“For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want." - Galatians 5:17
In a season of change that’s both my doing and the Lord’s, this verse rings true in good ways and bad. There’s a reason it’s a struggle to be a disciple of Jesus, there’s a reason it’s easy to do everything but walk in obedience to the Lord. It might be a worldly sentiment, but it’s applicable: anything worth having doesn’t come easy.
It’s never convenient to be intentional with people and sometimes it’s downright uncomfortable. It’s not convenient to load up your 9-week-old baby and visit a friend that lives 5 hours away. It’s not comfortable, for most people, to pray over someone in front of the entire body. And yet, people do these things and so much more. It’s been somewhat of a hidden blessing to be surrounded by people who live intentionally. And I say hidden because my eyes weren’t open to it until recently. It’s by design that the Lord reveals thing in due time, hypothetically because we can only handle so much at any given time. Apparently, it was my time to better understand why intentionality was such an important part of the ministry of Jesus and why it’s something we should walk out today.
“Greater [agape] love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” – John 15:13
I go to a church that is truly awake. The Spirit of the Lord absolutely fills that place. It doesn’t matter what church it is exactly because it’s the body of Christ filling it that makes the difference, specifically the elders and their wives. From the pulpit, they’ve had members of the body come up and talk about how the Gospel is playing out in their life in real time. Initially, it starts off a little corny but it’s always, always abundantly clear that the Lord is working in that person and their situation. It’s clearly something that was handed down from the Lord to the elders. While specific things from each person have stuck out to me, overall it’s opened my eyes to look for the Gospel playing out in real time. While there’ve been many instances I could write about, these following two instances are heavy on my heart in this season of life.
In the past I’ve written about how hard the Bible used to be to read and the transformation that’s taken place to bring it alive. In the past few years, I’ve watched people lay down their lives for others and even for me. Gospel in real time. I must be having a Kairos moment right now if I have to hash this out on paper. John 15:13 has been walked out many times both me and those around me. The words on this page (John 15) are quickly becoming a window through which I view the world. That’s an exciting revelation because it means the next phase of transformation is making them a mirror of myself. That might not make sense to everyone reading this but if you know what it means then you understand the weight of it.
In the span of just a few days, the Gospel was walked out in real time on my behalf. I watched two women lay down their lives for my sake. If you’re like me, then the first picture that comes to mind is quite aggressive. These women did nothing more, and nothing less, than be intentional friends. One of them traveled several hundred miles to visit for a few days. She laid down time with her husband and the comfort of staying home to feed our relationship. There was no agenda behind our time together. There was no extra reason to come to Oklahoma, she simply came to see me and Gus. Laying your life down for a friend is actually quite simple, it’s fueled by intentionality and a heart of selflessness. What I enjoyed most were our open, honest and vulnerable conversations. We talked about everything under the sun, and it always turned back to Jesus. I can’t recall any of our previous free-flowing conversations doing that. It was really refreshing to spend time feeding a friendship like that.
When I used to read this verse (John 15:13) and think about what it looked like to lay down my life for a friend, what this friend did wasn’t what I had in mind. But it’s exactly right. It’s a picture of how Jesus loves us where we are, physically and spiritually. The second example of Gospel in real time came on a Sunday morning, before this friend arrived later that night. Kennedy had been deployed for almost four weeks at that point. I made a promise to myself, that was exclusively in my head until this moment, that I would get on my knees on Sunday morning and pray for him. I do that at home during the week too of course. But getting up in front of the entire body of Christ during worship to petition the Lord is hard for this introvert. It was a physical battle every week to force myself to walk up there. I can’t explain why it continues to be a struggle, but it does. The point is, that I kept doing it. I usually went up during the second song after I’ve waged war on my body, soul and spirit to make my feet move. I’m not the only one up there when I start but I usually take quite some time and I end up by myself just before the third song is over. I’m not sure why any of that is relevant but hang tight and maybe it will be.
On that particular Sunday, just when I was searching for my next thought, a hand touched my shoulder. It was one of the elder’s wives. She’s the first one to physically pray over me and the situation that is this season. I know other people are praying for it, but that’s not what this is about. She later told me that the Holy Spirit let her know that I felt lonely. That was certainly true. While the “title” of elder’s wife might come across as intimidating, she would tell you that she simply sits with the Lord and does what He asks her to. I’m so thankful that she did because her one act of obedience stayed with me for days and I know I’ll never forget it. Once you understand the significance and power of prayer, it transforms what appears to be a small act on a Sunday morning into something so much bigger. She walked out the Gospel in real time, for me of all people.
The value of Godly, intentional relationships cannot be stressed enough. It is no small task to intentionally spend time with someone across the room, across the street, across town, in another state or on the other side of the globe. We’re at that time of year where unmet expectations very easily lead to hurt feelings and a lot of that comes from the fact that being intentional is not convenient. But if we want the Gospel to play out in real time in our life then we have to completely discard the idea that anything in life should be convenient or comfortable if we’re doing for the sake of the Kingdom. And if you really, truly think about all the things that happen around Christmas and Thanksgiving, each little item can be a Kingdom movement depending on the attitude of your heart behind it. Maybe that makes zero sense, or maybe it makes perfect sense. The point is this: do every little thing with intentionality and if you start thinking about how inconvenient or uncomfortable it might be, take those thoughts captive and make them obedient to the Word.
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