Introduction:
A. Life is full of choices, isn’t it?
1. I read a story about a family who was moving cross-country many years ago before cellphones and they decided to drive both of their cars in the move.
2. Their 8 year-old son became very worried about this.
3. He asked his father, “How will we keep from getting separated?”
4. His father reassured him, “We’ll drive slowly so that one car can follow the other.”
5. The boy persisted, “Yeah, but what if we DO get separated?”
6. His father, a little irritated quipped, “Well, then I guess we’ll never see each other again.”
7. “Okay,” the boy said, “Then I’m riding with Mom.”
B. See, life is all about choices and sticking to them.
1. Have you ever really gotten fired up about an idea only to find your enthusiasm fading when you realized the effort it would take to follow through on the idea?
2. We might get fired up about getting into shape until we realize it means going on a diet or getting up early to exercise. You ever been there?
3. We might get fired up about saving for retirement until we realize it means cutting out some of our fun spending in the present.
4. We might get fired up about approaching the boss to talk about a raise or about unfair things happening in the workplace until we realize that he or she might not appreciate our plea, or might even let us go because of it.
C. We could come up with many other examples, but I think the point is clear: We might have a very noble goal or idea, and we might have a plan in place and sincere intentions to carry it out, but we often still end up not following through.
1. Why is that? What holds us back and keeps us from taking action and following through?
2. Many things may be the cause, but often what’s lacking is a clear understanding of the real costs and benefits.
3. Without this, the plan can sound good but lack the personal motivation to put it into action.
4. Businesses do cost and benefit analysis’s all the time, but in many ways we do to.
5. Each of us does something similar when making a tough choice about which way to turn.
6. Whether we do so on paper or just in our minds, we put all the pros on one side of the ledger and all the cons on the other.
7. This informal analysis helps us choose the course that makes the most sense, and keeps us from abandoning ship when we encounter the costs before we realize any of the benefits.
D. Jesus suggested a similar approach in Luke 14.
1. In Luke 14, Jesus gave two illustrations – one involved constructing a building, and the other about going to war.
2. The lesson in both cases was the same: Before embarking on a project, add up what you’ll have to invest – “what it will cost” – to make sure it’s worth the effort, and to make sure you will be able to follow it through to completion.
E. Now let’s relate these concepts to the goal of being Mission Minded Disciples.
1. Last week we established the fact that People Matter To God and they ought to matter to us.
2. We know that every person who is not in saving relationship with Christ is lost, but we also know that their inherent worth to God warrants an all-out search.
3. Nevertheless, has anybody bothered to check to see how much these all-out searches cost?
4. Periodically we hear about a hiker or a hunter who is lost in the woods, or a child or an elderly person who has wandered off, and the police with their helicopters, mounted policeman, and all kinds of volunteers will search for the lost person.
5. These kinds of search and rescue missions are expensive; in dollars, effort and time.
6. Let’s apply that illustration to reaching out to spiritually lost people around us.
7. Embracing our mission to reach the lost sounds great on the surface, but we don’t have to look very far before we realize that the actual rescue effort is going to entail significant personal expense.
8. And if that’s true for just one lost person, just imagine the combined tab when we start trying to reach whole families, communities and countries!
F. Obviously, my goal here is not to try to talk us out of fulfilling the great commission, but my goal is for us to be ready to pay the price and to reap the benefits of reaching the lost.
1. Understanding both the costs and benefits will go a long way toward helping us follow through with being mission minded disciples of Jesus.
2. Rather than beginning with the cost, let’s start with the benefits.
I. The Personal Benefits of Sharing Our Faith
A. It might surprise some people that we would even talk about the personal benefits of sharing our faith, after all, it shouldn’t be about us, right?
