them to be like Paul, who wrestled with sin and rested in Jesus, by encouraging them to take their sins to the cross again and again, embracing the Good News of Christ’s forgiveness as their own, stoking the flame of faith (Romans 7:21-25). Tripp highlights what should be true of every family and church family: “The key to the family functioning as a redemptive community, where the Gospel is the glue that holds the family together, is parents who so trust in Christ that they are ready and willing to confess their faults to their children . . . Parents who admit their sin will position themselves to model the Gospel for their children daily.” This is precisely what the Apostle Paul and his cohorts did for the Thessalonians and others (1 Thessalonians 2:8; 1 Timothy 1:12-17).

FORTIFICATION: STOKING THE FIRE WITH HOPE

In 1 Thessalonians 2:11-13, Paul describes the fortification stage of discipleship as SPIRITUAL FATHERING. Notice the words used here: EXHORTED, ENCOURAGED, CHARGED. This stage of discipleship requires strong, impassioned pleas for the disciple to walk worthily of God by way of the Word of God (vv. 12-13). Paul paints the picture of a father who comes alongside his child and uses the Word of God to point out a path that will lead this young one to follow God’s call to live in and for His kingdom and His glory (v. 12).

The fire is burning and the coals are hot, but in order for this fire to fulfill its purpose, it must be fed with bigger and weightier fuel. If I do this too soon, I will suffocate the flames. Here is where I think the Church gets the cart before the horse. All too often we think that if we just pile on Bible content, our kids will be sure to catch fire for Jesus. In doing so, we may smother their souls. We must not skip the formation stage. Yes, there is content there: the Law of God and the life, death, and resurrected life of Jesus. But there must be content in the context of prayer and a relationship that shows young folks how the Law convicts us with the truth of our sin and the Gospel convinces us of the grace of Jesus.

Even when our students are ready for fortification with the bigger and weightier truths of the kingdom of God and the whole counsel of Scripture, we need to teach these to them like Jesus taught His disciples: He walked alongside them, listened to the concerns and questions of their hearts, and then “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27). This is how Paul, following the example of Jesus, fortified the Thessalonians with spiritual fathering. He built the Word of God into them, and they heard and accepted it “as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers,” undoubtedly producing the “steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” for which he commended them earlier (1 Thessalonians 2:13, 1:3; Romans 15:4).

VOCATION: SPREADING THE FERVOR OF LOVE

In 1 Thessalonians 2:14, Paul describes the vocation stage of discipleship as SPIRITUAL BROTHERING. Throughout 1 Thessalonians, Paul constantly refers to the believers as “brothers.” By the time they receive this letter these believers, who were once newborn babes and then children in Christ, are now full-grown adults in the faith, brothers to and co-laborers with Paul. How do we know they have achieved this level of maturity? Paul tells us that they are now “imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea,” suffering the same persecution that other congregations have suffered (v. 14). Timothy brought back a report of the love for God and others that was being produced in these disciples (1 Thessalonians 3:6; 4:1,9). They were fully grown, fulfilling their vocation to love God and others in the everyday, ordinary places where God had placed them (4:11-12).

This final stage of discipleship is what Paul elsewhere called “equipping the saints for the work of ministry” that they might be servant-hearted ministers to everyone around them (Ephesians 4:12). We want the next generation to aspire to loving service of the people in their worlds with the fire that is in them: offering the warmth of friendship with God and His people, the nourishment of soul that only the Word of God can give, the light of truth in a culture of darkened minds, and the life of the resurrected Jesus.

LESSONS LEARNED AROUND A CAMPFIRE

When my family camped together those few days in the mountains, I made a few observations that I think will apply to discipling the next generation as well. First, I HAD TO BE CONVINCED THAT I NEEDED TO LIGHT A FIRE. That did not take long. As the darkness and coldness increased, so did my desire to light the fire. Look around you, particularly at the next generation. Do you see the darkness of mind and coldness of heart growing? Ask Jesus to give you His heart for these young ones who are “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).

Second, I HAD TO DO WHAT I COULD WITH WHAT I HAD. I did not have all the latest in fire-starting equipment and material. I had what I needed to get started, but when I could I found people and places that would better equip me for the task. If you know Jesus, you have what you need to start discipling the next generation. Begin to walk alongside young people, getting to know them, praying for them, learning from them, developing a tender compassion for them. Take what little you know about the Law of God and the Good News about how Jesus saves us from sin to be His servants and talk about how God is using these truths to transform your life. Let them see you repent and believe the Gospel. Pray for the Spirit to blow. And when you can, read a book or ask someone with more experience to help you learn about how to disciple a young person.

