Welcome to Everyday Radical, a podcast where we help the everyday Christian follow Jesus and make him known everywhere. We pray that today's episode encourages you to do just that. So let's dive right in. The first question I just want to jump right in the topic of the weight of our calling and the fear of missing it. I mean, so many people, young people in particular, leave conferences like CrossCon that you preached at, feeling fired up about the Great Commission, but at the same time, they can probably feel a little overwhelmed. What would you say to somebody who may be thinking about their calling? Maybe they don't even feel like they have a calling from God in terms of the Great Commission. What would you say to that person?
SPEAKER_01Oh man, well, I'd say a lot of things. I mean, even just the concept of calling, uh, I would, I would want to kind of step back. So biblically, like calling, the way that word is most often used in scripture is just a reference to calling to salvation, to be a child of God. And so I would say, like, start there, like press in, and even before trying to figure out what God's leading you to do, big picture in your life, like your identity in Christ, abiding in him, like that's what you're fundamentally called to, in a way that is gonna uh be the case no matter where you are, where he leads you, anywhere in the world. So just press into Christ, abiding in him. And then so overflow of that, like calling to make disciples of the nations, like that's not like, okay, what do I do in the future? That's like where do I live right now and wherever that is, God's saying, like, follow Jesus and make him known right there. Like you're called to do that. So just look today at the people around you. Who can I make Jesus known with today? I mean, you you live in Austin, you are today. Uh, last night you're on the streets making Jesus known. You're gonna be out there again tonight making Jesus known. Like, this is what we do wherever we are, so we don't have to like wait for some big decision like that. Just and and that's so important because like that's gonna be the foundation from which we discern calling when it comes to vocation or location we might live, or just what God may do. Like that needs to happen out of the overflow of abiding in Jesus, just walking as a child of God, and being a disciple maker, making Jesus known right where we live. And then I that's the way I think about it, uh, like Paul in Acts chapter 16. He starts to go one direction, the spirit stops him, he starts to go another direction, the spirit stops him. It's not like uh he's sitting back, like, God, what do you want to do with me to do in my life? He's like doing it. He's following Jesus, making him known right where he lives, and the spirit's leading him. And so then, okay, then uh we start to think through, okay, as I'm doing that in my life, wherever I am, if if I need, if I'm in a process of discerning, okay, what's next? Where is God calling me to go? To school, after school, uh, to a particular job, to a particular location. Like that's where press in. And the words I always use are surrender, abide, and rest. Like surrender, just Lord, I'll go wherever, I'll do whatever you want me to do. Abide, like walk in holiness, just pray, fast, be in his word, um, be making Jesus known wherever you live, just like we just talked about, and then rest. Like, he's gonna lead you, he's gonna guide you. You don't ever have to worry about being in the wrong spot. He wants his will to happen in your life more than you do. He has put his very spirit inside of you to make that happen. So just rest as you walk with him, explore all the different ways that might look in your life, and trust he'll lead and guide and direct you. Oh, there's so much even flowing from that that I but I hope that's like foundational in a way that just uh infuses even meaning into today and then sets you up for whatever the Lord might lead you to do in the days to come. And and in all of that, I would say so surrender, abide, and rest, and with open hands to say, I want to make your glory known in the world, among the nations. I want to play whatever part you want me to play. So help me to do that. That's a prayer God promises to answer.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think that's inspiring to me and just helps me reflect on uh Christine Kane one time. She was speaking on the Zoom call that I was on, and she said, It's way harder than you actually think to step outside of the will of God for your life. And I was a few months ago at this point, but I just thought about that and it's just something I keep coming back to. It's man, God can open a door like Paul in 2 Corinthians, he hears from God that there's an opportunity to preach the gospel in a certain city, but it doesn't sit right in his spirit. So he, in his spirit, he says, okay, I'm not gonna go. And for me, I'm like, man, that means that God's calling isn't like you're saying, it's not just some one assignment that you are focused on and that becomes your identity. Because if that happens and if something goes wrong, then your identity is just out the window. And that's happened for me. And I've I've realized that my calling from God is to be a son. And then on assignment, I am an evangelist. And on assignment, I create content that inspires people to follow Jesus and make him known what that's this entire episode is about, right?
