Can I Follow Jesus with a Divided Mind?

I have always been fascinated with stories about missionaries, partly because of their extreme commitment to the advancement of the Gospel. No missionary can afford to be in it part way. Can you imagine having a divided mind as you faced disease, arrest, persecution, and death? “Hmmm, let’s see, I am torn – I am scheduled to share the gospel today, facing imprisonment and torture; but there is also a killer film festival going on downtown.” It wouldn’t work. Good missionaries are single minded in their goal.

 If you have known these people, you know what I am talking about. Regardless of what they are facing, all that matters is Christ’s work with the people they love. I have a friend who served as a missionary in the Middle East before she ran into strange health problems characterized by seizures. She’s now back on this side of the world, with no idea what’s going on with her health, and all she can think about is getting back to the Middle East. They are relentless.

Admit it, you think they’re weird. Admirable, but weird. The thing is, though, we are all supposed to be weird like that.

Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62, ESV)

Many people say they want to have an impact for the Kingdom. And often what they mean is, “In my spare time, I’d love to have the chance to make a difference.” So we give a couple of hours on a Sunday, maybe open our home a couple of times a month for small group, and serve a couple of times a year at a homeless shelter. But the rest of the time we are living for ourselves – my dreams, my goals, my life. We fit God’s mission in where we can, because, after all, it’s a good idea.

The Bible warns us that we cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6:24) and that the flesh opposes the Spirit (Galatians 5:17). But we try it anyway. Why not give it a whirl?

Jesus had a lot of people who hung around him with a divided mind and he chased them away. He told them to sell all their possessions, he invited them to come and die, he told them they had to hate their life in order to find it. Do you ever think about the seeming insanity of Jesus calling Thomas out for doubting? This is the dude who was willing to die for Jesus – couldn’t he get a pass for the whole doubting thing? If you were divided, you didn’t stick.

But as I look around at the church, or more specifically, my life, I see divided minds all over the place. It’s the norm. What happened? There is plenty of blame to go around, but one of those issues is that we created levels of Christianity. Basic Christians pray a prayer. Good Christians go to church and behave. Really good Christians serve in the church and take some classes. Super Christians are what we call, “Disciples.” And Superhero Christians go overseas. Why? Because they’re weird. We’ve covered that.

We have convinced people that Christianity can be manageable. You don’t have to buy the premium package now – the entry level is a fine choice. And don’t worry, if you change your mind, you can always upgrade later at a discount when you’re ready!

But God knows we are never ready. That’s why salvation is a work of grace alone. I wasn’t “ready” to trust in Christ, and I’m not “ready” to take the next step in my faith. I wasn’t “ready” to go down the water slide as a kid, either, which is why I’m glad my cousin pushed me (in hindsight, anyway).

And I’m not “ready” to live a completely mission-focused, Christ-centered life. I am selfish, lazy, prideful, and scared of water slides. But that doesn’t change the call.

So I am compelled to ask: what would it look like to be consumed by Christ’s redemptive work in my neighborhood? How would it change how I spent my time, my money, my thoughts? What would it look like to make choices about how I live, what I do, what I buy, how I spend my time – all based on how it impacted the mission God has set before me?

Would my life look different? What about yours?