As a child, I admired my dad’s ease in striking up conversations with strangers. “How does he do that?” I wondered. For my entire childhood and youth, I watched my pastor move about as he preached. Today, I enjoy striking up conversations with strangers, and I can’t stand still when I preach. Clearly, I’ve been influenced.
When we open the pages of the New Testament, we find much about Jesus to influence us. We find Jesus talking to all kinds of people: rich, poor, educated, uneducated, healthy, sick, adults, and children. While his methods with various audiences change, his message is singular. Change the way you think and live—the kingdom of God is near! He tells stories and gives illustrations, that relate to his audiences’ experiences, to make the mystery of the kingdom of God knowable to any who have ears to hear. He speaks as one who has authority. (See Matthew 7.)
When he invites some fishermen to follow him, he explains that while they sought fish before, they would now seek new recruits for God’s kingdom. The fishermen respond to Jesus. They accept the influence of Jesus above that of their father (who taught them to fish). They sacrifice friends, family, and vocation to follow Jesus. Their friends likely thought this was a foolish choice. But in light of eternity, it was a no-brainer—in the words of Simon Peter to Jesus, “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68 ESV).
Jesus warns wealthy believers that when they remove him from the primary place of influence in their lives, they actually become blind beggars.
Jesus even goes as far as to say that his true family consists of those who do the will of his Father in heaven. (See Matthew 12:50.) I wonder if we have fully grasped what this means. Jesus, by his grace, welcomes us into his family! How much influence from Jesus does that put in our lives? Enough that we make it a habit to do the will of our heavenly Father. That’s what we do wherever we go, since Jesus is the #1 influencer in our lives!
When Jesus conquers sin and death in his own betrayal, beating, crucifixion, and resurrection, we see clearly that he is the King of this Kingdom he proclaimed! But when we read past the Gospels, we understand that other influencers would soon distract God’s people. In one city, the wealthy people exerted more influence on the believers than Jesus himself! (See Revelation 3.) People started looking at the rich, wanting what they had, doing what they were doing, and finding comfort in luxurious living.
Jesus warns wealthy believers that when they remove him from the primary place of influence in their lives, they actually become blind beggars. If they keep this up, they will not be a light for God’s kingdom! He offers to restore their sight. He reminds them that God’s kingdom is pure gold! He reminds them he alone can give the white robes of righteousness to wear in the King’s palace. How could they trade their priority of God’s eternal kingdom for possessions on earth? He urges them to invite him again to have a primary place of influence in their lives. “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends” (Rev.3:20 NLT).
In contrast to the search for comfort as king, Paul sought only to keep Christ as King. He willingly suffered for Jesus as he shared the gospel. He even rejoiced to do so! (See Colossians 1:24.) How could he rejoice? Well, he expected to share in Christ’s resurrection (1 Corinthians 15). He knew the resurrection follows suffering, from learning about Christ’s life! There is no other way out of this life except death. There is no hope after this life without resurrection. Paul had glimpsed a vision of the risen Jesus. It was a no-brainer for Paul to sacrifice so much to tell others that Christ was Lord. Comfort never became a goal for Paul, yet contentment came as a by-product of his obedience to Jesus. How do we find this contentment?
We find it when Jesus is the primary influence in our life. We need Jesus at our table daily! We need the good news of his Kingdom as our first love. We need self-sacrificial obedience to be normal. We need the family of God (local church) to be our place of belonging. We need a vision of Jesus as the King of all eternity! Then we can gladly sing, “All to Jesus, I surrender, all to him I freely give. I will ever love and trust him, in his presence daily live. I surrender all!”
