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Wichita, KS 67203 - © 2009 Olivet Baptist Church,
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The word “compelled” is an interesting one. It speaks of a command, an expectation, something that cannot be ignored. As children we were compelled to clean our rooms, brush our teeth and make our beds. Many of us were compelled to go to church, do our homework and be polite to our neighbors. Often our response to the command to do something was: “But I don’t want to!” We made this statement to our parents as if it carried any weight. Boy, were we misinformed.
When we think of being compelled we often think in terms of something that we have to do, but really don’t want to do. We have to pay our taxes, abide by the speed limits, mow our lawns so that small children and animals do not get lost in them.
But there is another sense of the word compelled. It is the deeper idea that we have to do something or we will explode inside. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth and told them, “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that One died for all, and therefore all died.” (2 Corinthians 5.14). When the word compelled is used in this context is something more than a requirement, it is a passion that drives us, consumes us and won’t let go of us.
We are compelled by One Who gave His life so that we might be forgiven and restored to a right relationship with God. This love compels us to tell others about the One Who paid a terrible price to provide forgiveness and mercy to us. It compels us to walk in obedience to the One Who became the payment for our sin - and then defeated death by rising from the dead! This love compels us to live differently.
Recently I have preached about the necessity for the church to make disciples. This is more than something we “have to do” because it’s a rule, an expectation. It is the result of our having experienced the incredible and amazing grace of God! We “have to” share the joy of knowing Jesus and walking with Him or we will explode! I “have to” because I can’t do anything else! Peter and James said the same thing when they announced to the Jewish religious leaders that the could not stop “speaking about what we have seen and heard!” (Acts 4.20)
What compels you? What is so consuming in your life that if you don’t “get it out” it will cause you to explode? Jesus told us to go and make disciples. This is something we “have to do” because His love compels us! The joy of knowing Him burns within our hearts and we can only obey. We “have to” because of the joy set before us. We are compeled to do nothing less!
So when you hear us talk about the importance of making disciples, we are talking about the supreme joy of helping others know the One Who set us free. We are talking about the love He has given us compelling, driving us to help others know Him and walk with Him.
A story is told about a young believer who desperately wanted to know God better and live for him. He heard about a man who lived up in the mountains and was known as a man who wholeheartedly walked and communed with God. He hiked up the mountain to the cabin where the man lived. He told him that he wanted to love Jesus with his whole heart and live his life absolutely for God’s glory. The man said nothing but indicated that the young man follow him. He took him to a mountain stream and stepped into the water. The young man thought that the wise mountain man was going to baptize him and that was the “secret” of living wholeheartedly for God. The mountain man did indeed place the young man under the water - and then held him there. For the first few seconds, the young man thought that he was supposed to pray and commit his life more fully to God, which he did. But as the seconds increased the young man began thrashing under the water. He became frightened and fought the mountain man in order to be released. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, the man brought the young seeker up out of the water and said these words: “when you get to the place where you are as desperate for Jesus as you were for that next breath of air, you will know what it means to be His disciple.”
Are you desperate for Jesus? Are you desperate to be His disciple and help others become disciples as well? This is what we mean when we say we “have to” make disciples. This passion burns so hotly within us we will explode if we are not intentionally investing our lives in others so they might know Him more.
