The Most Alarming Issue in Christianity: Lack of Urgency

As we know, Satan’s mission to lead the world astray (Revelation 12:9). He is described as a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). He is constantly looking for a way to lead us astray and entice us to believe in lies. It is indeed a scary thing to be deceived by the very essence of evil itself. As I have met with hundreds (more like thousands) of people in my time as a disciple of Jesus, I found one common thread interwoven through the schemes of Satan in the majority of people that reject the call to be a true Christian…Lack of Urgency. I would argue this scheme also threatens the spiritual lives of many disciples as well.

Scriptural References

When you examine the many people who rejected Jesus’ words and commands, we will see this scheme time and time again. Luke 9:57-62 is a prime example. The first person wanted a comfortable Christianity in which it did not call him to do anything out of his comfort zone. One person thought it was more urgent to tend to his father until he died rather than follow Jesus. Another wanted valued their family over the call to follow Jesus immediately. They didn’t see the urgency and you never hear from these people again in the scriptures. Another example lies in Luke 14:15-24 in which people are called to join this great banquet. It represented the call to become a true disciple and be a part of the true banquet, the kingdom of God. Verse 18 says “They all alike began to make excuses.” Some of these “excuses” seem very legitimate! One had just bought a new property, one had just bought oxen for his business, and one had just gotten married. Interesting enough, are not these three things the very essence of the American Dream? A dream house, dream job, and dream wife! We often rationalize with sayings like “God understands my reasons! He knows my heart. His grace covers me!”, yet in reality God says in verse 24  “I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’” These people would most likely be good ole American people that go to church every Sunday and even read their Bible occasionally. However, because they were not urgent to repent and follow the true Jesus of the Bible, they have no part in the kingdom of God.

Even as disciples, it takes a constant urgency and even desperation to continue to know God and follow his ways. The Christians in Hebrews 5 are rebuked because they have become “slow to learn” and must be given “spiritual milk” all over again. What happened?! They had fallen asleep spiritually. Their urgency to continue to change and transform through prayer and the Word dwindled. They were on the verge of falling away. Where are your urgency levels at? Are you desperate to change and grow? If not, Satan is working his scheme on your mind and heart.

How to be URGENT!

If I could go back and change anything in my walk with God as a disciple, it would be to recognize the urgency and desperation in my walk with God; such as an even urgency to grow, urgency to learn, urgency to seek and save the lost. As a young church leader, I now recognize more than ever before, God works through the hearts of URGENT men and women that want to lay down their lives to advance his kingdom. The very blunt answer to the results of lack of urgency are lives are lost. The men and women you could have impacted will NOT be there because of your lack of urgency to repent and change to be who God has called you to be. So how is this done? Well, we gain some great insight from Jesus’ final evening in the garden in Matthew 26. He commands his men to keep watch and pray so they will not fall into temptation. Instead they are weighed down by sorrow and exhaustion. They failed to pray. You ever notice when you don’t have solid prayers you become weighed down by emotions? I definitely have! What was the result of the Apostles not praying? They all ran away when the time came to stand for their faith. They left their best friend in the hands of wicked men…Faithful and powerful prayer is always the answer! It can wake a sleeping man from his slumber with a splash of cold water! It can remove the scales from your eyes so you can actually use them spiritually! It helps us to recognize our life is but a mist. When we live with a sense of destiny, urgency, and desperation, it will produce in us radical repentance and we will transform like never before. It will produce in us an unwavering conviction to do whatever it takes to save even one soul because you know time is short. More than anything else, urgency will produce LIFE.