Picture this: An American middle-class Jesus. He is wearing Calvin Klein jeans, driving a Honda CRV, living in a $275,000 home, and sending his children to private schools.

As far as religion goes, he is a “Sunday” believer. He goes to the nearest megachurch with the best programs, but much of the time he’s thinking about where he is going to eat after the service.

About once or twice a year he will do some sort of “outreach.” I mean, what kind of believer would he be if he didn’t share the gospel with someone occasionally? So, he hands out tracts to random people on the street and says,

“All you have to do is repeat this prayer, accept me into your heart, sign this card, and you’re in! Forget getting to know me. That takes way too much effort. But I’ll gladly give you eternal life. Don’t worry that I sacrificed everything for you.”

Yeah, I don’t see it either. If Jesus would never live a life like that, why are we so quick to crave it?

In David Platt’s book Radical, he discusses the lifestyle that Jesus is really calling us to when we choose to follow him. When Paul chose to follow Christ, he made it clear in Romans not be conformed to the world. Jesus calls us into a dangerous and extreme form of living. Radical, if you will.

When I tell myself that Jesus would never ask me to give up everything I have, I am conforming Him to my image. A Jesus who is fine with devotion that does not infringe on my comforts, because, after all, He loves me just the way I am. But when I go to church to worship this God, I may be worshipping myself.

That’s a scary thought.

The gospel speaks of a faith quite different from the cozy religion of the American dream of achievement and climbing the social ladder:

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sister — yes, even his own life — he cannot be disciple.” — Luke 14:26, NIV

I don’t know about you, but I love my family, and definitely value my own life. Is it possible that I am called to love Jesus so much that my closest relationships on earth look like hate? What if He actually does ask me to sell everything I have and give it to the poor? It’s quite possible.

Do I, do you, really believe that statement? Or do we rationalize it and say, “That’s for missionaries and those called to ministry, not for me. Surely, it’s not for me.”

Jesus goes on to say, “Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”

Now this is taking it to another level: Pick up an instrument of torture and follow me.

The cost of picking up my cross and following Jesus is steep. It will cost me everything I have. But I know that in the end the reward will be sweet. I will gain more than I ever had. The real question I must answer is: Is Jesus worth losing everything for?

The reward of the gospel is God Himself. When we risk our lives to seek after Jesus, we discover that safety is found only in His sovereignty, security is only found in His love, and satisfaction is only found in His presence. As Platt says, “This is the eternally great reward, and we would be foolish to settle for anything less.”

Simply put, a relationship with Jesus requires complete and exclusive devotion.

As Platt puts it, the proper response to the call of Jesus is a “new heart, new desires, and new longings. For the first time, we want God. We see our need for Him, and we love Him. This means seeking after Him, discovering the great reward of our salvation.”

Jim Elliot, a missionary who died for the gospel, once said, “Surely those who know the great passionate heart of Jehovah must deny their own loves to share in the expression of His.” This is the kind of heart I want. This is the love I desire to have for my Savior.

This is the kind of heart that propels men and women around the world to risk their lives to know more about Him. This is why our cheap version of Christianity that molds Christ to something we are comfortable with is not enough. This is the reason why we cannot settle for anything other than a God-centered, self-denying gospel.

In America, we have been taught since we were young that we can do anything we set our minds to accomplish. The American dream exalts our abilities. But this world is not about us, it’s about glorifying God.

The truth is that we are ALL called to “make disciples of all nations.” Every saved person is in debt to every unsaved person on earth. We are all called to go, to radically abandon everything we have. This calling is not for a special group of people deemed “missionaries.” It’s for the homemaker, the businessman and the teacher. We owe Christ to the world — to the least and the greatest person, to the richest and poorest person, and to the best and worst person.

We do not need to wait for God to place a divine calling onto our lives. Read the last sentence in Matthew; He already did that. Anything less than complete, passionate involvement in “going and making disciples” is selling God short by thwarting our very purpose on earth.

Jesus never said this radical obedience would be easy. It is a dangerous road full of trials and hardships.

Through reading Radical, I realized that I could be a better steward of the money God has given me. I was challenged to sacrifice my money for a specific purpose, and have decided to start saving the money I would have spent eating out after church, and putting it towards fighting social injustice. That’s my personal conviction. What sacrifices do you feel God is calling you to make?

Platt writes that the lifestyle Christ calls us to, “is not smooth sailing aboard a luxury liner; it is a sacrificial duty aboard a troop carrier. It’s not comfort, not health, not wealth, and not prosperity in this world. It’s all about risking everything. But in the end, such risk finds its reward in Christ. And he is more than enough for us.”

I’m ready to take back my faith from the American Dream. How about you?

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The book is a 158 page hardcover photo essay we published in 2002 to commemorate our 50th anniversary.

We’ll select the caption we like best and announce the winner on Monday, Apr. 26.

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“I learned in my childhood in Africa that a child may be born in poverty but poverty is never born in a child. The worst aspects of poverty are not the deplorable outward conditions, but rather the erosion and eventual destruction of hope and therefore dreams.”

Too Small To Ignore
Dr. Wess Stafford

Now that is an intense statement. One that requires reflection; allowing ourselves to read and re-read each word carefully, grasping at understanding.

