How many times do we feel like quitting? How many times do we feel overwhelmed, discouraged, hopeless? How many times do we want to give up on something that matters? But, how many times have we enjoyed the blessing of something we wouldn’t have if we’d quit?

The most meaningful times in life generally follow the most difficult trials.

Our enemy will give us a million reasons to quit on whatever matters most; whether that be on a person, a dream, or a goal. But we only need one good reason to stay the course.

My reason

Not once, not twice, but three times I gave up a chance for a beautiful Minnesota summer to go to Summer Training Project (STP) in South Carolina. Each year there were numerous instances when I was unsure if going to STP was the best option for me. I would ask myself, “Why am I doing this? Wouldn’t it be much better to get a job in Minnesota? Wouldn’t I earn more money that way? Why am I asking people for money? Wouldn’t it just be easier to stay home?” Consistently I would remind myself of why I was going.

Why did I spend my summers at Summer Training Project?: To make a bunch of money? No. To get a tan and practice my surfing skills? No. To see the lives of others and my life changed as we grow to know and love Jesus more? Absolutely.

My one reason of spending my summers in South Carolina was to grow more in my relationship with Jesus and be equipped to share his love with others. That one reason was enough for me to be able to say goodbye to my family and friends, be okay with making less money than I could at home, and do something out of my comfort zone. Personally, I grew immensely in my trust and reliance on God through my summers and now I am in one of the most meaningful times of my life as I share what I learned during in South Carolina with others. To me, nothing is better than sharing the love that God has lavished on us. Knowing that spending my summers at Summer Training Project allowed me to do that more confidently makes it all worthwhile.

Jesus’ Example

Jesus pressed on even though He wanted to give up.

Jesus knew that he would face suffering. He knew he would be betrayed by those closest to him. He knew he would be scourged, whipped, spit upon, crowned with thorns. He knew he would become sin, ultimately separating him from God. But that is the reason that he came (John 12:23, 27-28).

Jesus left his home in heaven to come to our broken earth. He experienced pain and rejection in order to be glorified. But this act was not selfish, it was the most self-less, loving act in history. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Not only did Jesus die for his friends, but he also died for his enemies. Jesus didn’t die for the righteous, he died for sinners. He didn’t die for the healthy, he died for the sick. He died for the very people that put him on the cross. He died for the people whose sin he took on and for which he suffered the wrath of God. He died for you and me.

His Reason

For the joy set before him.

“For the joy that was set before him [Jesus] endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted” (Hebrews 12:2-3).

Jesus just needed one good reason to press on through the pain. His reason was the joy set before him. You are that joy! You are the very reason he came! Jesus came to live the perfect life that we could never achieve. He came to die the death that we deserve, to pay the penalty for our sins. He came to destroy the works of darkness. He came to crush Satan under his feet. Even when Jesus was facing the toughest spiritual, emotional, and physical pain possible he stayed the course for us.

He came to do all of this for you and me. He came because we could never do it by ourselves. He came because he loves us.

Our Reason

The joy set before us.

We run the race for the joy of knowing and loving Jesus more. We press on for the ultimate joy of eternal life in heaven. We do this not to glorify ourselves, but to glorify God. Whatever we may face in this life, we know that this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison (2 Corinthians 4:17).

When we feel like giving up, we must remember our reason for doing what we do. We remember the how our life was changed by Jesus and how he is able to change the lives of others. When we are in our deepest pit we remember that God is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). We remember that God has an ultimate plan for us that we do not yet understand. We look to Jesus’ example and see that the most meaningful times in life generally follow the most difficult trials.

When we want to quit, we must remember: It takes pain to have progress. It takes hurt to have a healing. It takes a death to have a resurrection.

Harmon Squires
Campus Outreach Minneapolis
Bethel Campus Staff

"He didn’t fall? Inconceivable!” "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Some of you might remember the above exchange in the movie, The Princess Bride. It happens between Vizzini and Inigo Montoya. Vizzini thinks himself a genius and Inigo picks up on his overuse of the word, inconceivable. Vizzini had been applying the word liberally and probably wasn’t using it in its proper context. Inigo calls him on it.

A few years back I remember talking to a student leader who had been part of our Summer Training Project (if you’re a student, go ahead and click on that link 😉) about a similar exchange. Apparently one of our student leaders was chatting with a participant in the project who was struggling with some of the challenges of the Christian life. The student leader, sincerely hoping to help the participant, explained how he simply needed to “believe the gospel.” The participant, having heard the phrase repeated throughout the summer, exclaimed, “Everyone keeps telling me that, but I have no idea what that means!” I believe it may have been a bit more colorful, but you get the idea.

Lingo Without Literary Understanding

Now, I wasn’t present at this exchange. I can’t speak with great certainty about the exactness of it, but I certainly understand the context and have heard similar exchanges happen in our ministry. I have no doubt the student leader was earnest and wanted to help. And, theologically speaking, I think the leader was on the right track. The danger, however, is that like many words or phrases in the Christian community, they can become lingo without literary understanding. That is to say, a word can simply be repeated because it’s been heard, but accurate understanding of the word is void.

Certain words are heard by many of us from the pulpit, in the context of small groups, just outside the sanctuary after a worship service, or even around the dinner table that ultimately lose meaning because they’re simply repeated over and over again. It’s not that repetition is bad, not at all. However, repetition without explanation can be really harmful. We need to be careful about people, especially those who grow up within the Church, who know a lot of the right answers and are able to speak the right lingo but don’t really “mean what they think they mean”.

We need to state biblical truths in fresh and new ways in order that they resonate with us and sink down deeply into the soul. I’m not talking about seeking to be hip or cool. Rather, I’m talking about stating biblical truths by explaining them fully, articulately, and as often as possible connecting them to the everyday stuff of life. And there may not be a more important word in all of the Bible than “gospel” that needs repeating in a fresh and new way.

Learning From Paul — Appropriating the Gospel

Consider Paul’s confrontation of Peter in Galatians 2:11-16. I won’t get into all of the theological backdrop of the passage. But what I would like to point out is that Paul could have confronted Peter about a couple of ways he was in sin. He could have told Peter he was being racially insensitive. He could have told him he was simply pleasing people. But Paul didn’t mention either of those explicitly.

What did he say?

…I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel…

…we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified (Galatians 2:14-16, ESV).

Paul saw the central issue Peter was struggling with as one that dealt directly with the gospel. Paul went beyond simply stating jargon, however. He is helping his Galatian audience understand that to feel a sense of superiority because of one’s ethnicity or religious heritage is to walk out of step with the truth of the gospel. Indeed, Peter was afraid in this particular instance of what others thought. And what one fears can usually be traced to what a person values. When someone understands how Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of our value we need not fear what others think.

Paul spoke the truth of the gospel to Peter in the way Peter (and the church of Galatia) needed to hear it. He appropriated the message. This is what we all need to be able to do as we preach to ourselves first and foremost, and also as we preach to others. We need to heed Inigo Montoya’s advice and not "keep using that word” that may not mean what we think it means. More importantly, we need to figure out what the gospel means so that when we use that word we are confidently saying what we mean.

Summary

Eric Lonergan
Campus Outreach Minneapolis
St. Cloud State Director

One Reason