Revolutionary Servants

God doesn’t care if you’ve got dysfunction written all over your family life. Do you know what God is looking for? Notice that it says, "All the sons of Perez who dwelt in Jerusalem were 486 but they were valiant men." Go to verse 14, ". . . their brethren, mighty men of valor . . ." That’s what this list is! It is a list of persons of valor, persons who are willing to get out of their comfort zone and lay it all on the line for the sake of God and His mission. This is important: all people are equally important to God, but all people aren’t equally strategic. Chapters 11-2 are God’s list of strategic people. A lot of you might be on God’s saved list. But I want to be on God’s strategic list, where I have yielded to be used by God strategically to make a difference in the world. Life’s too short to only bury me and not have any kingdom fruit that precedes me when they put me in the ground. All people are equally important to God, but not all people are equally strategic. And only you make the decision if God can use you strategically. What kind of people is God looking for? God is looking for folks who will totally and fully embrace the mission of God and are risk takers, persons of valor and willing to get out of your comfort zone.

Lee McFarland is a pastor in Phoenix Arizona. He was was Director of Worldwide Operations for Microsoft. After several years, he felt God’s tug on his heart to go into full-time ministry. Here he was fully settled in Seattle, wife and kids integrated into the community, full-involved in his local church and doing very well in his career and very happy for that matter and suddenly God calls him to give it all up. When he finally made the decision to leave Microsoft, he had 15,000 shares of Microsoft which were not fully vested, meaning if he left, he would lose all of them. He had only a few years till they became fully invested, but God’s call was God’s call. So he began to pray, “God, if you’re calling me to leave behind 15,000 shares of Microsoft then please send me 15,000 souls. He sent his resume into a church in Phoenix which wanted to plant another church since they weren’t reaching the younger families in their community. Steve was the only one who applied. Their first Sunday they had 147 people in attendanceNow 8 years later, he has more than 8,000 people in worship on Sunday mornings and he’s fully trusting God to bring the other 7,000.

Risk takers are on every list in the Bible, they are not the brightest, the best, the stars, but they are willing to fully embrace God’s mission and endure the pain to accomplish it. Like Noah, he risked building the boat. Or David, it didn’t matter that he was only a teenager and not yet out of school, he risked going against the giant. Or Moses, it didn’t matter that he was a stutterer, he risked speaking to Pharaoh. Or Abraham, it didn’t matter that he was 80, he risked going to a new place. That is who we are when we say yes to the Lord Jesus Christ. We’re not volunteers, we are revolutionary servants.