Priority 1
Mark 12:28-34
September 29, 2002
Love…With Shoes On
A lawyer came to Jesus with a question, asking, in effect, “what is Priority One?” Over the course of the past several weeks, we have explored Jesus’ answer to that question, asking ourselves, in the process, whether or not the love we profess to have for God measures up. We have considered what it means to love God from the very depth of our being, from “Ground Zero” of our lives, as it were, our hearts. We have discussed what it means to love God with our souls, to develop a sincere passion for God. The psalmist graphically pictures this when he writes, in Psalm 42, “as the deer pants for water, so my soul longs after you, O God!” Last week, we talked about the fact that Jesus calls us not to a faith that is long on emotion and absent serious thought, but to a love for God that entails the development and deployment of our minds in loving service to God. Today, we look at what it means to love God with our strength; would you stand and follow along with me as I read from Mark 12 this morning?
What prompts a young missionary to pack up all his belongings, including his wife and young children, and head off to a foreign field? What prompts that missionary to stay the course, to remain on the field, even though early on in his service, he would come to bury not only his young wife, but a child? What would carry him through that grief with a strong determination to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to a group of tribal people whom he had never met before, to live among them under the most primitive of conditions, to love them with Jesus’ love when they could hardly understand a word he said? I remember hearing, many years ago, a missionary tell this story of his wife’s grandfather, the man who had gone and endured such hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. What was his motivation? The best description came from a term that the tribe used themselves, a term that indicated that love that is real is love that acts; they called it “love with shoes on”. Love that gets beyond the “talking about it” stage, and gets busy loving God with actions. This is the love that prompts people to reach out to men they’ve never met before, men that society rejects, men who’ve been locked up for their crimes against humanity. “Love with shoes on” is loving God with our strength.
David Garland says that loving God with one’s “’strength’ refers to one’s physical capabilities, including one’s possessions.” In other words, it involves loving God in tangible ways, “with shoes on”, if you will. I want to speak today about four areas of such physical capabilities which I believe comprise loving God with our strength.
Areas of Loving God with All my Strength
I. Commitment of my physical body to the Lordship of Christ – I Corinthians 6
In I Corinthians, Paul is addressing a church that has gone off the deep end in a variety of ways. Parenthetically, I take a little bit of comfort in the book, because there are times that I despair that the 21st century American church is so far off the standard of Scripture. While I believe that that is too true in many ways, it is clear that even as early as several decades following the Day of Pentecost, here is a church which, while Paul refers to the believers as “brothers”, has nonetheless gotten way off base as well. If indeed there was hope for the church at Corinth—and obviously Paul feels that way to write the letter—then perhaps there is hope for us!
When we come to chapter 6, Paul is addressing the problem of sexual impurity. In the context of his urging them to avoid immorality, Paul makes this telling statement: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” Do you notice that wording? Paul doesn’t merely give a negative: “stop sinning”. Rather, he gives it to us in a positive form, when he tells us that we can use our physical bodies to glorify God.
Now, to be sure, a part of glorifying God is by refraining from the use of our bodies in sexually immoral ways. Loving God with all my strength is more than refraining from sexual sin, but it is never less. And this is not easy living in the culture we live in today. Listen to these sobering words from Josh McDowell’s book Right From Wrong, quoting a survey done in the early 1990’s:
“The participants are youth who are intensely involved in church activity…yet our youth are living on the moral edge, closer to disaster than we ever imagined. Large proportions of our youth—a majority of whom say they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ—are involved in inappropriate, immoral, even illegal behavior…by the time they reach 18, over half” have engaged in some form of immoral sexual behavior.
The Bible speaks of the intensifying pressures that will accompany living in the last days, pressures that will cause many who had professed to walk with God to fall away from that profession. It is certain that the pressure sexually is intensifying all the time; today young people are viewed as almost “weird” if they choose to remain chaste until marriage. Divorce is a cultural norm today, and much of this relates to sexual indiscretion. I cannot even make any pretense that I am truly loving God with my strength if I am using my body in ways that are immoral, and while God is a God of amazing grace, and will truly and fully forgive those who repent, I fear that there are many so-called Christians who even dare to presume upon God’s grace. They adopt a laissez-faire attitude toward morality, arguing that “God understands, and He will forgive.” It is a dangerous thing to presume upon the grace of God!
