Please read first the passage of Mark 10:35-45.
It is a fascinating passage showing us what God is calling us to in life on this earth. These men have been called to carry a message and they will need authority, love, confidence, grace, perseverance, mercy, stamina, and hope to do it. But what they don’t see yet is they are going to have to ransom their life to walk this road of redemption. Jesus then shares with them the pattern he will follow, a pattern many before him and many after him followed in scripture; that before you can exercise authority you have to be willing to be under authority (vs 45 “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”). Paul shares this pattern in one of my favorite passages in all the Bible, Philippians 2:4-11:
“4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
And that is the exact same life that Jesus is calling me (and you) to on this road of redemption; to live a life of ransom. To not consider equality with God something to be attained, but to take the form of a servant and simply be obedient. I guess to sum it up would be to die. And what I mean by that is to being willing in any situation to let it die. In the case of being the founding and lead pastor of Journey church God has called me to let that die, to take my hands off of it because it has never been about me, it has been about the opportunity to serve those who we have connected to so that they may know one thing and that is the authority over me, Jesus Christ.
And just like the disciples not knowing the road of redemption he had for them, Cheramy and I (and family) find ourselves in a similar place. Are we willing to ransom our lives for the sake of His call? We ask you to join us in asking yourself the same question. We also would ask that you would sign up to follow us from this blog in seeing what God has for us next. I will continue to share the details of where we are headed as they become more clear, and other findings in learning how to be a husband, father, and pastor who is walking this road of redemption.