Third, I HAD TO STAY ENGAGED WITH ALL THREE STAGES OF FIRE LIGHTING. Fires will burn out unless they are tended. In order to keep the fire hot and useful for its vocation, I have to keep forming and fortifying it. Grown believers still need the Law, the Gospel, and the Spirit to fan the flame of faith. They still need big and weighty truth from God’s Word to stoke the fire of hope. Without faith and hope, there will be no fuel for living out our vocation to spread the fervor of love for God and others (Galatians 5:6; Ephesians 1:17-20).

Finally, I NOTICED THAT MY KIDS WERE FASCINATED WITH AND RESPECTFUL OF THE PROCESS OF BUILDING A FIRE. If my children could have played with, poked, and prodded that campfire all day and night, they would have been happy campers. “Daddy, can I help you start the fire this time? I’ll be careful. Will you show me how?” What will happen if the young people in your world see you lighting fires in discipling relationships? They will be drawn to it. They will want to know how to do for others what you have done with them. And the fire will keep burning, one generation to the next.

Have you noticed the neglect of intentional spiritual formation for the next generation in your family, neighborhood, or church? Start committing holy arson in the household of faith, and then sound the alarm for others to wake up and join you.

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Jimmy Davis is an ordained teaching elder in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. He and his wife, Christine, are currently planting RIVERSIDE CHURCH, a family of home churches, in the historic Hardin Valley community of Knox County, Tenn.

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* My thanks to Rev. John Wood of Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church for a conversation with the student ministry staff that sparked my understanding of this process several years ago.

Colossians 3:23-24 relays four handles by which passion may be seized on a daily basis: its scope, strength, secret and source.

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If someone looked at your life, what would they see? An attitude of hope, enthusiasm and energy, or a chin perpetually on your chest in a posture of resignation and defeat?

Are you the kind of person who spells “life” p-a-s-s-i-o-n or the person who, when asked to define “apathy,” says, “I don’t know and I don’t care”?

No verse in the Bible better expresses the passion we should have for life than Colossians 3:23-24: “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.”

In these two verses we find four handles by which passion may be seized on a daily basis: the scope, strength, secret and source of passion. This passage can become a Passion Principle for you as you go “from accomplishment to zeal” every day.

THE SCOPE OF YOUR PASSION

Note that the Apostle Paul says, “whatever you do....” I don’t think Paul meant whatever only in a spiritual sense, such as praying, singing, studying the Bible and witnessing. Do you know what the word “whatever” means in the Greek? It means “whatever”! Everything we do in life should be done heartily as if we were doing it for the Lord.

Are you that excited about your life? Don’t make the mistake of dividing your life as a Christian into a “sacred” part and a “secular” part. All of the Christian’s life is sacred -- your spiritual life, your work, your hobbies, your entertainment -- and should be done heartily as unto the Lord.

THE STRENGTH OF YOUR PASSION

Do you have a sense of God’s pleasure in all you do in life? Paul says that whatever we do -- teaching, running, plumbing, “lawyering,” preaching, parenting, “businessing” -- we should do it “heartily.” Do it with heart! We ought to be lionhearted about life, attacking every day with the strength and vigor which comes only from the Lion of Judah, the Son of God Himself. That is the strength we have been given.

THE SECRET OF YOUR PASSION

The secret of the Christian’s passion is simple: Everything we do in life we do it “as to the Lord and not to men.” The passion we put into any project or activity in life is a good reflection of how we esteem the One for whom we work.

Paul said, “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10). Knowing that we serve a Savior who gave His all for us should ignite in us a passion to give our all for Him -- whatever we do.

THE SOURCE OF YOUR PASSION

The source of the Christian’s passion is “the Lord Christ” whom we serve. All great developmental leaders say that it’s impossible to impart passion to anyone. Instead, the challenge is to discover the passion that is already within and build on it -- fan it into flame and make it come alive!

You’ve probably seen the popular slogan, “Carpe diem,” on posters and bumper stickers. It’s the Latin phrase for “Seize the day” or “Make the most of the day.” It’s not bad advice, but seizing the day without seizing the Source of the day is like grabbing for air. Instead of Carpe diem, try Carpe deum -- “Seize God” -- and don’t let go! He alone is the source of true passion for all you do in life.

People are trying everything from A to Z to find reasons to get excited about life today. But if you are a Christian, you can live from “accomplishment to zeal” with genuine passion every day. Make Colossians 3:23-24 your Passion Principle for the coming year and see if it doesn’t change your life -- and your world as well.

I was born and raised smack dab in the middle of the Bible Belt. Almost everyone I knew intellectually assented to the truths of the Bible, had prayed a prayer at some altar in some church as a child, attended worship service regularly, voted Republican, and blessed the food at dinner.

