Something changed within me the day I trusted in Christ. I came home and declared, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord..." I wanted to "be holy as He is holy." Christ had died for me—I wanted to live for Him.
Something changed within me the day I trusted in Christ. I came home and declared, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord..." I wanted to "be holy as He is holy." Christ had died for me—I wanted to live for Him.
So... I quit stealing cable (my roommates were furious). I put to death the distraction of social media. I stopped sleeping with my girlfriend (honestly, this one took me a few weeks, but I got there). Not perfect, but resolved, like Edwards, I was going to fight sin: "Resolved, never to give over, nor in the least to slacken my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be."
My resolve proved to be short-lived. I quickly realized I couldn't run hard after King Jesus and fight sin alone. I needed help. I needed a guide. I decided to go to a serve event with my church. When I arrived, a 70-year-old retired pipefitter with a sixth-grade education looked at me and said, "Son, you have the countenance of the Lord on you..."
I looked at him and said, "Bro, I have no idea what that means..."
He asked if I knew what God wanted from me. I said, "No."
He told me, "God desires obedience before sacrifice" (1 Sam. 15:22). Basically, "God wants my heart."
Knowing nothing about God's Word, that 70-year-old retired pipefitter with a sixth-grade education invited me into his home and walked me through the Bible. He taught me God's Word every Wednesday night at his kitchen table.
A few years later, I met Kevin. A mechanical engineer and recovering mega-church pastor, Kevin is 20+ years my senior. Kevin taught me how to love and serve people. Today, Kevin and his wife run a home for abused and neglected women and their children. A strong affinity for Red Dirt Country Music; once a year, Kev' comes to Dallas for a little Shane Smith and Wade Bowen.
Then there was Bill. Bill pastored Grand Prairie Bible Church. Not a big, impressive church; if you didn't know it was there, you'd miss it. Yet, every week Bill faithfully preached the scriptures. A brilliant expositor, Bill traded a career in law to preach God's Word. Bill showed me what it took to love a church well. Unbeknownst to you, Bill's hand has helped pen some of the BetterMan curricula you enjoy.
Today it's Mike. Mike's hands are as hard as cement blocks. A Golden Gloves boxer, in his 20's, he was a sight to see. Today, in his sixties, I still wouldn't fight him. Three words that describe Mike: tough, loyal, and generous. Mike is teaching me to care less about what others think. A world-class salesman, Mike embodies integrity and shows me what it means to be the same person, no matter my situation. Mike pushes me. He wants me to be better. He's my biggest fan.
I'm standing on the shoulders of Don, Kev, Bill, and Mike. Why do I share about these men? I share because I am convinced that the Church is full of young men who need a guide. Young men who have no idea where they are going because they can't see over the hurts, habits, and hangups in front of them. They have no shoulders to stand on.
Worse, the Church is full of older men leading no one. Old, broad-shouldered men, men who have more life experience than these young men do years. And like a middle school dance, the boys on one side and the girls on the other, everyone is afraid to dance. The young men are too timid to ask. The older men are too tired to assert themselves.
My encouragement: ask someone to dance.
Old men find a young man and ask him, "Do you know what the Lord wants from you?"
Young men find an old man and tell him, "I need a guide."
For the sake of everything holy, dance.
We can't go at it alone. We shouldn't go at it alone. To do so is to deny the Christian life. The Christian life is the discipled life and the discipling life. We are called to make disciples who make disciples (Matt. 28). It's a command.
Brothers, it is time to dance.