Involved or Committed?

It’s an interesting question. Some folks would argue that they are one in the same.

But not necessarily.

My family and I attended a local pastor’s Jubilee this past week, and one of the pastor’s shared an illustration on this very fact.

Think about your breakfast table.

A lot of times breakfast will include eggs, bacon/sausage, biscuits, ect.

The chicken who laid the egg was involved in the breakfast meal, but the pig who gave his life to contribute bacon and/or sausage was committed to the meal.

I know it’s a little crude, but it really is the perfect analogy.

As you go about your life, and serving the Lord, do you get involved occasionally or are you completely committed?

• Do you say you’ll pray for someone just so you can get them off of your back? Or do you sincerely devote part of your day to praying for that person and their situation until that situation is resolved?

• Do you donate food to the food pantry/soup kitchen? Or do you get in there help bag the groceries or hand out a plate of food?

• Do you get on the kids level, and possibly even get dirty, as you play with them and teach them at VBS? Or do you show up and stand on the side lines just to say you were there?

• Do you volunteer to help out around your church? Or do you just sit in the pew on Sunday morning?

The examples could be continue, but I’m going to stop there. I think you’ve got the general idea.

The point is, whether it’s working with children, homeless, senior citizens, young married couples, families, or just your own siblings, the Lord has called each of us to a specific task and ministry. Are you willing to fully commit yourself to whatever it is the Lord has called you to? Or are you just willing to be involved?

I am reminded of the story of Jim Elliot and his four friends who went to reach the Auca Indians for Christ.

These men had decided early on that the souls of these men and women were worth the risk of dying. They truly committed everything they had to reaching these people for the Lord. They were killed in a very inhumane way by this head-hunting tribe of people.

At first it seemed nothing good would come of it. Five women lost their husbands, several children were without fathers, parents lost sons, siblings lost their brothers. Lives were devastated.

But Elisabeth Elliot and Rachel Saint went back to the very tribe that had taken from one a husband, and from the other a brother, and lived among them.  They showed them forgiveness in a living, breathing example. The Lord later blessed the fruits of not only Elisabeth and Rachel, but also of the five men, by the whole tribe coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

These people were not just involved, they were completely committed. The men lost their lives, and the women risked losing theirs when they went back to the tribe. But Christ was faithful!

Not everyone is called to literally give their lives for Christ, but is He calling you to give up the comforts of home to go serve in another country?

The closeness of family to work in a ministry elsewhere?

Your leisure time during the week to disciple children?

Your Sunday afternoon nap to meet with a new Believer and help them grow?

“And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings without cost.” (1 Chronicles 21:24)

Ornan was going to give King David the things he needed for the offering to the Lord. King David answered wisely when he said he would not offer to the Lord that which cost him nothing.

You can live life as a Christian and not make sacrifices. But you will not live a fulfilled life that way.

The Lord convicted me this past week of doing ‘just enough’. Just enough to keep people from thinking bad about me. Just enough to feel like I’m doing what I should be. Just enough…But the truth is ‘just enough’ is never ENOUGH.

So, I ask you- Will you be the involved chicken or the committed pig?