One of the first Christian quotes I learnt was this one:
‘He is no fool who gives what he can not keep to save what he will not lose…’
Jim Eliot, who said this, was a missionary. Shortly after he said it, he and some of his friends were murdered by the very people they were trying to help. When I first heard it I was 18 years-old and trying to make sense of my re-found faith. I desperately wanted to take my faith really seriously – I was totally inspired that someone loved God and people enough to give their life – and lose it – for the sake of the Gospel.
Another favourite quote of mine is:
‘Visionaries are possessed people. Men and women in the thrall of belief so powerful they ignore all else – even reason – to ensure that reality catches up with their dreams.’
Again it’s a great quote which sounds great when you use it… but what actually does it mean? And, more specifically, what does it mean for me and, dare I say, you?
I was talking to my friend Andrew a few weeks ago and he was telling me how he started his organisation the Marin Foundation. Believe me, it’s quite a story but I’ll cut to the chase, and the point of this post…
When Andrew started his organisation all he encountered for a year were people telling him that he stood no chance of actually achieving what he thought God wanted him to do. And, that frankly, he should go back to working in a hotel and that he couldn’t – possibly – expect them to take him seriously. Andy wasn’t just told this by a few people, he was told this by church leaders all over his city – not just one or two, but hundreds of them, in fact, 641 of them. Seriously, imagine being told by hundreds of church leaders that the vision you believe God has given you has no chance of happening, imagine that? But Andy kept going because he lives ‘in the thrall of belief… that reality would catch up with his dream.’
If I’m honest (and I try to be…), if what happened to Andy had happened to me I would have been begging for my job back in that hotel after 30 (probably less) of those conversations. But Andy didn’t!
When I asked him why – he basically told me that it was more important (to him) to be obedient to God than to be successful! And, because obedience was his motivation he could give himself to God first and then to the task God had given him to do second…
Andy’s tenacity against the odds is an inspiration. His willingness to love is remarkable. His attitude of grace is amazing. And in choosing to surrender himself to pursuing obedience he challenges me, and maybe you, to pay a higher price to see the Kingdom established on the earth.
W x
Read more about what Andy does here. You’ll be inspired and hopefully challenged. What’ll you definitely see is someone who is ‘giving what he can not keep to save what he will not lose…’
