Will you pay any price?

One of my friends at school is radical. They have a passion for the lost that I have never seen in anyone except for maybe Chris Overstreet. I mean they are radical. Their faith is inspiring. The depth of their relationship with God is incredible. I say all these things not to draw attention to the person as they will never read this and hopefully nobody will even realize who it is. I know that they would not want any such attention. I have complete respect for this person and want to honor them in every way.

As radical their faith is, I don't know that I have ever met someone who is so committed to purity as they are either. They have the mindset of someone who has been in ministry for longer than they have been alive. Simply put they will not be alone with someone of the opposite sex. While this might seem a bit over the top and too religious for you, they are that committed to purity that they have set boundaries that other Christians will ridicule them for.

In talking with them recently I realized just how important these boundaries are. We have all seen pastors and leaders fall into sin, most typically sexual sin, yet the church still hasn't figured out that a price must be paid to guard what is valuable. Proverbs 6:32-33 says:

"But a man who commits adultery lacks judgement; whoever does so destroys himself. Blows and disgrace are his lot, and his shame will never be wiped away."

That is heavy. The leaders who have fallen into adultery have essentially destroyed themselves. As much as others or myself would like to forgive the individual for what they did (remember we are supposed to forgive others), there will inevitably be people who will always shout "adulterer" or "sinner" and thus take away the platform that they once had. So not only did they destroy their career, but they may have also destroyed their marriage or family as well as the validity of their ministry by everyone they have come in contact with.

The safe place for people to remain pure is in a place where they aren't forced to make decisions to step away from temptation. The safe place is where there is no temptation! How simple, yet how true!

Why am I suddenly talking about purity? Because I am convinced that boundaries need to be put up in my life and in the life of others NOW, so that weeks, months, years down the road we will already have good boundaries in place to keep us out of sin. This isn't an area where it is wise to see how close you can walk to the edge without falling off. You want to get as far away from that edge as possible so that you don't even have to worry about falling.

As God was giving me vision this afternoon for something that I am passionate about I was nearly overwhelmed with excitement as different things seemed to line up and make sense. Prophetic words that I have been given were lining up with what God was showing me. To put it generally, it meant that I would have a significant leadership role in reaching the entire country in one great area of influence. With travel is danger. For me, anything that isn't routine is potentially dangerous because I am a systematic person who thrives on routine and what is come to be expected. It hit me that I must be radical enough to pay any price to make sure that temptation does not come my way while on the road and that in my life not even a hint of sexual immorality can be found. Not only would my own name be on the line, but also my ministry covering, and also God. My own shortcomings would have negative effects on many other people.

(on a side note, Mike Bickle just read my mail that I will be a part of a new breed of church planters who will seek the manifest presence of God and whose community of believers will display the power of God. I am watching onething live over the internet and when he asked people to stand who feel called to that I did and felt the Holy Spirit give me some confirmation! haha, yay God! young apostles and prophets unite!)

Anyway, the onething conference is severely distracting me, but essentially I realized that I don't want to have to quit the race half way through it because of a stupid decision. I want to run the race all the way until I die or until Jesus comes back and to be able to make my ceiling as high as possible to become the floor of the next generation. In Jesus' name. Amen.

::steps off soap box::

:)

(ps. I am aware of the legalism debate and it is not necessary to bring up in this blog...thanks!)