As followers of Christ, we have a duty to expand God’s kingdom on earth:
16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. (Matthew 24:16-20).
This not only extends to the lost, but also to those who are our Christian brothers or sisters. Not only is this to be done in bringing those back to a Christian footing:
19 My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, 20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins. (James 5:19-20)
Also to raise up better disciples:
5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. 6 An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7 Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8 Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. (Titus 1: 5-9).
My contention is that we are all teachers and all leaders, so these verses apply to mature Christians who have the capacity to do both.
I believe that if we truly repent of our sins and submit to God, then our hearts will change. That heart change is a big deal, and it is evidence as to if we are truly following. The bible says that a true repentance brings the Holy Spirit into the picture, begins to form us into someone who is willing to serve, begins to show us God’s promise for us. The selfish desires, that were once our main focus, begins to blur and we start to search out God’s Will for us. This, I think, can only be accomplished through true repentance.
So does God call us to be willing? If you have ever had an opportunity to serve God and chose against it, what happens? You feel terrible about it, don’t you? You feel like you missed a great opportunity and chose a weaker path. God gives us the opportunity to serve him in a variety of roles, and when we choose fear and opposition, it doesn’t sit right in our spirit. We often plead for another chance to prove ourself. So yes, God wants us to willingly serve, and that looks different in every person’s life. Service could be sitting in a coffee shop, helping elderly neighbor, teaching in a church, repairing a kid’s bicycle- you get the point. It looks different.
Now, is there a price to pay? Yes, definitely. When we distance ourselves from God, the penalty is this: the voice gets fainter. Looking at opportunities again, what happens if you continue to weasel out of opportunities you feel in your heart is from God? Well, you begin to put up a wall between you and God. And the very fellowship you crave from the creator is the same fellowship you are pushing away. Before long you wonder why God isn’t working in your life in miraculous ways. It is because you’ve neglected the opportunities God has presented to you.
This is a very common thing for men. On a whole, men try to duck out of responsibility every chance we get. This is something that stems very early in life, when you realized a little lie can work, a shrugging of the truth can manipulate things in your favor. It is easier, after all, to do nothing than something. I realized this a few years back:
One night I was preparing for Bible study and I got a call, out of the blue, from the church. It was a woman I did not know, but she knew me and knew I had a bible study. She asked me if I could bring a Tupperware of food to a family I didn’t know, but was on the way to the church. Although I answered yes about two seconds later, I couldn’t believe how my mind went into overdrive, desperately trying to weasel out of it, feigning that I didn’t have the time, I couldn’t possibly do it, I don’t know these people or where they live, etc. A hundred excuses slammed through my skull in as little as a second. I had to push this feeling away and say ’yes, of course’, but it always bothered me why there was such hesitation. In a sense, I felt justified saying no, and then I could frame it in my own mind that I would have done it, would have loved to do it, but just couldn’t this time…
The point is this: I’ve been playing this game with myself all my life, and most men do. We feign busyness when we really can make room for the better things. Why? Because putting ourselves out there isn’t the guy thing to do. We’d much rather reject the opportunities and pretend we would rather do it if it worked in our timeline better. Fact is, there are two problems with this: 1.) Opportunities often don’t come around in our comfort zone: Most men don’t want to leave their comfort zone. They’ve structured their life around their comfy place and to leave it is madness. But, leaving the comfort zone is essential for men. It puts us in a place of vulnerability, gives us a sense of adventure, allows us to trust (see Wild at Heart, which talks extensively about this)
2.) Will this reasoning hold up in court? What I mean is this: If you are standing before God and He asks you what you did with the opportunities He presented to you, is being too busy a good defense? We always think we have tomorrow, have more time, can catch it perhaps the next time around. But I think those opportunities present themselves at the perfect time they are supposed to, and for us not to rise to the occasion counts toward our detriment. So there is a penalty to pay, and that penalty is a reduced relationship with God.
So one thing to consider, and this is a big issue: was our vow to God, our repentance, true? When we accepted Christ, did it begin to change us into someone who is willing to serve, as opposed to someone who serves out of duty? It’s a big question to ask, because we all want to feel justified in our own skin, but are we really living a state of willingness, or is it simply lip service?
As far as those people who you see in a greater role, I believe your position is to encourage them. Most people in this world don’t see a greatness in themselves, but if encouragement comes from someone else, perhaps that will help them along. After all, we are the leaders, the teachers, and we have a duty to bring others along so they can in turn bring others along too. Matthew 9:35-38 says it best:
35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
If we can’t create disciples and help those people to help others, then what are we doing with our opportunities?