One of Satan’s most effective tools in hindering Gospel ministry is to keep young men and women who love Jesus in the quagmire of indecision. Why? Because people who are unable to make decisions usually get very little done. Yet, many of us who have a heart to serve God often find ourselves dealing with frustrating uncertainty.
Kevin DeYoung is a gifted pastor and teacher who has had extensive ministry among college-aged men and women. He saw many Christian young adults struggle with making decisions about service to Christ and even about life in general. Many were paralyzed by fears that caused them to never get around to really doing anything for their Lord. Greatly burdened for these believers, DeYoung wrote his well-known book, Just Do Something![1] I want to focus our attention on this miring indecision and suggest a way to crawl out.
It is possible to love Christ and unknowingly have a fixation with future usefulness to God at the expense of present obedience. For some reason, many of these folks think of God’s purpose for their lives, fulfillment, and usefulness for the Lord as something off in the foggy distance somewhere. The practical effect of this is indecision, especially about ministry. It causes passiveness and a tendency to shun commitment.
Tim Berrey, cross-cultural GFA missionary and Bible college professor in the Philippines, has much experience with young adults. In his book, Planning Your Life God’s Way[2], he counsels students:
“Focus on doing what you know is God’s will for you today. Sometimes we neglect current duties due to a fixation on the future. Over one hundred Christian books have been written on the subject of God’s will in part, because people are frustrated by their current life situation and hope that the future holds something more enchanting—the fabled pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. In reality, God’s will is more present than future” (Kindle Locations 2460-2464).
We love God and want to have a life that is fruitful for Him. If that is true, then we must give ourselves wholly to present obedience to Jesus. Live in the present. Do all that we know God wants us to do today. Stop thinking that real service to Christ is in the nebulous future. Our ministry tomorrow stems from our ministry today. This sets the course of a life of service for Him tomorrow, next week, next year, and on to the end.
Tim Berrey also shares,
“The will of God…is not something you discover in the future so much as something you are doing right now; not a video to watch in advance, but a drama you are living out in the present. A sovereign, omnipotent, but caring God directs your every movement, scene by scene” (Kindle Locations 2653-2656).
What do we know God wants us to do right now? These are our priority. We could sum them up by calling them “basic Christian disciplines.” Faithfulness in these disciplines ensures increasingly greater usefulness to Jesus Christ. What are these?
- Know God through continually reading and studying His Word.
- Learn to worship, fellowship, and depend upon God in prayer.
- Pursue holiness.
- Serve God’s people in a local church.
- Make disciples.
A disappointing list? A little dull? Maybe we hope for some unique key to spiritual success, something fresh or unusual. But no, the key to obedience and usefulness to Christ in life comes down to the same old stuff: God’s Word, prayer, holiness/consecration, serving, and the Great Commission. That’s it! Through these, we learn how to live lives that are increasingly enabled and led by God’s Spirit.
These basic disciplines of the Christian life are what makes a life that is worthwhile on an eternal scale. People committed to these disciplines are the ones who truly make a difference for Jesus Christ. They are not perfect, but they are believers whose lives affect those around them for Jesus. Unbelievers hear the Gospel and come to Christ through such people.
Our fruitfulness to Christ in life is directly related to our faithfulness in the fundamentals. There are no shortcuts and no “secret ingredients.”
As we seek greater consecration to God in Christian disciplines, He guides us step by step. As we increase obedience to Christ, He brings commitments our way. Kevin DeYoung is burdened that young men and women understand this. He urges us,
“put aside the passivity and the quest for complete fulfillment and the perfectionism and the preoccupation with the future, and for God’s sake start making some decisions in your life. Don’t wait for the liver-shiver. If you are seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, you will be in God’s will, so just go out and do something. The only chains God wants us to wear are the chains of righteousness—not the chains of hopeless subjectivism, not the shackles of risk-free living, not the fetters of horoscope decision-making—just the chains befitting a bondservant of Christ Jesus. Die to self. Live for Christ. And then do what you want, and go where you want, for God’s glory” (p. 59).
His conclusion:
“So, the end of the matter is this: Live for God. Obey the Scriptures. Think of others before yourself. Be holy. Love Jesus. And as you do these things, do whatever else you like, with whomever you like, wherever you like, and you’ll be walking in the will of God” (p.120).
Those who pursue God through these basic disciplines of the Christian faith find life to become an adventure, one that comes with commitment, leading to joy. They know fulfillment, purpose, and abundant life in Jesus Christ—all of which are found through obedient faith.