At the same time, as I said, we can positively use our physical bodies to glorify God. “Take my life” is an old hymn that we sing to God, asking Him to take all the totality of our beings and use them for His glory. “Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Your love; take my lips and let them be filled with messages for You; take my voice, and let me sing, always, only for my King. Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for You.” These are the words of a person who understands that when Jesus Christ brings salvation, He begins the process of remaking us, head to toe, into a people for His name. Can you identify what you have done with your body this week to love God with it?
II. Commitment of my gifts and talents to the Lordship of Christ - I Peter 4:10,11
Peter speaks in this passage of spiritual gifts, and of the fact that we have been given these gifts by God for the purpose that “in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.” God has given every believer a spiritual gift to be used in the furthering of His Kingdom. In addition, he has given us talents, often from birth, which are part of who we are. What are you doing with your gifts and talents?
I was speaking with a young man a few months back who was relating to me the conflict going on in his life. He was in process of thinking about how he was going to spend his life, what his vocation would be. He has embarked on a particular career path, but at the same time has had serious thoughts about pursuing Christian ministry. He came to me for counsel. I asked him why he could not use the career path he was pursuing, an area in which he had an aptitude and an interest, in a way that glorified God. Truth of the matter is that his particular talent lay in a field far from preaching or teaching or Bible translation, but at the same time, I challenged him that a Christian pursuing this particular path could be very valuable to the Kingdom of God. I don’t know what the final outcome will be, but I saw a light go on in his head when he realized that he could love God, and serve God, by using the talents and desires that God had given him. Loving God “with shoes on” means an active willingness to take what God has placed in one’s hands and using that for the glory of God. I can think of few talents which, yielded to the Lordship of Christ, cannot be used to love God. One of the most frustrating things about Christian ministry is to know that there are people with talents and gifts, and to see ministry not proceeding forward as it could because some of those people are unwilling to use their talents and gifts for the upbuilding of God’s kingdom. Don’t just sing about loving God; love Him with shoes on!
III. Commitment of my financial resources to the Lordship of Christ – II Cor. 8:1-5
I have never ceased to be amazed at the passage in II Corinthians 8; would you look at it with me this morning? This was a fascinating group of people who, despite being poor, begged for the privilege of giving so as to financially assist the poor in Jerusalem. Contrast this with the attitude of many who call themselves “Christians” today. According to Barna Research, 32% of evangelical American Christians claim to give a tithe—but only 12% do! Excuse me, but do we wonder why the church is losing influence in America, when those who claim to be committed to God don’t back up that commitment with their pocketbooks? Who are we kidding? How can we possibly say we are loving God with our strength if we are not at the very least making a serious, concerted effort to honor Him by giving sacrificially? And by the way, I’d encourage you to begin honoring God right now with your finances, not only by giving sacrificially, but in other ways as well. Some folks say that they’ll give more when they are financially able; you’d be interested in another thing George Barna has found out, and it is this: generally, the more money a person makes, the less likely he is to tithe!
Henry P. Crowell contracted tuberculosis when a boy and couldn’t go to school. After hearing a sermon by Dwight L. Moody, he prayed, “I can’t be a preacher, but I can be a good businessman. God, if You will let me make money, I will use it in Your service.” Under the doctor’s advice Crowell worked outdoors for seven years and regained his health. He then bought the little run-down Quaker Mill at Ravenna, Ohio. Within ten years Quaker Oats was a household word to millions. For over forty years Henry P. Crowell faithfully gave 60 to 70 percent of his income to God’s causes, having advanced from an initial 10%. Here was a man who determined to honor God with his finances, to love God with his strength, and God enabled him not only to prosper, but to be a conduit for tremendous giving.