Nearly the entire population of my beloved hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana was surer than sure that as they exhaled their final breath, they’d be welcomed into the pearly gates of heaven (I’m not exaggerating: Barna found 98% of Shreveport, Louisiana residents consider themselves born again believers in Christ).

Unlike the greater population of my super-Christian context, I wasn’t too sold on the Jesus stuff. Even as a young kid I remember feeling like a black sheep in children’s church. Everyone seemed so gung-ho over God — dancing in the aisles, spinning in circles, and what not — and I just couldn’t really wrap my mind around what was so exciting. The more I thought about God, the more I doubted he even existed.

As I grew older and began nurturing the wide array of my sinful desires, my doubt only intensified. I had spurts of spiritual curiosity here and there, but each time I peeked back into the church, I walked away skeptically. I thought it was all a sham.

Long story very short, the grace of God came crashing in over my skepticism in 2010 and my heart exploded in love for Jesus. Surely ... surely ... my longtime Christian friends and family would be ecstatic over my faith, I thought. And at first, many of them were. They rejoiced that I had “found the light” and started making better choices.

But as time ticked forward and my passion for Jesus increased, they started to view me as a bit of an extremist. When I would talk about the things of God, they seemed totally disconnected and disinterested in the conversation. I remember being told by a professing Christian, “You don’t have to talk about Jesus so much. Faith is really just a private thing you keep to yourself.”

Hmm ... this was not what I was expecting.

When I peeled back the pages of my Bible and gazed into the early church, I saw radically transformed people who centered every aspect of their lives on the God-man who was crucified and raised on their behalf. Their friends, activities, ambitions, and finances were all deeply and irrevocably impacted by their love for Jesus. They weren’t perfect people, but they were changed people — people whose lives were potent with the aroma of heaven.

As I continued to see the vast differences between the kind of Christian depicted in the Bible and the kind of Christian I observed in my church-on-every-corner culture, I began to question whether a profession of faith in the Bible Belt really even meant anything.

When I asked friends what assured them of their salvation, they would point to the sinner’s prayer they recited at 7 years old, their subsequent baptism, their church attendance, their conservative values, and things like that. There’s no doubt the Bible teaches that good works are necessary evidences of a changed heart — but what my friends appeared to be in severe lack of was the changed heart. Some of the outer workings of the Christian life were present in their lives, but a real, personal, intimate love for Jesus — the foundation of the Christian life — seemed to be absent. They were cool with Bible verse tattoos, occasionally attending worship, and thanking God for their food at Thanksgiving Dinner, but they seemed utterly disinterested in the actual person of Jesus.

The lips of these moral, conservative, church-going Southerners knew the Christianese language. Their butts were acquainted with the church pews. They lived in close proximity to the things of God, but their hearts, from my limited perspective, couldn’t have been deader toward the Author of Life.

I think the words first spoken by Isaiah, and centuries later quoted by Jesus, might just be words our Lord would breathe out again over the Bible Belt of the United States: “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” — (Matthew 15:8).

One of the really scary things the Bible calls us to do is test ourselves, to see if we are really in the faith. When you peer into your heart today to see what’s really in it, what do you find? Do you see love for Jesus? The best of Christians won’t love him as perfectly or as constantly as he deserves, but do you see in yourself a genuine affection for the Lord? Do you find your mind frequently gravitating toward him and his purposes for your life? Do you find your soul ever lifting itself up to him in praise and thankfulness?

Or do you find your heart pretty empty of Jesus?

When you look at your outward life, do you see any obedience to God — not heartless, ritualistic obedience, but obedience fueled by love and reverence for God? Do you find you are growing, even turtlishly slow, in personal holiness and spiritual maturity? Do you seek the Lord regularly, when no one is looking? Are you trying to walk with others who are doing the same?

Or are you pretty much indifferent about obedience to Jesus and only avoid “bad sins” because you fear the temporary, painful consequences?

I know I have a lot of Bible Belt dwellers that read my blog. Whether you know me in person (hello, Shreveportians!) or are connected to my blog from afar, I’m glad you’ve decided to check out this post today.

I’m not here to judge you. I can’t know your heart and say for sure your faith is or isn’t fraudulent. But if you have been faking all this Christian stuff, you need to realize that God is well aware. He’s not fooled by “On my way to church!” selfies on Sunday or “I have Jesus in my heart” verbiage.

He knows you.

While this might, and probably should, scare the crap out of you, it should also give you hope. The God who knows all of your pretending, lip service, and hypocrisy still loves you and hasn’t zapped the life out of you yet. He’s been so patient with you all these years, giving you more and more time to surrender yourself to Jesus.

God wrapped himself in your sin and stepped into the fiery furnace of his own wrath so that you could be transformed into a new creation — not just some pew-sittin’, semi-religious, moral person. Jesus died to give you the joy of being remade into what you were designed to be: a true worshipper of God.

