For the Sake of the Call
A little over a year ago, Sarah and I were at a crossroads. After 7 years in the military, it was time to decide whether or not to commit another 4 years to the Air Force. It was not an easy decision to make. Having been in the military since I was 17, I’d become used to the security of a sure paycheck and benefits. At the same time, I knew well that God had something different in mind for me for the future.
I can trace the beginnings of that call to a big tent on the banks of the Greenbrier River. Whether it was Don Humble, in his quiet, gruff manner, speaking of the agony our Savior suffered on the cross, or Steven Manly with his animated gestures preaching of “cross-style” living, I felt the distinct pull of the Spirit on my heart. I can’t tell how many times I’ve knelt in that sawdust and sought the touch of Christ in my heart. One summer, I turned a corner in my young life. There at Peyton Camp meeting, I realized that my faith was not something that I could inherit from my parents, but that I needed a personal, growing, day-to-day relationship with Christ. That summer, I was baptized in the cool water of the Greenbrier River.
In the years that have followed, God has continued to challenge me in many different ways. Though I’ve made many mistakes and missteps, God has been faithful, and I’ve continued to grow. Several years later, I felt the call to full-time Christian service. At the time, I didn’t know what exactly that service was to be, or when I was to begin it. (I was still in the middle of my obligation to the military.)
In 2006, I was transferred to Fairchild AFB, in Washington State. Sarah and I began to attend Faith Bible Church in Spokane. The church itself was different from what I was accustomed to, but the pastor was dedicated to preaching solidly from the scriptures. During our time there, my walk with God grew faster than it ever has. I learned a concrete formula for reading and understanding Scripture. As time passed, I began to build on my interest in Christian Apologetics.
At the same time, I became increasingly aware of the serious state that Christians in America have reached. Church leadership has spent so much time trying to dumb down the Gospel message, that we have a generation of Christians that never move beyond a kindergarten-level understanding of their faith. As a result, Christianity as a whole has begun to embrace more and more of the secular culture’s worldview, so that the foundations of what we believe, and why we believe it, are mostly lost upon this generation.
I began to have more and more experiences with leadership in the military which showed me that the military is becoming infused with this Godless, morally bankrupt worldview. Effective leadership doctrines are based in Biblical principles, and when those principles are forsaken, the whole structure of the military will eventually collapse. As I began to question my place in the scheme of things, a very wise man in the church suggested that maybe God was using circumstance to guide me in a new direction.
I had planned on committing another 4 years to the military, but Sarah and I began to pray and consider our options. I knew that I needed college to prepare for ministry. I found a program at Liberty University that has a biblically sound, logical approach to studying Christianity. It was a perfect basis for an entrance to apologetics ministry. We prayed and felt that God was directing us forward.
I still don’t know some of the specifics of what God is calling me to, but I do know this is the next step. That’s all I need to know. I don’t consider myself worthy of God's calling, but God is gracious and somehow, as great as He is, He finds a way to use fallen humans in His kingdom. So, if the cost of living a purposeful life in Christ means giving up a few of the trinkets that we as humans seem to think are so important, then so be it. So many would question the wisdom of giving up the security we had, and my answer is best summed up in the words of this song:
We will abandon it all,
for the sake of the call.
No other reason at all,but the sake of the call.
Wholly devoted to live and to die,
For the sake of the call.
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."—Jim Elliot