A Deeper Look at the 10 Hills:
It's All About Jesus
October 2014
Jesus told
him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father
except through me.
-- John 14:6
Reflect
This verse tell us Jesus is the only way to the Father. These words from Jesus feel powerful, and true on a very deep level. If we have started to follow Jesus, we absolutely believe Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and we 110% understand the world revolves around the perfect Son of God.
This mental affirmation of the centrality of Jesus is an easy one to agree with. It is the fundamental belief of every Christian church. But what if these words are intended to produce more than nodding yes and the occasional “Amen” from the audience on a Sunday morning?
What if this idea that it’s all about Jesus is supposed to impact every hour of every day of the rest of our lives?
Rewind
If so, it is time for some serious reevaluation of priorities. The moments we experience from day to day may end up looking very different than they have in the past.
If we are to really let it be all about Jesus, gone are the days when we can hide behind work schedules and soccer games. No longer can we say we don’t have time to invest in community, to share the compassion of Christ with others. Instead, we will choose each day to set aside what is convenient and learn to ask one question: What is the Father doing? And then we join Him.
This is very different than classic American thought. In America, we are very focused on our rights – free speech, freedom of religion, the right to remain silent. But as we take serious the call to make it all about Jesus, we have to lay down our rights and pick up the concept of servanthood.
React
As we pursue making it all about Jesus, it is inevitable we will see changes to the way we approach our three most valuable resources – time, money, and skills.
1) Giving our time to Jesus.
Our time does not belong to us. No, every moment belong to Christ, if we are to take serious the call to make it all about Jesus. Let’s not get overly religious here. Jesus won’t scold us for watching the Cardinals game (I think He’s a fan). But it’s time to take a serious look at our calendars.
In each week, there are 168 hours. Full-time employment plus a commute take 50 of those hours. Eight hours of sleep each day takes 56 hours. This leaves 52 hours in each week that are unaccounted for. In these hours, we need to eat, take showers, play with our kids, plan our vacation with our spouse, and…what?
The challenge today is to carve out some specific time to devote to whatever the Father might be doing. Let’s be real intentional and specific here. If you have to, put a calendar item in your smartphone, with a reminder, to ask God what He’s doing…and then go do it.
2) Giving our money to Jesus.
If you’ve been part of Reveal for any length of time, you know it hasn’t been a part of our culture to focus on giving. We don’t do building campaigns. We don’t beg for money from the pulpit. It’s not our style, and we are not starting now. But this doesn’t change the fact that cashflow is one of the most important resources we have, so it’s something we have to consider in the context of making it all about Jesus.
Maybe it’s time to start giving regularly to the church. Perhaps that $20 you put in the offering plate when you’ve got it could turn into a planned 10% tithe. Or if you are already tithing, this could be a time for you to consider giving more as an offering.
But let’s not make this only about church finances either. Here’s another radical thought, an offshoot of our Kingdom Challenge. Why not make a line item in your family budget called “Kingdom Stuff”, and have that money available for whatever you sense God might be doing. One month, it could be buying supplies to make cleanliness kits for the homeless. The next month, it could be taking a friend out to lunch. The key is to be open and available to what God is doing, and to join Him.
3) Giving our skills to Jesus.
It's really easy to think to ourselves, "I can't speak in public, I'm not great with kids, and I don't want to lead a small group, so I have nothing to offer the church." Nothing could be further from the truth.
We all have skills that we've developed over the over the years. Some of us are accountants, some of us are information-technology professionals, and some of us are sales people. Each of these talents have great value that could be used for God’s glory.
This might mean you sit down and talk with one of the pastors at our church. It might mean you start something in the community. It might mean something entirely different. But do not discount the skills that you have. So the challenge here is a simple question: what are the ways that you can take the skills you have developed and use them to extend the kingdom?
-- John 14:6
Reflect
This verse tell us Jesus is the only way to the Father. These words from Jesus feel powerful, and true on a very deep level. If we have started to follow Jesus, we absolutely believe Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and we 110% understand the world revolves around the perfect Son of God.
This mental affirmation of the centrality of Jesus is an easy one to agree with. It is the fundamental belief of every Christian church. But what if these words are intended to produce more than nodding yes and the occasional “Amen” from the audience on a Sunday morning?
What if this idea that it’s all about Jesus is supposed to impact every hour of every day of the rest of our lives?
Rewind
If so, it is time for some serious reevaluation of priorities. The moments we experience from day to day may end up looking very different than they have in the past.
If we are to really let it be all about Jesus, gone are the days when we can hide behind work schedules and soccer games. No longer can we say we don’t have time to invest in community, to share the compassion of Christ with others. Instead, we will choose each day to set aside what is convenient and learn to ask one question: What is the Father doing? And then we join Him.
This is very different than classic American thought. In America, we are very focused on our rights – free speech, freedom of religion, the right to remain silent. But as we take serious the call to make it all about Jesus, we have to lay down our rights and pick up the concept of servanthood.
React
As we pursue making it all about Jesus, it is inevitable we will see changes to the way we approach our three most valuable resources – time, money, and skills.
1) Giving our time to Jesus.
Our time does not belong to us. No, every moment belong to Christ, if we are to take serious the call to make it all about Jesus. Let’s not get overly religious here. Jesus won’t scold us for watching the Cardinals game (I think He’s a fan). But it’s time to take a serious look at our calendars.
In each week, there are 168 hours. Full-time employment plus a commute take 50 of those hours. Eight hours of sleep each day takes 56 hours. This leaves 52 hours in each week that are unaccounted for. In these hours, we need to eat, take showers, play with our kids, plan our vacation with our spouse, and…what?
The challenge today is to carve out some specific time to devote to whatever the Father might be doing. Let’s be real intentional and specific here. If you have to, put a calendar item in your smartphone, with a reminder, to ask God what He’s doing…and then go do it.
2) Giving our money to Jesus.
If you’ve been part of Reveal for any length of time, you know it hasn’t been a part of our culture to focus on giving. We don’t do building campaigns. We don’t beg for money from the pulpit. It’s not our style, and we are not starting now. But this doesn’t change the fact that cashflow is one of the most important resources we have, so it’s something we have to consider in the context of making it all about Jesus.
Maybe it’s time to start giving regularly to the church. Perhaps that $20 you put in the offering plate when you’ve got it could turn into a planned 10% tithe. Or if you are already tithing, this could be a time for you to consider giving more as an offering.
But let’s not make this only about church finances either. Here’s another radical thought, an offshoot of our Kingdom Challenge. Why not make a line item in your family budget called “Kingdom Stuff”, and have that money available for whatever you sense God might be doing. One month, it could be buying supplies to make cleanliness kits for the homeless. The next month, it could be taking a friend out to lunch. The key is to be open and available to what God is doing, and to join Him.
3) Giving our skills to Jesus.
It's really easy to think to ourselves, "I can't speak in public, I'm not great with kids, and I don't want to lead a small group, so I have nothing to offer the church." Nothing could be further from the truth.
We all have skills that we've developed over the over the years. Some of us are accountants, some of us are information-technology professionals, and some of us are sales people. Each of these talents have great value that could be used for God’s glory.
This might mean you sit down and talk with one of the pastors at our church. It might mean you start something in the community. It might mean something entirely different. But do not discount the skills that you have. So the challenge here is a simple question: what are the ways that you can take the skills you have developed and use them to extend the kingdom?