If you know deep down that all your outward religious practices are merely masking a heart that doesn’t really love Jesus, won’t you drop the façade today? Won’t you admit, at least to yourself, that you haven’t known him ... and won’t you come to him? Won’t you break free of mere tradition and grab hold of the true life and joy he’s extending to you? Won’t you stop settling for the cheapness of cultural “Christianity” and embrace the richness of knowing Jesus?

My hope and prayer today is that you will.

“And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” — John 17:3

What is Apostolic Passion?

The term “passion” is used to describe everything from romance to hunger pangs. I don’t know what it means to you, but for me passion means whatever a person is willing to suffer for. In fact, that’s the root meaning of the word. It comes from the Latin paserre [sic, should be: patior, pati, passum sum], to suffer. It is what you hunger for so intensely that you will sacrifice anything to have it. The word “apostle” means a sent one, a messenger. “Apostolic Passion,” therefore, is a deliberate, intentional choice to live for the worship of Jesus in the nations. It has to do with being committed to the point of death to spreading His glory. It’s the quality of those who are on fire for Jesus, who dream of the whole earth being covered with the Glory of the Lord.

I know when apostolic passion has died in my heart. It happens when I don’t spend my quiet time dreaming of the time when Jesus will be worshiped in languages that aren’t yet heard in heaven. I know it’s missing from my life when I sing about heaven, but live as if earth is my home. Apostolic passion is dead in my heart when I dream more about sports, toys, places to go and people to see, than I do about the nations worshiping Jesus.

I have lost it, too, when I make decisions based on the danger involved, not the glory God will get. Those who have apostolic passion are planning to go, but willing to stay. You know you have it when you are deeply disappointed that God has not called you to leave your home and get out among those who have never heard His name. If you will not suffer and sacrifice for something, you are not passionate about it. If you say you will do anything for Jesus, but you don’t suffer for Him then you aren’t really passionate about Him and His purposes on earth.

If you don’t have it, how do you go about getting this thing called apostolic passion? Is it like ordering pizza at the door in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed? Is there an 800 number to call? Or better yet, just send us your special gift of $15 or more, and we’ll rush you some passion, express delivery, overnight mail. If you’re like me, you need help figuring out how to grow this thing called passion. I am motivated by reading how the apostle Paul got it. He chose it.

Paul says in Romans 15 that it is his ambition, his passion, if you will, to make Christ known. It began for him with a revelation of Jesus that he nurtured all his adult life. Paul not only encountered Christ on the road to Damascus, he kept on meeting Jesus every day. This revelation of Jesus, and his study of God’s purposes, gave birth to Paul’s apostolic passion. Knowing Jesus and making Him known consumed the rest of Paul’s life. He “gloried in Christ Jesus in his service to God” (Rom 15:17). By comparison, everything else was dung, garbage, stinking refuse. Paul’s ambition was born from his understanding that God longed for His Son to be glorified in the nations. It was focused so that the “Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit” (Rom 15:16).

Human enthusiasm cannot sustain apostolic passion. When God invests His own passion in you the desire to see His name glorified among all people you must build and develop what God has given you. Four things will help:

1. APOSTOLIC ABANDONMENT

Too many people want the fruit of Paul’s ministry without paying the price that Paul paid. He died. He died to everything. He died daily. He was crucified with Christ. This strong-willed, opinionated man knew that he must die to self. He knew that in his flesh, he couldn’t generate the revelation of Jesus; he couldn’t sustain the heart of Christ. So he died. He abandoned his life. He abandoned himself.

We live in a world of competing passions. If we do not die to self and fill our lives with the consuming passion of the worship of God in the nations, we will end up with other passions. It’s possible to deceive ourselves into thinking we have Biblical passions when, in reality, all we have done is to baptize the values of our culture and give them Christian names. We will have chosen apostolic passion only when our hearts are filled with God’s desire for His Son to be worshiped in the nations.

May I encourage you, dear friend, to give up your life? I challenge you to pray this prayer: “Lord, be ruthless with me in revealing my selfish ambition and my lack of willingness to die to myself. “I guarantee that He will answer your prayer and quickly.

2. APOSTOLIC FOCUS

The greatest enemy of the ambition to see Jesus worshiped in the nations is lack of focus. You can run around expending energy on all sorts of good ministries, and not get one step closer to the nations. I don’t have anything against all the projects and ministries out there God’s people do them, and I don’t question their obedience to God. But the Church has an apostolic calling, an apostolic mission. God has called us to the nations. We must focus, or we won’t obey.

