Fellow men of Christ

A journal entry by Henry Bartel

09/17/2005

After getting back from Burly Man and watching the movie “Gladiator”, I am convinced that God has bigger plans for us than what we are currently engaged in. We as men have so much potential to do great things, to overcome truly awesome obstacles, and most men of the world, let alone of the Christian faith, waste that potential sitting in an office, or pursuing after money or women or any number of other frivolous passions. A man has a much greater capacity for endurance, for pain, for commitment, for loyalty, for LIFE, than I think most of us, including me, realize. At Burly Man, we had two guys break their noses, and several other injuries, but none of which, by any means, incapacitated them. In the movie Gladiator, Maximus had such a drive for justice that he overcame injuries much worse than a broken nose. If we as men turn to God for our strength, for our drive, than we can overcome anything. We are throwing our potential to the wind, achieving much less than we are capable, and I think it stems not from a lack of ability, but from a lack of courage. And that lack of courage I believe comes from a lack of passion. Football players, wrestlers, soldiers, warriors, gladiators all have something in common; they reach their goals with passion. They are able to face up and conquer against ANY odds because they have a passion to achieve. If we as Christian men capture the passion that comes from knowing who we live for, how much we can achieve with Him at our side, and how great the loss if we fall to defeat, we will be an undeniable force, such that the world has never seen. David and his army in the Old Testament were a group by this description. Joshua and the Israelites were a group by this description. They conquered the world with a sword in their hand and the one true God at their side. As an army of Christians we can conquer the world with an open hand and the love and power of Christ in our hearts. In the same way David and Joshua captured their world by the power of the Almighty God, we can subdue ours with the sacrificial love of Christ. What David showed through Goliath and Christ showed at Calvary, we can show by picking up our cross and sacrificing all for the Spreading of God’s kingdom. Make no mistake, to take up your cross is not to endure the daily duties of Christian life with a smile and a glad heart. No, to take up the cross is to sacrifice everything, to put others before yourself, to literally consider yourself and your concerns second to the salvation of others. If you think you are following Christ, and you can’t put your finger on the way in which you sacrifice all, you give up everything, you put others before your own comfort and wellbeing, I would suggest you take another look at who it is you’re really living for. Fellow men of Christ, to be Christian, to live for the glory of God is not glorious or spectacular. To live for the glory of God, for Christ, is to be humble; it’s dirty, it’s painful, it’s HARD! If your Christian walk is easy, stop and take a look at the life of Christ and try again.