1. In truth, it shouldn’t be “all about us”, but we, on a personal level, are a part of the equation.
A. I have always liked the verse from Philemon that we had read as our Scripture reading.
1. The 1984 NIV reads, “I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.” (Philemon 1:6)
2. If you read this verse in different translations, then you will realize that this verse is actually difficult to translate and so it reads differently in the different translations.
a. For instance, it in the Christian Standard Bible it reads: I pray that your participation in the faith may become effective through knowing every good thing that is in us for the glory of Christ.
b. But notice the difference in the Contemporary English Version: As you share your faith with others, I pray they may come to know all the blessings Christ has given us.
3. All three of the translations say that the sharing of faith results in a benefit to someone.
a. In the NIV and CSB the benefit is for the person who is doing the sharing of the faith.
b. Whereas in the CEV the benefit is for the person who is receiving the sharing of the faith.
4. When we share our faith with others, our hope is that it will benefit them – that they will grow in faith and if they aren’t a believer, then they will become a believer because of what we have shared.
5. The counter-intuitive idea that comes through in some of the translations is that when we share our faith with others, we also benefit greatly from the process.
a. Even though our goal may be the benefit of others, we are blessed in the process.
3. So, what some of these serendipitous benefits that we experience from sharing our faith?
B. First, there is the Benefit of Adventure
1. Do we realize that endeavoring to share Christ with others will give our walk with God an exciting sense of the unexpected?
2. The more we make ourselves available to God the more He will send us on secret rescue missions.
3. Just like Philip in Acts 16 was sent to the side of the chariot to share Christ with the Ethiopian eunuch, I believe that God will cause us to cross paths with those with searching hearts, if we are ready and available.
4. Living with the anticipation that our every encounter with others may be one of God’s special appointments, is an exciting way to live. Amen!
5. Jesus lived that kind of adventure - whether it was the woman at the well, or the funeral procession He encountered - Jesus always looked for spiritual opportunities.
6. The Christian life is supposed to be one where we live by faith, believing that God has many adventures instore for us when we follow God’s lead.
C. Second, there is the Benefit of Purpose
1. As we begin to experience the adventures God creates out of everyday situations, we will find ourselves facing daily tasks with a whole new sense of purpose.
2. Trips to the workplace, grocery store or the car repair shop take on a whole new meaning.
3. We should be asking ourselves, “Just what might God be up to in this situation?”
4. Our purpose for each day and each moment, then, should be to respond to the opportunities God gives us to share the love of Christ with others.
D. Third, there is the Benefit of Fulfillment
1. As we begin to throw ourselves into rescuing lost people and looking for purpose in everyday events, we will start to feel a sense of fulfillment that transcends the realm of common human experience.
2. As a preacher, I have had this sense of fulfillment in my life and ministry, but this kind of fulfillment isn’t reserved for preachers alone; it is a benefit for every Christian who embraces God’s mission.
3. This sense of fulfillment comes from knowing that what we are engaged in will make a difference for eternity.
4. Paul often wrote about the fact that the people he had brought to salvation and had ministered to were his joy and crown, and that they would be with him for eternity.
5. Let me mention one more benefit…
E. Finally, there is the Benefit of Spiritual Growth
1. As we share our faith with others and have the opportunity to answer their questions, or study with them, then there is no way that we won’t grow.
2. In what ways will we grow? Our faith will grow, our knowledge will grow, and our peace and joy will grow.
3. Consider how certain things will have greater meaning and purpose when we are trying to share our faith.
a. Our Scripture reading and prayer life will become revitalized.
b. Our need for worship and fellowship will take on a whole new meaning.
4. It’s like the difference between watching a football game and being one of the players.
a. The viewer has no need to get into shape or learn the plays, he or she just sits idly by, and is sometimes board.
b. The player, on the other hand, has so much to learn and is forced to exercise every muscle in the body which becomes a finely tuned machine.
5. Increasing our efforts to reach others is a great catalyst for personal growth.
F. So, are those enough personal benefits to whet our appetites?
1. There are certainly other benefits, including God’s rewards for our obedience.
2. Additionally, we haven’t even talked about all the benefits that the recipients of our efforts will gain.
3. Things like eternal life, and all the other benefits we just mentioned for ourselves can be their as well.
4. On top of all that, God benefits, too.
5. He has the reward of watching His children emulate His love for lost souls, a kind of joy any parent can really understand.