Focus on what? I believe God wants a people for Himself. Activity without a desire that God have a people for Himself is just activity not missions. You can have evangelism without missions. Short-term ministries are great, as long as they focus on raising up workers to plant churches. You might say, “I’m not called to plant churches.” Yes, you are! It’s always the will of God to have a people who worship His Son in the nations. You’ll never have to worry about making God mad if you try to plant a church. It seems crazy to me that people are under the delusion they need a special calling to save souls, to disciple them, and to get them together to love Jesus. Whatever ministry you are with, you must understand one thing: church planting is not for us, it’s for God. We do it so God will have a people to worship Him!

3. APOSTOLIC PRAYING

A young man in Bible school offered to help David Wilkerson years ago when he was ministering on the streets of New York City. Wilkerson asked him how much time he spent in prayer. The young student estimated about 20 minutes a day. Wilkerson told him, “Go back, young man. Go back for a month and pray two hours a day, every day for 30 days. When you’ve done that, come back. Come back, and I might consider turning you loose on the streets where there is murder, rape, violence and danger. If I sent you out now on 20 minutes a day, I’d be sending a soldier into battle without any weapons, and you would get killed.”

You can get into heaven, my friend, without a lot of prayer. You can have a one-minute quiet time every day and God will still love you. But you won’t hear a “well done, good and faithful servant” on one-minute conversations with God. And you certainly can’t make it on that kind of prayer life in the hard places where Jesus is not known or worshiped. Here’s a challenge for you: Read everything Paul says about prayer, then ask yourself, “Am I willing to pray like that?” Paul said that he prayed “night and day with tears without ceasing with thankfulness in the Spirit constantly boldly for godly sorrow against the evil one.”

4. APOSTOLIC DECISION-MAKING

If you live without a vision of the glory of God filling the whole earth, you are in danger of serving your own dreams of greatness, as you wait to do “the next thing” God tells you. There are too many over-fed, under-motivated Christians hiding behind the excuse that God has not spoken to them. They are waiting to hear voices or see dreams all the while living to make money, to provide for their future, to dress well and have fun.

The Apostle Paul was guided by his passions. Acts 20 and 21 tell of his determination to go to Jerusalem despite his own personal anticipation of suffering, the warnings of true prophets, and the intense disapproval of his friends. Why would Paul go against his own intuition let alone the urgings of prophets and weeping entreaties of close friends? He had a revelation of greater priority, of greater motivation: the glory of God.

Apostolic decision-making starts with a passion for God’s glory in the nations, then asks: “Where shall I serve you?” Most people do the opposite. They ask the where-and-when questions without a revelation of His glory in the nations. Is it any wonder they never hear God say “go!” They have not cultivated a passion for the passions of God. All kinds of lesser desires can be holding them captive. They might never realize it.

Present your gifts, vocations and talents to the Lord. Press into God. Stay there until you long to go out in His name. Remain there and nurture the longing to see the earth bathed with His praise. Only then will you be able to trust your heart if you hear God say, “stay.” Only those who long to broadcast His glory to the nations have the right to stay.

If you have apostolic passion, you are one of the most dangerous people on the planet. The world no longer rules your heart. You are no longer seduced by getting and gaining but devoted to spreading and proclaiming the glory of God in the nations. You live as a pilgrim, unattached to the cares of this world. You are not afraid of loss. You even dare to believe you may be given the privilege of dying to spread His fame on the earth. The Father’s passions have become your passions. You find your satisfaction and significance in Him. You believe He is with you always, to the end of life itself. You are sold out to God, and you live for the Lamb. Satan fears you, and the angels applaud you.

Your greatest dream is that His name will be praised in languages never before heard in heaven. Your reward is the look of pure delight you anticipate seeing in His eyes when you lay at His feet and the just reward of His suffering: the worship of the redeemed.

You have apostolic passion!

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This article appeared in the Third Edition of the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement Reader.

Floyd McClung is the founder and Director of All Nations Institute in Trinidad, Colorado. For years he served as International Director of Youth With A Mission. He began his international ministry in Afghanistan. One of his new books, Living on the Devil’s Doorstep tells the story of the ministry he pioneered in Amsterdam, Holland.

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“Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.” (Ro 10:1-2 NKJV)

The Apostle’s Desire For Israel

• brethren — so he calls believing Jews

• that…saved — 1 Tim 2:1, 3-4, Matt 5:44, 1 Sam 12:23, Luke 19:41-42, 23:24 — from the sin of unbelief, and its consequences

• record[witness] — witness

• zeal…God — Acts 21:20, 22:3, Gal 1:14, John 5:16, Rom 9:21 — in regard to His worship, cause, Sabbath, etc.

