All In

We live in a society of people who give lip service to commitment but often do not back that up with action. Everybody wants to be a champion until the alarm goes off and you have to get up early to lift or run. Everybody wants to hoist the trophy at the end of the season until it comes working out when the muscles ache, the temperatures are extremely hot or cold and others have opted for the easier path. Champions pay the price.

While I admire the devotion of athletes who are willing to pay the price I am often left scratching my head in bewilderment. I watch parents drive hours and hours to take their child to special practices to play of elite select teams. I watch thousands of dollars shelled out for special leagues, uniforms, coaches, and travel expenses to help their child excel. These parents are all in.

I see the athletes who show up early and stay late to put in extra work after everyone else has hit the showers. They are all in.

I see students who work diligently to make the best grades and to master their studies. When others have studied enough to make average grades these committed students stay up late hitting the books. They are all in for academics.

Some musicians practice and practice until they have perfected the piece of music they are playing. Over and over again they plan hitting each note, staying in tempo, and hitting every pitch. These musicians are all in.

What I seldom see is Christians who are all in. I am referring to followers of Jesus who love Him so deeply, are so committed to following Him, and who have laser like focus on His will they do not shrink back from sacrifice.

These are the disciples who do not mind getting up early to pray and meditate on scripture to start the day. These are the ones who love to linger in His presence. These are the ones with burning hearts who spread the flames to other people they come in contact with. These are the people constantly pleading with God to use them, to send them, and give them chances to share Jesus with others who do not know Him. These are the ones who dig deep in their pocket books to give to Kingdom causes denying themselves the trappings of this world.

In the Acts 2 church those disciples were all in. They prayed with fervency. They devoted themselves assiduously to study of the apostle's teaching. They shared their resources sacrificially to meet the needs of people. They believed God for miracles and shared Christ boldly and courageously with lost people. THEY WERE ALL IN.

Take Faith Community Church for example. Three times we tried to start Sunday School classes. Three times they failed miserably as people voted with their lack of attendance in supporting these ministries. Sunday night services are suffering the same fate across America. Prayer meetings are nearly extinct in most churches.

While people are all in when it comes to sports, music, grades work, and for some recreating and entertainment, I wonder when the people of God will be all in for Christ.

If people were all in on two  Kingdom things it wold make a huge issue. PRAYER. EVANGELISM. Why don't followers of Jesus give themselves to these ministries. Let me ask you a question. How many hours do you spend weekly transporting, waiting on, or watching your children do something. Multiple hours. How much time do you give in any given week to corporate prayer. I mean praying with a group of others.

In every church I have served since 1998 I have tired to start prayer meetings. I done them in the early mornings. Not one time have I seen even half a dozen people sustain such a prayer meeting. I once held them on a Monday night and each week there were only four of us. Many times I have encouraged and invited people to stay behind to pray after a mid-week Bible study. Most of the times there was not one person left after ten minutes devoted to prayer. Sunday night prayer meetings have not been anymore successful.

When will the people of God get all in for prayer? At Faith Community we have a prayer meeting before our Sunday morning services. Week after week the same four of us men show up. Where are the others who would be all in when it comes to other activities but are not all in when it comes to prayer.

I once heard as statistic that 90% of Christians do not witness to