Are Extreme Christians Really Extreme?

Please open your Bibles to Matthew 16:21-28 which we will read in a few minutes.

This past Thursday we were privileged to have missionaries from Extreme Nazarenes with us for what we anticipated being our faith promise service.

As it turned out it was a time of them explaining to us how the Extreme Nazarene part of the church missions program works and it was wonderful.

Because they were not aware that that evening was supposed to be our Faith Promise gathering for the year they gave a different type of presentation in order to support the Extreme Nazarene missions.

Mistakes of communication like this can be used by the Lord for His purposes and we praise the Lord that He can not only supply for the Extreme Nazarene missions but for the World Evangelism Fund as well.

So, next Sunday we’ll be taking a look at how the Lord is moving around the world through our traditional world evangelism ministries and we will be receiving our faith promise commitments for the next year.

But for today let’s consider the question, “Are Extreme Nazarenes really extreme or are they what a normal Christian should be?”

With that in mind let’s go ahead and read: Matthew 16:21-28

Let’s read verses 24-25 again

Does verse 24 say, “Whoever wants to be one of My EXTREME disciples must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me. Otherwise, you can just be one of My regular disciples.”? Is that what is says?

There are examples of extreme followers of the Lord God Almighty all through the Old Testament:

Noah –

Genesis 6:5

“The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.”

Genesis 6:9

“Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.”

(Expound on Noah and his situation and his faithful obedience to the Lord.)

Was Noah extreme or was he just faithful to the Lord?

Joshua and Caleb –

All of the 12 had seen

The plagues against Egypt

The crossing of the Red Sea with the destruction of the Egyptian army

The pillar of cloud by day and fire by night

The provision of water in the desert

The provision of the manna and the quail in the desert

The miraculous defeat of the Amalekites

The giving of the Ten Commandments

The Tent of Meeting and the Glory of The LORD

The Tabernacle and the Glory of The LORD

All 12 had explored the Promised Land

Only Joshua and Caleb trusted in the LORD

The ten men who went into the promised land but gave a negative report had experienced the mighty power of the Lord just as Joshua and Caleb had.

Were Joshua and Caleb extreme or were they just faithful to the Lord?

Is Extreme really Extreme or is it really just what a true follower of Jesus should be?

Show - “Solitary Prayer” video from VOM.org (approx. 5 minutes)

You may say that this event happened in 1948. Well, it is still happening.

Let me show you a video that will twist your mind around when it comes to praying for the persecuted church.

Show – “Pray with Us” video from opendoorsusa.org (approx. 2 minutes)

Don’t pray for the church to be safe …

Until our last breath … “Jesus is Lord”

Show – “Don't Pray for Us” video from opendoorsusa.org/pray (approx. 1 minute)

“God is doing amazing things even in the hearts of extremists”

What is their attitude? Is it Thy Will be Done no matter what?

So, here we have quite a variety; we have the Extreme Nazarenes who are giving up years of their lives in order to move away from family and friends for the cause of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So that the world may know.

Let me tell you about something we witnessed on Friday morning in the parsonage.

From 9 AM until 10 AM the missionary was on Skype with two of his friends.

Now, that may seem completely normal to you but here’s the thing, Extreme Nazarene missionaries move around so much that they cannot develop any close friendships or accountability partners other than each other.

We may not think much about that but it is a big sacrifice.

Every place you go. Night after night. Strange faces. Unfamiliar faces.

What do they expect from me? Will I be able to communicate God’s mission to them?

I love the Extreme Nazarenes and what they do in service for Jesus.

They are laying down their lives for Jesus, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year.

And, I stand in total amazement of those who literally lay their lives down for Jesus.