Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. – Jesus, John’s Gospel

In The Kingdom Unleashed, Jerry Trousdale tells a story of several years ago, when he was working with a missionary who was disciple making inside a very dangerous country. Jerry warned him of the extreme risk he was taking, by continuing to bring the Gospel of Jesus to a hostile people. The young missionary turned to Jerry with a big smile and said this; “when we were learning Arabic and preparing to come here, my wife and I decided back then, that we had already died to this world, and would only live for Christ. It’s okay, we belong only to him, to do his will.” It was the last Jerry would see of him, as just a few weeks after that encounter, he was martyred for his faith.

Out of the hundreds of stories in TKU, that one has remained with me since. What is it, that sees a staggering, stuttering Faith in the West, up against a Faith moving so quickly that it cannot be contained in the East. Why does the Spirit move with such force in the one, yet is invisible in the other? Surely there must be an answer.

It would seem above all else, that the contrast is found in a single word – sacrifice. In those parts of the world where the church is multiplying at breathtaking speed, believers seemingly live only for Christ. Prayer is constant and relentless, fasting is regularly practiced, and the devil is taken seriously. Jesus’ mandate to move into the world and make disciples is taken as if the follower was in the army, and the order was issued by a 5-star General. While life carries on, nothing gets in the way of devotion to Jesus, and dedication to the cause.

Compare that to you, and me. Work takes up an enormous amount of our time and energy – even within that confine though, few believers are willing to count themselves as followers of Jesus and take a stand for fear of reprisals. Most have few non-believing friends, and if so (if we’re honest) even less of our non-believing friends would be able to identify us as followers of Christ. Some would be astonished if they found out we were. Evenings are spent entertaining or relaxing, and weekends are full of activity as we enjoy the great lifestyle given to us. Our relationship with God is generally squeezed into a few hours on a Sunday, after which we are free to live pretty much for ourselves.

Further our conversion in the West generally lacks force, baptism is optional, and a simple prayer suffices to “get Jesus into our hearts.” We are taught, from the outset, that teaching and doctrine are paramount in our growth, and slowly we are absorbed into the local church’s culture. We believe what they believe, usually without question. We are taught Jesus is our Saviour (although we often have a mediator).

Compare that to a conversion in the East, where baptism is immediate (see Acts) often demons are cast out, hands are laid on for the Spirit to come on in power and a believer is told in no uncertain terms, that obedience and total allegiance to Jesus is what we are signing up for. If that conversion happens in a country where Christianity is outlawed or prohibited, we will find out soon enough the cost involved. Jesus is not only our Saviour, he is also our Lord.

So, is it any wonder we see so little of the move of the Spirit in our Western world? With our distractions, a faith that demands so little, sacrifice and obedience as options – is it any wonder that Jesus’ attention is maybe elsewhere. Where would our attention be, in fact where is it? We need to, have to, take stock of the situation. Around us, our Western world is falling apart, brokenness is all round us and people are in need of Jesus more than ever. Hell hasn’t gone away.

We must take Jesus at his word. Only if we die to ourselves, will we see fruit. But he also mentions that we must hate this world and all that it stands for. Similarly, we must take him at his word when he reminds us that on a day coming soon, many will tell him that they “knew him” at which, he will deny ever having met us before. How terrifying.

If we want to see the Kingdom Unleashed, then death to ourselves and utter Lordship of Christ amongst us, is the only way. Is he worth it in your life, in mine?

We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Saviour of the world – John’s Gospel

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing – The prophet Zephaniah

A good friend of ours, someone our age died recently. We mourn with his wife, with his family. The speed at which he was taken took our breath away, and I found the nature of death very confronting. I managed to see my friend in the last few days, and as ever his humour was high. We quipped about a few things and talked openly about life in the presence of God. I got to pray with him and his wife.

Since then, I have been amongst a great deal of people it seems, who are bent on self-destruction; consuming drugs at an alarming rate, prone to violence or just generally careless about life itself. Just last night, a woman stepped from the shadows and asked if I would walk her across the road. Likely younger than me, she had an amputated arm, and had already suffered a stroke, and what I thought would be a 5 minute jaunt turned into a half hour mission. Along the way, she spoke of violence, drugs and alcoholism, with 2 children taken away into foster care. When we got there, she lit up a fag as I prayed for her. What struck me though, was the bravado, arrogance even about the way she lived. A life rapidly careering towards death. She is not alone, or even unusual, we know many people who exist in the same vacuous, vacant state. Death will come fast for many.

As I have been pondering about this, I reflected on the immense variance Jesus makes in the entire equation. He is all the difference.

The church at large, has shifted it’s focus far too much toward what is happening in this life; we discuss maybe too much, the kingdom here, the community here, Jesus solving our problems in the here and now. Yet, far and away the greatest achievement of Christ, was his conquering of death.

This world needs saving above all else; I’m not that convinced the condition of the world is ever going to change, even in our Christian communities. From the Old Testament, through to the early passages of the Gospels though, Jesus is announced to us as the one who will save us. In particular he will save us from our sins, which means he will save us from the terrible judgement of God that is coming upon the world. God promises those who believe, an eternity in his presence.

The difference in outcome between the death of my friend, whose hope was set on salvation through Christ, and the woman I met last night, whose hatred of all that was good is immense. She faces total separation of God for all eternity, whereas my friend is merely changing address. He will be more alive than ever.

This means two things. Firstly, it means the Gospel message is hard nosed and raw. It demands action on our behalf to come to God on our knees and ask for his forgiveness. There is absolutely nothing passive in the Gospel, nothing at all. It cost God everything, and the alternatives are unbearable, beyond imagination. We have softened it, watered it down at our peril. In spite of this, the message has not changed, it starts with repentance.

Secondly, it demands that all those who say they believe, us, must do something about it. We cannot take our salvation and pack it away tidily in a suitcase. In our lives, it demands action. I have heard so many, witnessed far too many who do so little with the Gospel in their lives. I am saved, why should I worry?

Friends, if that is your Gospel then it is no Gospel. It is not the Gospel Jesus lived. Every day that goes by, without our having advanced the cause of Christ – you and me, is a day in which the Devil and all darkness has scored.

Even if people do not respond, our job is to make sure they hear from us – everyday, at all times and all the time, that Jesus came to save us from our sins. We do not know where our witness will end in someone else’s life.

Strangely God seems to be willing to take the risk that we will be good messengers of his message – that is, Salvation is found in no one else. Let’s get to it.