Involved Vs. Committed

Luke 9: Jesus is speaking...

57 As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58 But Jesus replied, "Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head."

59 He said to another person, "Come, follow me." The man agreed, but he said, "Lord, first let me return home and bury my father." 60 But Jesus told him, "Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead! Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God."

61 Another said, "Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family."62 But Jesus told him, "Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God."

These words of Jesus always bothered me. I've always been the kind of person who wants to play by the rules. I'm also the kind of guy who really cares a lot about his family.

I mean, really? He can't go bury his Dad? There isn't time to even say, "Goodbye"?

Wow.

It goes to show you that Jesus is really serious about this Kingdom stuff. Are you committed or just involved? Are you all in?

It's like the story of a pig and chicken who were talking in a farm yard one day. They were going on and on and on about how much they loved the farmer. He cared for them. He treated them well. So they decided they needed to do something for this great farmer to express their appreciation. Finally, they came across the perfect idea.

It was the chicken who came up with the winning plan. Chicken said to Pig, "Hey Pig, I think I got it, what better way to show our appreciation to our Farmer by cooking him the best breakfast ever? I mean what does a hard working farmer need more than a hearty breakfast?" Pig replies, "Chicken, I think that's a great idea. You are onto something with this idea. So what do you think we should make for our beloved farmer?"

Chicken answered, "How about 'ham-n-eggs'?"

The Pig thinks for a moment and says, "No thanks. I'd be committed, but you'd only be involved!"

A lot of us just want to be involved. Are you willing to be committed? If you are committed there are three areas in our faith in which we need to keep a watchful eye.

• Evangelism. Am I committed to sharing Christ? Am I looking for opportunities to make Him known?
• Faithfulness in Discipleship.Am I committed to growth? Am I committed to growing in my love and knowledge of the Word?
• Growing in the Grace of Generosity. The difference between "involved" and "committed" is easily seen by taking a look at what we do with the stuff in our life. In fact, Jesus said wherever your treasures are (your stuff), that's where your heart will be also.

So what will it be? Are you all in? Or just dabbling with involvement?