Chris's 2nd Post

Here’s a quote from a book I am reading called Radical by David Platt. Krista and I began reading it after many of our friends from SB Community Church recommended it (thanks to Todd for the e-copy).

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“This brings us to the crucial question for every professing or potential follower of Jesus: Do we really believe He is worth abandoning everything for? Do you and I really believe that Jesus is so good, so satisfying, and so rewarding that we will leave all we have and all we own and all we are in order to find our fullness in him? Do you and I believe him enough to obey him and to follow him wherever he leads, even when the crowds in our culture – and maybe in our churches – turn the other way?”
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What a challenging question. We still do not know how this adventure here in Argentina is going to turn out. I am hoping and praying that the Lord will give us the privilege to bring practical help to many along the way with the good news of Jesus. However, when I read the quote above I was struck by the fact that, however our work in Argentina turns out, we have had the great privilege to make a statement to God with our actions that He matters more to us than anything. It was hard to sell our cars, our stuff back home, to leave our family and friends, to leave the beach and surf, to walk away from a great job, and move here to Córdoba, Argentina.

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In one sense, it all seemed so crazy. Those people who know me well know that I am a very deliberate, careful, risk-averse person and what we have done seems so out of character for me.

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But, what a privilege it was (and is) to have the chance to say with our actions that Jesus IS worth abandoning everything for. God has been so real in my life. I have seen Him do amazing things and He has changed me. I DO want to share the treasure that I have found in Jesus with others, and if God permits us, I want to help others in His name.

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As I stood there on the day of our massive garage sale before we left our home in Santa Barbara, I looked around at all of our friends who were helping us to sell most of our possessions. Then, I looked at all of the people who were buying our stuff. I was deeply moved by the craziness of it all. As I said goodbye to my secure job and the people I enjoyed working with, I was also struck by the cost of what we were doing. As I said goodbye to our amazing community of friends and our wonderful family back home, I couldn’t believe we were actually leaving. It was almost impossible to leave my brother Brad and know that I would not be able to talk to him every day or to surf with him for a long time. Since we have arrived here, we have encountered many challenges, and I have found myself saying to myself numerous times, “What in the world have we done?”

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I was struck deeply this Christmas with the realization that by coming to earth as a baby, God made an unfathomable sacrifice for us. He risked it all. God himself became vulnerable and entrusted the care of His only Son into the hands of a young, poor couple from a small town in Israel.

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So, no matter what happens here in Argentina, God has given us a unique opportunity to say with our lives that He DOES matter more than anything else. This whole journey has been so scary, but also exhilarating. No small sacrifice of our compares to the sacrifice that He made for us in coming to earth as a baby and later dying for our sins to save us and bring us to Himself.