SPEAKER_01That's good, that's really good, bro. And and to realize like 95% of God's will for our life is in the Bible. Like that, it's I mean, uh Oswald Chambers one time said, uh, um, the Christian doesn't ever need to ask, what is God's will for my life? Um, he and the illustration he used was if you're in a forest, like walking down a path, what's the only time you need to ask where the path is? It's when you're off the path. Like just walk in the path, like do what you know to do and trust he'll lead and guide and direct you. So abide in him, be holy, humble, follow Jesus, make him known right where you live, and he will uh in a Proverbs 3, 5, kind of five and six kind of way, make your paths straight as you're abiding in him. And I would say though, uh, the one caveat, because we talk a lot about uh unreached people and people who've never heard the gospel in the world. Um, I I the caveat I would give, or maybe emphasis I would give, is to make sure that the end in mind as you think about God's will for your life is you're making disciples of the nations. Like you want to play your part in getting the gospel to those who've never heard it, which may not, I'm not saying that means you're gonna move overseas. Like you're sharing the gospel in Austin tonight is uh a part of this plan to spread the gospel in the world. So um, but to always have in mind, okay, I want to play my part in the spread of the gospel among all the nations. That I think is a missing part of the equation for most Christians. We're just thinking, all right, what is God's will for my life in the terms of my own satisfaction or right where I live? But we're actually part of a global plan. And that's what I think we need to, we need to remember as we're discerning all this.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And as you say, like, make your life count. You know, you use that phrase, we hear it all the time. Man, when you think of that phrase specifically, make your life count. I think maybe someone hearing this is thinking, okay, does that mean I have to move overseas and dedicate my life for the like next 20 years to suffering on the mission? What do you actually mean by that phrase and how is it applicable to the everyday believer?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, man, great question. Because make your life count is do what Jesus calls you to do. Yeah, period. And if Jesus is not calling you to move to the other side of the world, then it's not a wise move to go to the other side of the world. That's the last thing you should be doing. So make your life, I think uh the text that comes to my mind here, 1 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 1 and 2. Moreover, what is required of us as servants of Christ, uh, and it's really great, the word there that Paul uses for servants, it's not the doulas, which he often uses for servant, like a slave. The word is like the under rower on a boat. It's like your whole job is like picture the lowest galley on a boat, just when the captain says row, you row, what direction he says, go, you go. Like that's that's and so I'm a servant of Christ. I just do whatever he tells me to do, which is uh which is key. Like we have sacrificed the right to determine the direction of our lives. We don't determine where we live, we don't determine uh what we do, like we have sacrificed that right. Like he makes that call. We're under rowers. So what's required of us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God, basically as a steward of the gospel? And the answer is that we be faithful. That's first Corinthians 4, 1 and 2. And so faithfulness is success. And that's where I would encourage anybody, like reorient your idea of success, uh, not around what the world says success is, but around what God's word says success is, and that is faithfulness. That is success. So, how do you make your life count? You're faithful to follow Jesus and make him known. I can say that with confidence based on scripture for every follower of Jesus. This will be success. Following him, making him known right where you live and wherever he leads. If if that is the kind of guiding principle in your life, then uh your your life will count for what matters most.
SPEAKER_00So good. Yeah, for for the one that is not the missionary. So we're talking about the everyday believer, the accountant, the nine to five worker, the nurse, the stay-at-home mom, the college student. For these people, they may be inspired by your missional radical living, the desire to live radically on fire for Jesus, but they may compare themselves to a missionary just in the grand scheme of ministry. Um, what would you say to them to kind of encourage them in a way that it's like the missionary is not living more radical than you, just because you're an accountant who gets to share the gospel to his workplace friends. How would you encourage that type of person?
