Imagine you have a favorite restaurant, but it's not your favorite because you love to sit down and eat the food—you simply love to approach the front door and stand. The smell of cooked goodness flows from inside, and the staff seems awfully friendly as they continually beckon you to walk in and have a seat. The architecture from the outside is beautiful. The decorative signs on the front door are worth marveling at each time you visit. Whether the food is any good or not, you have no idea. You’ve never tried it.
The Christian community is littered with quality Bible studies. During worship, it’s evident that most believers enjoy genuine encounters with Christ and “spiritual highs.” Every day, college campuses and churches across the world have incredible meetings. Occasionally, Christian conferences like Passion and Onething leave thousands of believers in awe of the majesty of Jesus Christ.
So, what’s the problem?
More oft than not, we’re caught standing at the door of our favorite restaurant, completely oblivious to the fact that there’s food inside.
I couldn’t stress enough how vital personal encounters with God are to the Christian walk, and I don’t intend to debase the value of quality fellowship with other believers by any means—these things, however, are not the end. Bible studies, quiet times, prayer meetings, impactful services, and conferences are all unto something else. Everything that builds us up is an open invitation to something much greater, much more glorious than we know.
“While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed him,” (Matthew 5:18-21, ESV).
Jesus continually taught, prayed with, and disciplined His disciples, but He didn’t do so merely to refine them so that they alone could be good followers. From the beginning, Jesus intended to make His disciples fishers of men—that is, they would one day teach, pray with, and discipline others to become good followers of Christ as well. And that’s exactly what happened (minus Judas Iscariot). The disciples knew that their encounters with Jesus were unto something else, and this was confirmed when the early church began growing by the thousands. Had they just bonded with one another and meditated over Jesus’s words by themselves for the rest of their lives, or had they experienced encounter after encounter in genuine worship without ever taking action, there would be no church today. By the direction and power of the Holy Spirit, the first disciples poured their lives into carrying the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
As important as it is, the ultimate point is not for us to feel solid in our own faith. The point is for us to apply our faith by putting our hands to the plow for the Kingdom of God and refusing to look back. Our quiet times and Godly encounters during worship are intended to push us into a state of urgency for the unsaved people we know and don’t know. Each Christian conference and retreat should prepare our hearts to deal with the trials that inevitably follow the narrative of “I surrender all.” The doors to our favorite restaurant are wide open, and it doesn’t make any sense to stand outside any longer.
Take a moment to think where your quiet times, Bible studies, and church or campus ministry services are leading you. If you feel encouraged, more faithful, or more knowledgeable because of the fountains that pour into your life, that’s awesome. Don’t let go of that. But, don’t store it away as a mere memory or journal entry either. Follow the call and strive to become a fisher of men. Live your life unto something greater than you. You’ll find that even though it’s difficult, painful, and sacrificial, the surrendered life is good.