• not…knowledge — not directed by true knowledge of God’s Word and will; hence their zeal misled them

Apostolic patriotism — Dr Thomas

The Apostle’s patriotism –

I. Sought the highest good of his country. There is here implied a conviction that –

1. His countrymen needed salvation;

2. Their salvation required God’s interposition;

3. This interposition is to be obtained by intercessory prayer.

II. Recognised its characteristic evils:

1. Corrupt zealotism;

2. Ignorance of Christianity;

3. Self-righteousness;

4. Gospel rejection.

III. Proposed the right method of saving it:

1. Righteousness is essential to the well-being of the people;

2. The grand aim of the law is to promote righteousness;

3. This righteousness is to be obtained by faith in Christ.

The balances of the sanctuary — In the reign of King Charles I., the goldsmiths of London had a custom of weighing several sorts of their precious metals before the privy council. On this occasion they made use of scales, poised with such exquisite nicety, that the beam would turn, the master of the company affirmed, at the two-hundredth part of a grain. Noy, the famous attorney-general, standing by, and hearing this, replied, “I shall be loath, then, to have all my actions weighed in these scales.” “With whom I heartily concur,” says the pious Hervey, “in relation to myself. And since the balances of the sanctuary, the balances in God’s hand, are infinitely exact, O what need have we of the merit and righteousness of Christ, to make as acceptable in His sight, and passable in His esteem!”

eudokia — “Most benevolent and affectionate desire” (Guyse). “Anxious wish” (Bloomfield). “Benevolent, kind desire, sincere and hearty wish” (Stuart). “Inclination” (Alford). “That wherein my heart would entirely acquiesce, and be fully pleased” (Ellicot).

“Zeal without knowledge is like expedition to a man in the dark.” — J. Newton

Former St. Louis Rams offensive tackle Grant Williams proudly wears his 2002 Superbowl ring (which he won by playing with the New England Patriots against the Rams!). At a gathering of men in Missouri he shared his personal testimony. Even though he grew up knowing the principles and stories of God, they didn’t impact his life because he was lacking a personal relationship with Jesus.

“I memorized Bible verses and we maybe missed church once a year,” he said. “But for me it was just something we did: It was tradition, ritual and agreeing to a set of principles. I could have told you that the wages of sin is death, that all have fallen short of the glory of God, and that Jesus paid the price for my sins, but it certainly didn’t strike a fire in me. There was no relationship.”

Instead he found his “fire” in athletics, playing in every sport available, eventually excelling in baseball and football and earning a position as team captain on the Louisiana Tech football squad.

“I thought I could get away with anything being as valuable as I was to the team,” he said. “As a player, I thought I was above the law.”

But after endless parties and his second DUI, he lost his place on the team and was barred from even setting foot on campus.

“For the first time in my life, I couldn’t make it just because I could help carry a piece of pig over a line of chalk,” Williams said.

He served hundreds of hours of community service and after a year was readmitted and allowed to play football for Louisiana Tech again, although his prospects of getting drafted into the NFL appeared slim. Then, at yet another party, he began to hear God’s still small voice.

“I realized in my heart that He had been there all along even though I’d never had a true relationship with Him,” Williams said. “Finally, as a senior in college, I gave up control, stepped back and gave my life to Christ.”

Soon after he became a Christian, the draft was held and no one called. But he was OK with that.

“For the first time, I realized that wasn’t the most important thing,” he said.

Then, 20 teams called him up inviting him to training camp as a free agent. It was the first major decision that Williams and his new wife would make as Christians. God eventually took them to Seattle, but Williams was still five slots from making the team.

“I knew that if I was going to make the team, it would be God’s doing and not mine,” he said. “I made the team, but it wasn’t just to help get a piece of pig across a line of chalk. I kept asking, ‘Why am I here?’”

Williams was there in part to move the chunk of pigskin, but it was on the team that he met an accountability partner and truly began to grow as a Christian.

“Knowing principles and Scripture are important, but a relationship with Christ is the only way,” he said.

This missionary ticked me off the other day. In a letter home to friends and supporters, this Christian worker in a heavily Muslim country, unnamed for security reasons, was making the point that we should not discriminate against all Arabs or Muslims for the work of a few terrorists. Okay, I can see that. Then the missionary said, "After all, those terrorists lived in the United States for many months prior to the Sept. 11 tragedies. Why didn't your church lead them to Christ while they were living in your city?"

That's what stung.

I have numerous reactions to that question, on various levels. First, I'm not sure that a terrorist on a suicide mission to kill hundreds of his enemies -- my neighbors -- is going to be a candidate for visiting my church and hearing the gospel. I mean, these guys are seriously disturbed. There are people on planet earth who cannot be reasoned with, and it would seem that terrorists poisoned with blind hatred would qualify. I keep recalling how the Lord Jesus said only little children could receive the gospel.