Remember, Jesus said that Priority One involves loving God with our strength. What does your pattern of giving, and the way you handle your finances, say about your love for God? For it surely speaks volumes!
IV. Commitment of my belongings to the Lordship of Christ – Acts 2:44, 45
The practice of the early church was clear; Acts 2:44-45 says that the believers were “together and had all things in common, and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need.” These were people who saw their belongings as having been given to them by the hand of God and thus were to be used to be a blessing to others. How different than the maxim which guides so many today, to the effect that we ought to “get all we can, can all we get, and then sit on the lid!”
I have heard it said, because of the properties of sound waves, that it is theoretically possible that a machine could be invented to capture all of the sounds in the universe that have ever been made. I’d fear that development, because while it would be wonderful to recapture the words of Christ, or the speeches of our founding fathers, it’d then be theoretically possible to re-capture the words of the first time I ever spoke in front of a group of people about the Lord. I wouldn’t call it a sermon—boy, I wouldn’t call it anything! I cringe when I think about it. But I also remember the first time I actually preached, in a class in Bible college, the first time I ever took a text of Scripture and attempted to mine its depths and then share something meaningful from it. The text was I John 3:16-18, and I can remember my outline to this day; it speaks to us of the picture of real love, the practice of real love, and the principle of real love. It speaks of Jesus Christ showing us what love is all about by laying down His life for us. And then it asks a penetrating question: suppose you have this world’s goods, and see another Christian who has a need. If you have the ability to do something to help, and yet do nothing, how can you possibly say that the love of God dwells in you? And then the principle is this: don’t simply talk about love, using empty words, but love others, if you will, “with shoes on”, by actively doing those things which minister help to the person.
Translation: I must love God with my “stuff”, and I do so by using the “stuff” I have to minister the love of God to others. Right now, on my key chain, is the key to a truck owned by another member of this congregation. I don’t have a truck, but with all of the work we’re doing on the house, I need a truck with decent frequency. So this brother in the Lord said, “look, you can use my truck anytime; just make yourself a key!” And I did, and I do use the truck, frequently. He is ministering in a helpful way to me as a brother in Christ, and many others of you do the same. I love God with my strength when I submit my belongings to the Lordship of Jesus.
We love God with all our strength when we commit our bodies, our talents, our finances, and our belongings to Him. Now, before we wrap this message up, three words briefly that I want to share, words that entail
Characteristics of Loving God with All my Strength
I. Stewardship
I will love God with my body, my talents, my money, and my stuff when I understand my proper relationship to them: I am not the owner, but rather I’m only a steward, a trustee. I have been entrusted by God with all of these things that I may use them to glorify His name. But we forget this, don’t we? We get mighty possessive of “our stuff”. Sorry, but you don’t have anything that God doesn’t allow you to have—and you have nothing which God cannot take away in a moment if He so designs. Therefore, I relax my grip, knowing that as a believer, the things God has loaned to me are things which He has entrusted to me with the purpose of blessing others and glorifying Him. So get off your ego trip about your stuff, see yourself as a trustee, and use it to love God!
II. Sacrifice
David said, “I will not offer God that which costs me nothing.” I’m afraid, however, that that is precisely the attitude that many Christians have, that I will offer to God that which I can find a way to afford. Loving God with your finances will cost you something. Loving God with your talents will require sacrifice, of time, of effort. Loving God with your body will mean sometimes sacrificing temporary pleasures for the lasting joy of God’s approval.
III. Service
Loving God “with shoes on” indicates that such love is active, that we use these physical items we’ve been entrusted with in acts of service. Loving God with my heart will eventually come out in my life, as will loving God with my soul and with my mind. But loving God with my strength is front and center an active pursuit of serving both God and man.
Jesus is the ultimate embodiment of “love with shoes on”. He lived as a servant and died as a sacrifice, demonstrating that His love for us was more than mere words when He died for us, even though we were far from God and dead in our sin. He offers to us salvation as a free gift and life that is abundant and rich and full. If love for God means anything at all, it must mean an active response—it must mean to love Him with all our strength!
