Gaining a Sense of Urgency

A few months ago I attended a seminar at Spring Harvest run by a friend of mine Rachel Gardener. It was an excellent seminar (I’d better put that in case she reads this!!) and as part of it I took part in a very thought provoking role-play. We were asked to imagine that a group of newly converted refugees had started attending our church. They were, however, going to be deported back to a country with no Christian presence in six months time. We were asked to devise a programme that would equip them with the Christian skills and knowledge they would need on their return.

There was quite a buzz as everyone in our group had something to contribute to this discussion. We talked about discipleship, links to be forged to mission agencies, trades to be learnt, prayer support to be set up, practical support for their six-month stay, gifts to be prayed for, the list went on. There was a sense of urgency and an eagerness to help. People really felt that it was something they could back and get their teeth into.

Then came the damming question…

Why don’t we do that for every single member of our congregations? It certainly is a challenge and one to which I shall return.

Many years ago I was challenged by a friend about the kind of films I watched. He said would I sit and watch 18 certificated violent films if Jesus was sat next to me? I replied that is Jesus was sat next to me I would not only not watch 18 certificated films I wouldn’t go to church, pray or go to work. I would be so interested in talking to him, getting him to pray for me, picking his brain and getting to know him more I wouldn’t have the time or the desire for anything else.

It was not until years later that I realised the absurdity of my words. Jesus IS sat next to me! Jesus IS praying for me! Jesus has given us His Word and His Spirit in order for us to get to know him better! I can pick His brain any time I want! So why don’t I?

Jesus left the disciples with a real sense of urgency. He hinted that some would still be alive at his return. They were left knowing that they had to get the job done, there was no time to waste. What has happened to this sense of urgency. Why do we constantly put off for tomorrow what we should be doing today? We have gotten so good at putting things off that we not only put things off until tomorrow we put things off permanently. We never get around to doing what we know we should. We put off things in our teens until we are adults and then put them off until we are married and then until we are retired and then we die never having done them. Yet if we knew Jesus was coming again at the end of the year we would accomplish so much for Him. We would draw close to Him in ways we have never attempted before. We would swerve Him with new vigour and determination. We would serve others with renewed love and concern.

I remember working for major supermarket in my teens. They used to display a poster in the staff area that said “Things that need to be done in the event of an Area Inspection… Absolutely nothing!!”

The implication being that good practise should be taking place at all times and when an inspection comes nothing should change. So it should be with our lives. Whether we know Christ is coming tomorrow, not for a million years or whether he is sitting right next to us nothing should change. This is far from the truth in my life and, I’m guessing, in the lives of most other Christians as well so why is this the case and what can we all do about it?

So why is this the case?

1. We live in the present and our mind is mainly focussed on the near past, the present and the near future.

2. Our lives are more easily moulded by the physical than the spiritual. What I mean by this is that we live with an “out of sight - out of mind” mentality. We are distracted by things and those around us rather than things like God and Jesus that are out of sight. The spiritual gets pushed out by the physical.

3. We focus on God’s loving, forgiving, patient, grace filled nature. We know when we fail God will forgive us, pick us up, brush us off and give us a fresh start. We conveniently forget His Wrath and Judgement and that we are created to glorify Him.

What can we do about it?

1. Take small steps. If we don’t break the task before us into small steps we will look at the big picture be overwhelmed and therefore do nothing. There is no point in diving headlong into a spiritual change, overdo it and after a week be back where we started. Think of one thing that we could do this week to improve the situation. Once you’re mastered that move on to something else.

2. Why is our spiritual life any different to the rest of our life? If we want to lose weight, be better organised, further our career or take up a hobby we plan. We set goals, make lists, plan our diary, seek advice and so on. So it should be with our spiritual life. We need achievable goals to head towards and advice on how to achieve them. I remember Graham Cooke saying that we should always ask ourselves how our relationship with God, how our praise and worship of God and how our service to God will be better this year than it was last year. This won’t just happen we need to work on it.

3. We need to surround ourselves with people that will join us, encourage us, share our struggles on this journey. Our Christian friends are the best physical aid to our growth as Christians. We need to be there for each other, we can’t journey successfully on our own. We need to work on devices with our friends that can enable us to be that motivation for each other.

4.We need to develop a sense of urgency. Be this through prayer or conversations with friends we need to have a sense of immediacy in our lives. I used to work with someone who lived with a sense that tomorrow she could be hit by a bus. Somehow we need to find that urgency. Jesus may not return tomorrow, we may not die tomorrow but we need to learn to live as if one of those possibilities were the case.