In College I had a Pastor named Matt who had walked me through some of my best and worst times. He sat me down in his backyard one day and asked me a question: “Are you in or are you out?” Up until that point I had assumed that I was “in”. I went to church, attended small groups, was a leader back in high school and considered myself a “good” Christian. But what he was asking me in that moment was whether I willing to surrender completely. Surrender sometimes gets a bad rap, as though it indicates that we are giving up or being weak. But with Christ we are called to “lose our life” so that we can gain it (Matt 10:39).
When Matt asked me that life-altering question I was on track to becoming a professional soccer player & traveling overseas to chase MY dreams… but was I “in” for what God wanted for my life or was I “in” for what I wanted for my life? Was I willing to let go of my plans and risk losing the goals I had intended to accomplish in exchange for what God wanted for me? The Bible says that if we listen to and respond to the Holy Spirit then we will walk in step with what God has for us (Galatians 5:16 AMP). That day I made the decision to surrender. Completely. And to be ALL IN.
Shortly after that I felt sure that God called me overseas where I pastored one of the most impoverished youth communities in southern Africa, then on a missions trip to Mozambique I met the woman who was going to become my wife. Fast forward, we now live in California and pastor an entirely different group of youth from those we were used to, but we are committed to using every gift, talent and ounce of love we have to build the kingdom of God in spite of where we might “want” to be. We lost our lives when we surrendered to Christ and it’s been the best adventure yet! I’ve discovered some gifts I didn’t even know I had in recent years, but I choose to be more focused on the gift-Giver than the list of all my gifts. He supplies as we have need.
I am so grateful that as a college student I was teachable enough to allow Matt to challenge me that day. I look around at my life today and trace much of the the fruit back to that one decision I made in his backyard. It’s a great blessing to have strong, bible-believing leaders in your life that are going to steer you closer to God. As pastors/leaders our goal is to teach you how to love, hear and obey Him. In our current societal culture, it can be hard to stay on course which is why it is vital to let your leaders in so that they can help you discover who you are called to be and WHY.