But on another level, I wonder if my kind of Christianity would win a terrorist to the Lord Jesus Christ. There is an unwritten law in evangelism that you cannot win to Christ anyone more committed to his way of life than you are to the Lord. In other words, I have to out-live and out-love and out-do him in my own commitment and sacrifice in order to earn his attention. And therein lies a problem.

In the first century, the early Christians were concerned about their own Osama bin Laden. His name was Saul and he was a holy terror to the followers of Jesus. He participated in the execution of the first Christian martyr, Stephen, and with that taste of blood, followed up with numerous other acts of terrorism. He even received permission to seek out believers in Syria, to arrest them and bring them to Jerusalem for trial.

I wonder whether any believer said in a prayer meeting, "Let's pray for Saul to come to Christ and be saved." That would have seemed beyond the realm of possibility even to these people who had seen their share of miracles. They would have been satisfied simply to be protected from his escapades. But heaven had bigger plans. All God needed was someone who could outlive and out-love and outdo Saul. Maybe out-die him.

Enter Stephen. This charter member of the first deacon fellowship is described in Acts 6 as "full of grace and power." Those who heard Stephen speak were "unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit" of his words. When the enemies of the faith investigated him for something to charge him with, they came up empty and ended up suborning witnesses to tell lies against the man. Here was God's man for an incredible mission: win the terrorist.

The seventh chapter of Acts tells of Stephen's death by stoning. Off to the side stood Saul -- watching the action, noting Stephen's amazing behavior, guarding the coats of the rock-throwers and congratulating them for their courage.

Saul threw no stones, but he was a witness that day. He saw the dying Stephen pray for his executioners and forgive them. He saw the angelic countenance spread across the bruised face of the bleeding disciple. He heard him call out, "I see Jesus ... standing at the right hand of the Father.... Lord Jesus! Receive my spirit!" Saul saw and he never forgot.

That day, Saul was bested. He finally met one more committed to Christ than he was committed against Christ. Saul was never the same man. Over the next few days and weeks, he continued in his murderous ways, but the damage had been done. The Holy Spirit had penetrated his hard heart with the arrow of a holier man than he. Eventually, on a road outside Damascus, God reeled him in. The rest is history.

Would my kind of faith and witness win that kind of enemy to the Lord? It's a question to drive me to my knees in prayer, and to stand up with a new determination not to be outlived and outdone by the likes of God's enemies.

This is a call to a real holy war: to love our enemies, to pray for them and to lay down our lives if need be -- whatever it takes for God to use us to win them. This is, after all, how God destroys terrorists. He turns them into disciples.

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Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. Missions is a temporary necessity but worship abides forever. Worship, therefore, is the fuel and goal of missions.

The most crucial issue in missions is the centrality of God in the life of the church. Where people are not stunned by the greatness of God, how can they be sent with the ringing message, “GREAT is the Lord and GREATLY to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods!” (Psalm 96:4)? Where passion for God is weak, zeal for missions will be weak. Churches that are not centered on the exaltation of the majesty and beauty of God will scarcely kindle a fervent desire to “declare his glory among the nations” (Psalm 96:3).

1. God’s passion for God is the foundation of ours.

2. The chief end of God is to glorify God and enjoy himself forever.

3. Missions is to bring about obedience of faith for the SAKE OF HIS NAME among all nations.

David Brainerd had such an intense compassion for souls, and was so concerned for their salvation, that he said, "I cared not where or how I lived, or what hardships I went through, so that I could but gain souls for Christ. While I was asleep, I dreamed of these things, and when I awoke, the first thing I thought of was this great work. All my desire was for the conversion of the heathen, and all my hope was in God."

I’m a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit power. The dye has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I’m a disciple of His. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power. My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way rough, my companions few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear.

I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won’t give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me. And when He comes for His own, He will have no problems recognizing me — my banner will be clear!!!

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“The Fellowship of the Unashamed” is a prayer that has inspired many to stand strong in their faith and to live unashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This prayer, originally titled “A Zimbabwean Martyr’s Prayer,” was found among the papers of a young African pastor who was martyred in Zimbabwe some 100+ years ago.

According to Southern Nazarene University, the prayer was passed on by missionary Louise Robinson Chapman who served in Africa from 1920-1940. Years later the prayer became known as “The Fellowship of the Unashamed.” It is unclear if the pastor was killed by Islamic or other forces in that part of the world, but it is known that he was martyred for his refusal to renounce his faith in Christ.

[Holwick: the alliterative phrasing sounds much more like an American than an African who presumably spoke English as a second language. I suspect the original has been greatly adapted before having the current form.]

1. We Praise Thee, O God,

for the Son of Thy love,

For Jesus who died and

is now gone above.

Chorus:

Hallelujah, Thine the glory!