SPEAKER_01Oh man, so many different things going on online. Well, one, I think just on the issue of comparison, it's really important. I mean, I think about Peter and John and Jesus, and uh and Peter asking, what about him? And Jesus is like, you focus on being faithful to me, and he's gonna focus on being faithful to me. And I've got different callings for both of you. And I just think about like the people you and I have been around today, uh, in all kinds of different areas, in tech, in business, in arts, and film. And part of me, as I'm listening to them, I'm like, it is so cool what you do. And I guess I could be like, and a part of me does think, I wish I had like some of these gifts and skills and was doing some of the stuff they're doing. And they might be like, Well, I kind of wish I was doing, but that's where like there's a rest in what has God called me to do that's different than what he's called. Now, it's the same in the sense we're following Jesus, making him known. That's where we're like locked arms together. But the way that plays out in different people's lives with different gifts and skills and opportunities, like celebrate that. Be careful not to uh think, well, I'm not doing that, so I'm less than, or I'm doing this, so I'm more than. Like that, none of that is from the spirit of Jesus. Like the spirit of Jesus is just saying, play your part, play your part, and uh, and and resist comparison, celebrate what God's doing in others' lives, and do all that God's calling you to do in your life. And then that's where one other direction my mind goes is like, yes, so the person who God calls to move, and I want to be careful to say, like, maybe move to an unreached part of the world, Middle East, maybe by leaving their job to go, but maybe also going as a teacher to the Middle East or as an accountant in the Middle East or as a college student or as a stay-at-home mom, like all the kind of things you mentioned, actually could be avenues to go and make the gospel known among unreached people. And if God calls, or when God calls some people to do that, I believe many people to do that through all kinds of different avenues, there will be like levels of sacrifice. I was just having a conversation with somebody today about, yeah, the sacrifices it was for them, their uh marriage, their kids to go to a really hard place in the world. And they were talking about how God was so faithful and just used it in so many ways beyond what they could have imagined. But all that to say, there will be sacrifices. For those God doesn't call to make those kind of sacrifices, I would just say we need to, and I say we because right now I live in Metro, DC, in a suburb in the United States. Like, uh, there are comforts in my life, there are things in my life that are different than if I was living in a variety of different places in the world, like God is calling and has called many brothers and sisters to live. So I would just say I need to, we need to always make sure like we are, we're still called to make sacrifices for the spread of the gospel in the world. So that doesn't mean just because we don't move to X place that we are not, it's like with the way we use our resources, with the way we spend our lives, we're all called to live. I'm gonna use the word radically, we're all called to live radically, to go against the grain of this culture, to live for that which is gonna matter forever, which means spurning things in this world. So uh anyway, we're all called to sacrifice, we'll die to ourselves to follow Jesus and make him known. And it's gonna look different in different people's lives, and we can celebrate that and encourage one another as that plays out in different ways.
SPEAKER_00I think that's something that my generation struggles with is that comparison. I mean, even myself personally. Uh, yesterday in my time with the Lord, I was reading in Galatians 1, and the verse I've read a billion times is Am I now seeking the approval of man or of God? And I was just like asking myself that question Am I seeking the approval of man or of God? If I'm seeking the approval of man, then I wouldn't be following what God has done because he set me free from that. So these thoughts that I'm having of like, oh, I'm not like this, or I should be more like this. And I think what you're saying about that comparison piece is so, yeah, it's just so evident in my generation. It's like everyone is obsessed with calling. Those who are getting into ministry are obsessed with calling, but we just return to that first question with us, guys, and we're called to him, we're called to abide in from there, from that overflow. It's the spirit doing the work in us, right? It's Ephesians 2:10. We are Christ's workmanship created in him for good works that God prepared beforehand, so that we could walk in them. And it just brings me joy to know that man, like comparison is not from God, it's not about measuring up to anybody. I'm not seeking the approval of man anymore, but of God.
SPEAKER_01And that, you know, it's interesting. We were talking about 1 Corinthians uh four earlier, be found faithful. Right after that, it Paul says the exact same thing. He's like, uh, I'm not, you're not my judge. And he was like, I'm not even my judge. Like, uh, Jesus is my judge. I want to keep my eyes fixed on him. And uh, and it's so good to check our spirits in that because the adversary can, I mean, he has so many angles. And one of the angles is to make some of us feel less than because we're not doing this or we're not doing that, as opposed to just contentment in what God's called us to do. Um, and then uh, and then, or in a prideful way, oh, look what I'm doing. Like, uh, I'm I'm gonna do this or that. And it's like, well, wait, like just obedience to Jesus, just keep your eyes fixed on him, your savior, Lord, judge, uh, and uh to trust uh him to lead you to play the part he's calling you to play. I just think about what God is doing around the world to make his glory known, and each of us gets to play a part. And you know, one other thought along those lines is not to sell God short for what he wants to do and into your life. I think I talked to a lot, I talked to a lot of people who are like, I mean, what kind of difference can I really make? I am uh fill in the blank, stay at home, teacher, accountant, just a student. Just like, well, yeah, that's like all of us. We're just uh like we're all expendable in this picture. Like uh none of us is the hero. Like Jesus is the hero, and we get to play this supporting part and this supporting cast, like to make him known in the world. So yeah, just play our part and don't underestimate the part you're playing. Like you've got the Holy Spirit inside of you to lead people from death to life, like right around you today. That's a glorious part to play in this picture. So uh don't sell God short in that and uh and minimize his grace and his power at work in your life.
SPEAKER_00Thank you so much for tuning into this episode. We pray that this conversation stirred your heart for Christ and his mission. Now let's go and make Jesus known everywhere.