Count it All as Loss

Sometimes there is a sneaky shift in our focus when following Christ and serving in ministry. Things can very easily move from being Christ centered to self centered, while still seemingly being about Christ. This statement isn’t meant to sound like an oxymoron, I’ll try and explain. 

It’s a slippery slope once we begin to view and present ourselves as a main building block in a work for the Lord, rather than keeping Christ the cornerstone, as the central focus. It all starts with slight changes in our emphasis. Such as a lesser focus on the word of God and more of the highlighting of someone else’s commentaries about His word. Or infrequent preaching of the good news of Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of sins, with a greater focus on what wonderful things we can do for Christ as believers. These minute nuances in the sharing of the good news slide Jesus right out of the center of our faith resulting in someone else receiving the attention. 

In all that Jesus said and did, He never took the glory for Himself, He always turned the spotlight back to the Father. We too ought not soak up the rays of Jesus’ praise through our accolades and accomplishments, but always reflect the glory back onto Him. Now I don’t necessarily mean to exercise humility in the things we do, although we should, but instead I mean to put the full focus on all Christ has done already, rather than what we can do or have done in His name.

In all that Jesus said and did, He never took the glory for Himself, He always turned the spotlight back to the Father. We too ought not soak up the rays of Jesus’ praise through our accolades and accomplishments, but always reflect the glory back onto Him.

There is such a hyper fixation on self in the church and body of Christ today and it is so well guised as the glorification of Christ. In this day and age that self centeredness is so prevalent, it can be so ingrained in all that we say and do, thus going unnoticed and uncorrected. Among believers, there is at times this sense of solemn duty and self importance in bringing the Kingdom of God into fruition which often infiltrates our message. The concept of walking into our calling that God has mapped out especially for us in order to accomplish His purposes, at times supersedes the victory over sin and death that Christ has already won. Of course sharing the word of God is necessary as well as doing good in His name. So what exactly do I mean?

There is such a hyper fixation on self in the church and body of Christ today and it is so well guised as the glorification of Christ. In this day and age that self centeredness is so prevalent, it can be so ingrained in all that we say and do, thus going unnoticed and uncorrected.

At some point, the unadulterated message of the power of cross of Christ and the dependency on Him, metamorphisized into a mindset of the importance of the believer's role in God's plan of redemption. What started out as a willful surrender in my own faith, turned into striving in my own strength to accomplish God's plan for my life. For years I set out to do with excellence all that I was instructed to do by leaders and what I thought to complete in my own wisdom, in order to advance in my faith.

At some point, the unadulterated message of the power of cross of Christ and the dependency on Him, metamorphisized into a mindset of the importance of the believer's role in God's plan of redemption.

I served on a worship team, prayer team, children and youth ministries, as well as in administration. Any gift or talent and a great deal of my time was spent on what I thought was furthering the Kingdom of God and deepening my walk with the Lord. Most of my service was accomplished in a heart posture of worship, but there were times that tasks were carried out solely out of commitment or obligation and sometimes done begrudgingly. The call to work in the name of Christ began to overshadow Him calling out to my heart. I was overwhelmed with duty rather than overcome by the splendor of His presence in my daily life.

The call to work in the name of Christ began to overshadow Him calling out to my heart. I was overwhelmed with duty rather than overcome by the splendor of His presence in my daily life.

In the process of serving more frequent than sowing into my relationship with God, I found myself straying further from holiness and intimate connection even though that was what I initially desired. All my time and efforts were focused on serving God and others rather than growing closer to Him. Instead of remaining in and maintaining the close walk I once had with Christ, I found myself straying away and seeking my own vain glory though my accomplishments. It became less about what Christ had already done for me and more about what I could do for Him and others in His name. The central focus was stepping into and fulfilling my purpose and calling in Christ, rather than living out the simple call of the Lord, which is to know Him and become like Him. Yes, faith without deeds is dead but dead faith with deeds is still, dead faith. John the Baptist said it the best, “He must become greater, I must become less.” John 3:30

The central focus was stepping into and fulfilling my purpose and calling in Christ, rather than living out the simple call of the Lord, which is to know Him and become like Him. Yes, faith without deeds is dead but dead faith with deeds is still, dead faith.

Any heavy emphasis on what we can or need to do, overshadowing what Christ has already done is in my opinion, not the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Living a Christian life serving God and doing good can become an idol when the central focus is not solely on Christ. Now by all means, please write the book God is calling you to write, worship God in song, raise children up in the Lord, pastor the church, and open the orphanage God put on your heart. Serve in whatever capacity God has given you the desire and enabled you. But still all the while, never forget that in all your doing, the focus needs to be on Christ and Christ crucified. As well as Christ raise to life! We are to always exalt Jesus and give up our life, that is our aspirations and desires, in order to truly find our lives in Him. In the end, if we lack a close relationship with our Heavenly Father through Christ, all we have left to offer others is ourselves and we will always come up short. 

Any heavy emphasis on what we can or need to do, overshadowing what Christ has already done is in my opinion, not the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Living a Christian life serving God and doing good can become an idol when the central focus is not solely on Christ.

If I can explain it any better, it is this; Jesus isn’t an ingredient added into the recipe of the message we speak as ministers or followers, He isn’t merely a character in a song we sing or story we tell, nor is He just an inspiration for a great work we do and the name in which we do it all in. Rather than a piece of the puzzle, He is the whole picture, the central focus, our true north, that we come back to over and over again because it is so easy for us to loose our way. God said it best Himself, He said “I am who I am” Exodus 3:14. He is the whole of it, not only part. He is everything! In Christ we live and move and have our being, it is no longer us who live but Christ who lives in us. This is the true lifestyle of faith. 

Jesus isn’t an ingredient added into the recipe of the message we speak as ministers or followers, He isn’t merely a character in a song we sing or story we tell, nor is He just an inspiration for a great work we do and the name in which we do it all in. Rather than a piece of the puzzle, He is the whole picture, the central focus, our true north, that we come back to over and over again because it is so easy for us to loose our way.

Our greatest aspiration as believers ought to be, to know Him and to be known by Him. Let us not become self focused in our sharing of the greatest news ever reported. After all, it isn’t about us, we are simply part of His story. Let us be excellent witnesses and allow Jesus to truly shine through us in all His glory, rather than us try to shine and give Him the credit. Does this make sense? Every good work we have done, even those we have accomplished in purity of heart, still in comparison to knowing Him are secondary. After all, our righteousness is compared to filthy rags. Our aim as followers of Christ ought to be an authentic and intimate relationship with Jesus, one where faith expresses itself in a love that consequently results in righteousness and good works. 

Our aim as followers of Christ ought to be an authentic and intimate relationship with Jesus, one where faith expresses itself in a love that consequently results in righteousness and good works. 

May we the church become more and more like Jesus, while surrendering our need to be validated and self important, so that He can receive all the glory. He shines through us so much more radiantly than we can ever glimmer on our own. It’s a slight recalculation in our direction that makes a whole lot of difference where we will end up. It’s a constant surrender, dying daily to the idea that we have it all together now that we know Jesus.

Even after experiencing a life of faith that grew dim and the realization of how far I had strayed, I know this message is just as much for me today as it would have been before this understanding. So I share these words and quote a very fitting passage from Paul: “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12-14

Be blessed in knowing that we serve a mighty, faithful and loving God who will stop at nothing to bring His lost children back home to Him.

“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” Philippians 3:7-11