Hallelujah, Amen!

Hallelujah, Thine the glory!

Revive us again.

2. We praise Thee, O God,

for Thy Spirit of light,

Who has shown us our Saviour

and scattered our night.

3. All glory and praise

to the Lamb that was slain,

Who has borne all our sins and

has cleansed ev’ry stain.

4. Revive us again –

fill each heart with Thy love;

May each soul be rekindled

with fire from above.

The history of Israelites is a powerful lesson of all that can happen on the spiritual journey. We see the glory of the great deliverance in the Exodus, the giving of the tabernacle and the Law in the wilderness. The people were formed by God and called to serve. They entered the land and conquered it in order to obtain the promise. But, as we know, all did not go well. They did not follow the Lord fully or faithfully. They formed alliances with the local people and steadily adopted foreign customs, ways, and worst of all, foreign gods. In the history of the people of Israel, we see the pendulum swing back and forth from faithfulness to rampant rejection of God.

The last verse of the book of Judges captures the situation and the mood of one stage in their history: “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit” (21:25). In the midst of their oscillating responses of half-hearted faith and complete disobedience to God, Israel continued to face the up and down situation of peace and war. The lessons they were left with are still timely in their importance and lasting in their urgency. Casual religion has serious consequences. Religious hypocrisy is altogether deplorable.

Through the Israelites, we see the reflections of our own polished idols, veiled motives, and empty rituals. Author A.J. Conyers suggests the very real danger that “all religion, and every practice of religion, and in fact all of human life, is in danger of being marshaled into the service of the human ego.” Within us is the tendency to center all thinking and concerns in the self, the propensity to give attention only to things that seem to offer immediate yield or gratification, and the inability to rest, relax, or be satisfied unless we are constantly stimulated or perpetually entertained. Elsewhere Conyers speaks of the ease with which, in the presence of a skewed image of our fallenness, our images of God Himself become skewed, “Rather than understanding God as the meaning in all things, he becomes the means by which we gain some things. Rather than a God to be worshiped, he becomes a god to be used.” What can we do to remain awake on the journey of belief?

Author Harry Blamires, in his book The Secular Heresy, hits the nail on the head. “We must not exploit our faith by advertising it as a technique for achieving earthly satisfactions. The faith is not a recipe and not a program. It is a Way. Recipes and programs are made to help you carry out earthly jobs successfully. But a Way is something you walk in.”

The entire story of the people of Israel and the whole of the New Testament run against the grain of lukewarm religion or casual spirituality. The writer of Hebrews encourages our total attention to what has been set before us: “Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so” (6:1-3). We are to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, bowing to the clear implications and imperatives of such a task.

I am not suggesting spiritual zeal for zeal's sake. I am urging us all to take the goal of growth and the way of growth seriously, for Christ has called. I am suggesting that we need to give diligent heed and due care to the right use of godly ways and means to develop our life and mission before God. God will not do it for us, but He will accomplish it with us. To those who bow before Him, this He has promised.

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Copyright © 2005 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

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” …zeal for your house consumes me… “ (Psalm 69:9)

— For reading & meditation: Psalm 69:1-15

We continue thinking about zealousness, which we said yesterday is one of the characteristics of “revival praying”. An example of what I mean by zealous praying comes out of the story of the great revival which hit New York in the middle of the nineteenth century.

On 1st July 1857 a man by the name of Jeremiah Lanphier, described as “a quiet and zealous businessman”, took up an appointment as city missionary in the Dutch Reformed Church in New York. He decided to hold a noon-day prayer meeting and distributed a few handbills inviting others to join him during the lunch hour every Wednesday. At the first meeting six people were present. The second week there were twenty and the third week over forty. It was then decided to hold the prayer meeting every day. Within months 10,000 people were gathering in the city every day to pray.

Thus began in New York the spiritual awakening which eventually spread through America and in 1859 crossed the seas to the British Isles. Zealous praying — the kind that precedes revival — usually begins with one person in an area and then spreads to others. I know of no revival where this has not happened.

How can we explain this strange “spirit of prayer” that grips God’s people prior to revival? What makes them want to be present at as many prayer meetings as they can get to and pour out their hearts in earnest supplication to God?

There is only one convincing explanation — it is a supernatural phenomenon. The heart of revival is beyond psychological or sociological explanation. It has been well said that if in prayer we have great intention, then God gives greater attention.

PRAYER:

Father, I have already asked You to give me more zealousness in prayer; now I must go further and take it. I reach out with empty hands to receive the fullness of Your Spirit. From now on my prayer life shall be Spirit-taught and Spirit-wrought. Amen.

FURTHER STUDY:

Acts 3:1-10; 4:24; 12:12; 21:5

1. Where were Peter and John going?

2. What was the result?