6. In John 15:8 Jesus says, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit.”
7. So, when we become active and strategic in trying to reach people for Christ, we will find that we benefit, others certainly benefit, and even God benefits.
8. But a big question remains: Just what will it cost us?
II. The Personal Costs of Sharing Our Faith
A. First, there is the Cost of Time and Energy
1. You and I know that reaching lost people will not be easy.
2. It will involve the expending of time and energy in order to build relationships, and in order to show Christian care and compassion.
3. It may involve explaining and re-explaining the gospel message, while waiting patiently as people try to absorb it.
4. It may involve trying to answer a myriad of challenging questions.
5. In the end, the people we work long and hard with may still reject the message of Christ.
6. All this sounds like a formula for frustration, but let me ask this: How better could we expend our time and energy than investing it in people in this way?
7. What other investment could reap so high a reward or benefit?
B. Second, there is the Cost of Study and Preparation
1. Certainly, none of us know it all, and we will never know it all.
2. Part of the adventure is the new questions that need answering, and the new aspects of Scripture that need discovering.
3. In some respects, it’s not fair to list Bible study on the cost side of the equation when we’ve already listed it on the benefit side.
4. But it will require ongoing study and preparation, which is a cost that results in benefits.
C. Third, there is the Cost of Embarrassment, Rejection, or Persecution
1. While the likelihood of suffering overt persecution is low here in the United States, we will likely experience lesser forms of resistance.
2. We might be ridiculed, we might be excluded from certain social gatherings, or we might even be discriminated against or harassed because of our faith.
3. None of these things are pleasant or easy, but Jesus encouraged us to endure this cost with these comforting words, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven” (Mt. 5:11-12).
Conclusion:
A. For most of us, the primary cost of reaching others is that it entangles us in the concerns and activities of the lives of others.
1. It encroaches upon our independence.
2. It adds to our overloaded schedules.
3. Simply stated, it complicates our already complicated lives.
4. But so does getting married. So does having children. So does buying a house.
5. Most of the things that are important complicate our lives, but aren’t they worth it?
6. Ask any new parent, whether their baby requires time and energy?
a. Ask them if there are any costs, and they will talk about sleepless nights, and expensive diapers, and mountains of laundry.
b. But then, ask whether, in light of all these costs, do they regret having the baby.
c. They will probably say something like, “Are you crazy? Having this baby has been one of the highlights of my life. I love my baby. I’d give my life for my baby.”
B. So, when it comes to being mission minded disciples and trying to reach the lost, certainly there are costs, risks and complications involved, but it’s worth it.
1. The closer we look, the more we see that the rewards are high and the costs relatively low in comparison, especially when we see that the costs really are investments that pay permanent dividends.
2. So, when we see the scales tip decisively toward the rewards in our cost/benefit analysis, it should fire us up to get on with the adventure and mission at hand. Amen!
C. Next week, Lord willing we will explore the formula for impacting our world.
1. In the meantime, let’s remember that people matter to God.
2. And that the benefits far outweigh the costs of trying to reach the people who matter so much.
3. Let’s prepare ourselves to pay the price and experience the blessings.
4. But let’s also keep in mind that God will not be pleased with us if we disobey and are not diligent about trying to share our faith.
5. Do you remember what God did with Jonah when Jonah disobeyed God’s command to go to Nineveh and tell them to repent and turn to God?
6. Do you remember how Ezekiel the prophet reminded the watchman about his responsibility to deliver the warning?
a. If the watchman delivered the warning, but the people ignored it, then that was on them.
b. But if the watchman failed to deliver the warning, then that was on him and he was in trouble.
7. So, in summary, let’s keep in mind that there are costs involved in sharing our faith.
a. There are benefits for us when we share our faith.
b. And there are also consequences for us if we disobey God’s command and commission.
Resources:
• Becoming a Contagious Christian, Bill Hybels
• The Externally Focused Church, Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson
