“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20). Is there any question that the Christian is called to a life of sacrifice? Now that sacrifice could be in a number of different areas, whether it be our time, energy, money, emotions, friendship, positions, etc. – but somehow and in some way we are all called to sacrifice.
It is that reality that makes a particular mentality common among some Christians very hard to understand. It’s something you may never actually hear a person say, but it is an attitude you can see in the way people react to certain expectations – the attitude of “do I have to?” How many good works have died, how many churches have shriveled up and ceased to exist, how many souls have been lost simply because some people have decided that certain aspects of Christianity are just not worth the sacrifice to them?
But if you go back to the New Testament and look at the church in its earliest form you see a group of people who understood the inherent need to sacrifice:
- Acts 2:44-45 – “All that believed were together, and had all things common; and they sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all, according as any man had need.”
- Acts 4:1-3 – “And as they spake unto the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, being sore troubled because they taught the people, and proclaimed in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them, and put them in ward unto the morrow: for it was no eventide.”
- Acts 4:32-35 – “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and soul: and not one of them said that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles their witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. For neither was there among them any that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto each, according as any one had need.
- Acts 4:36-37 – “And Joseph, who by the apostles was surnamed (which is, being interpreted, Son of exhortation), a Levite, a man of Cyprus by race, having a field, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.”
- Acts 7:57-58 – “But they cried out with a loud voice, and stripped their ears, and rushed upon him (Stephen) with one accord; and they cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.”
- Acts 12:1-4 – “Now about that time Herod the king put forth his hands to afflict certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. And those were the days of unleavened bread. And when he had taken him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to guard him; intending after the Passover to bring him forth to the people.”
And the list could go on. Time after time the New Testament bears out just how the early Christians found it necessary to sacrifice for the sake of their faith. Christianity calls us to be “inconvenienced” at times. Yet when those inconveniences come instead of gladly bearing them we sometimes approach them with the attitude of “do I have to?” What can we do to better develop that same sacrificial attitude as those early Christians did?
- Remember the sacrifices that God made on our behalves. I can’t imagine the cross was too convenient for Jesus to bear, yet for our sakes He did anyway (John 3:16; Hebrews 12:1-2).
- Remember the blessings that God has promised to us. What greater motivation could we have to bear any hardship than the fact that they are at worst temporary and something greater awaits (Revelation 21:1-7).
- Remember the influence you are leaving in the lives of others around you. We all have and need people we can look up to and we are all people to whom others look for guidance. Exactly what type of example are we providing for those around us (1 Timothy 4:12-16; Titus 2).
There is no greater calling in life and eternity to which we can look than that of the Christian. But that Christian life demands that we sometimes suffer and make sacrifices for the good of our souls and the good of the faith. Let’s do what we need to and can to overcome that “do I have to” mentality.
-Andy