Have you grasped it?

Even with my draw to aid children in poverty, I still struggle with getting it. I mean really getting it.

The Lord has taken me on many a great adventure. He has been my tour guide, my leader, even my travel buddy! And anyone who has traveled knows how important the buddy system is.

He gives me these glimpses into poverty, into what a majority of the world is faced with, and I dive into them with all my emotion, mind and heart. I studiously grapple with realities that are too surreal for me to comprehend.

I have seen immense lack of materials and absence of love, but I know I cannot rely on just experiences to fuel my passion. Especially when my desire is to do all things unto the Lord, and that can’t be put on hold when I’m just not feeling it.

But all is not lost. I simply read. That’s right … I am constantly reading. That person who is reading four books at one time … that’s me. I always have two books in my purse and even two journals. So, most times when I am in line or waiting somewhere I am either writing or reading.

I have come to see that my passion for social justice and my desire for reading are more intermingled than I realized. Reading helps me remember. It takes the disconnect I sometimes feel and lessens the gap.

For example, I read this from Too Small To Ignore (which was one of the four I was reading),

“Some people think the earth can’t keep up with the food needs of its population. That is not true. In fact, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) declared at a World Food Summit in Rome that the planet could produce enough food for every one of us to have a daily diet of 2,720 calories.”

And,

“The likelihood of a little Haitian child making it to his or her fifth birthday is so small that many parents do not even entrust their child with a name until then. They refer to the toddler as ti chape, ‘my little escapee.’ In other words, this little one has dodged death up to now, but who knows if he will actually survive? So why bother giving him a real name? We can always do that later, if needed.”

Hard to read? Yes! Does it help restore me to godly perspective? Yes.

Because, to be honest, today I have quite a few projects I am juggling at work, then I have to go grocery shopping (milk, bread and something with chocolate), I’d like to go on a run, then it is off to Bible study, then laundry … and all through this my passion is attempting to dodge the humdrum of everyday life so I can keep perspective. Although, many times, my fervent enthusiasm takes a back seat and the gap gets a little wider.

God knows me, I mean He truly knows me and He knows how to encourage me and it usually comes in the form of something I read. He lessens the gap. He gives me the proper lens to look through.

How does He encourage you? When all you wish you could do is fly over to the country where your sponsored child lives and give him or her a hug, how do you keep the passion?

Maybe it’s reading for you, too. Maybe it’s reading their letters. Or even writing. Perhaps today you can write him or her a letter.

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Outliers are men and women who do things out of the ordinary. And in the book Gladwell delves into what makes outliers successful.

Conventional wisdom says success comes from drive, skill and talent, which is true, but not by themselves. Drive, skill and talent aren’t worth a dime without opportunity. Success is a team sport.

“When outliers become outliers it is not just because of their own efforts. It’s because of the contributions of lots of different people and lots of different circumstances.” – Malcom Gladwell

Outliers looks at the success of geniuses, business tycoons, rock stars, athletes and software programmers. And the common denominator in all the examples of success Gladwell gives, the foundational bedrock in EVERY SINGLE CASE, is that an opportunity was made available – because of geography, timing, economics, circumstance, etc.

But you shouldn’t have to read Outliers to see that. You can keep reading this blog … because opportunity is an integral part of what Compassion is about.

• Lives Transformed
• Geography Lessons
• It’s About More Than Survival
• Leadership Development in the Dominican Republic
• Anthony Njoroge: a life changed by opportunity

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I read Gerald McBoing Boing (my personal favorite), Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?, and, of course, the ever-popular, Green Eggs and Ham. 

I don’t know what it is, but it seems that when I open up a Dr. Seuss book, I immediately become a child myself…and the children I’m reading to are transported to a magical world where non-sensical rhymes suddenly make sense…and imaginary characters come to life.

As I was reading to the kids, I wondered what it would have been like if Dr. Seuss had written some stories about children in poverty. What a great opportunity to teach kids today about the conditions that their counterparts in other parts of the world live in!

What would that look like? Perhaps:

I do not like that the Sneetch children cry
with empty star bellies that growl all night
I do not like that they can’t drink
of water as clean as I have in my sink.

I don’t like famine, disease and war
I wish they didn’t exist anymore.
I don’t like the heartache, come to think of it,
I do not like poverty,
not one little bit.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Dr. Seuss book if it just focused on the sad. No, indeed the Cat in the Hat turned dreary, rainy days into wonderful, happy, if not misguided, adventures. Maybe something like this:

Then all the Sneetch children would wipe away frowns
To laugh with each other on Flozzle playgrounds
They’d swing and they’d sing and they’d dance in a ring
‘Tis the end of poverty–what a wonderful thing!<

Unfortunately, we don’t have such a book. Perhaps it’s because poverty is far too real and dark to capture in whimsical rhyme. 

But maybe, just maybe, we can all be a Dr. Seuss by rewriting the stories of real children in poverty. It’s not that hard actually.

Sponsoring a child gives you the opportunity to break the cycle of poverty for a child. It gives them the chance to believe in a world where poverty comes to an end. And that is a wondrous thing indeed. 

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