“The most unhappy people in the world are uncommitted Christians.”
-Pastor JD Greear
The quote above got me thinking, even more so as the pastor explained it. Uncommitted Christians put on an act like everything is fine, when it isn’t. They have enough of Jesus in them to feel guilty about sin, but not enough to overcome sin in order to attain the highest level of joy. They are not, “all in” as JD Greear said. “If you’re going to follow Jesus, you gotta be all in” (Greear).
I recently saw the documentary Unplanned. It tells the story of Abby Johnson, who went from directing a planned parenthood facility to fighting it’s existence…in only a matter of days! She herself had a couple abortions too, and the movie walks through the horror of that experience.
What struck me most about the movie was Abby’s ability to make a complete 180° turn in her life so quickly. Early in the movie we see her make a 180° turn in another area of her life. Then we see her completely commitment to planned parenthood until one day she watches an abortion happen. That day, that moment, she walks out of the facility and goes directly to the pro-life office down the street. The next day, she resigned, then spent two days crying over the regret she felt about having been a part of such a horror. Then, the next day, she went back to the abortion clinic to stand outside and empower women to save their babies.
She could have noticed the wrong in abortions and continued working. She could have looked for other jobs before leaving hers. She could have finished out the quarter so she would get a good reference for her future job. But she didn’t. She saw something she disagreed with so much she had to get out immediately. So she did.
Not only that, but she went from being a part of killing babies to saving them. She lost friends, a job, faced a lawsuit, and more. Even so, she made a complete 180° turn in her life. Paul, from the Bible, also made a 180° turn in his life. He went from killing Christians to sharing Christ with everyone he met. He lost a lot of things along the way, but here’s what he said about it.
“I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done” (Philippians 3:7).
The original word Paul used here is “skubala.” Exactly translated, it means “shit,” but Bible translators thought that was inappropriate to say. Poop. Paul saw anything he gave up for Christ as poop. How often have you considered keeping the poop you pooped in the toilet? Hopefully, never. So we should not consider holding onto anything Christ calls us to leave behind, because what He has for us is SO much better than anything we would ever leave behind.
As I age, it becomes more and more difficult to make those hard turns. Excuses come easier. I am really good at talking myself out of changing today. Spiritual procrastination is a thing, for real! But what if we made those hard turns immediately, as the Lord showed us things we needed to change in our lives? What if we gave up a little sleep in order to get up early every day to spend time with God? What if we set aside time regularly to pray for our kids? What if we got rid of things and bad habits as soon as God led us to do that? What if we let go of fear and went all in for Jesus every day!?
Yes, it would be difficult. That’s why very few people actually do it! But it would be worth it! And the joy! Oh the joy we would have in Christ would be far greater than anything we would give up along the way. Friend, it’s not the perfect life we’re after. It’s complete joy in Christ. Are you all in today? What’s holding you back? Pray through what it would look like for you to be all in and make the 180° turn so you can have full joy in Christ (Philippians 2:2).