How to Save a Life
Luke 9:23-24 Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must
deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to
save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”
Salvation! From what? For whom? Why and when is it necessary? We have to ask
these questions of ourselves and others. Understanding salvation is a life or
death matter for all of us. Whether you have been a disciple for fifteen years
or fifteen minutes, you have to know, understand and truly believe God’s plan
for you. The following lyrics have come to mean a lot to me the last few months
as I have seen so many being saved and so many lost- one life changing decision
after another- Truly, decisions define you:
Step one you say we need to talk
He walks in you say sit down it’s just a talk
He smiles politely back at you
You stare politely right on through
Some sort of window to your right
As he goes left and you stay right
Between the lines of fear and blame
You begin to wonder why you came
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
Let him know that you know best
Cause after all you do know best
Try to slip past his defense
Without granting innocence
Lay down a list of what is wrong
The things you’ve told him all along
And pray to God he hears you
And pray to God he hears you
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
As he begins to raise his voice
You lower yours and grant him one last choice
Drive until you lose the road
Or break with the ones you’ve followed
He will do one of two things
He will admit to everything
Or he’ll say he’s just not the same
And you’ll begin to wonder why you came
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life-
Lyrics by- The Fray
Steve, Chris, Sonja, Robb and others share a laugh at the 2006 leaders retreat!
Kelsey and Brittany give a hug during
a great time of singing & fellowship.
The words remind me of so many who have sat down the last year to study the
Bible and then go away to never return, while others have embraced the message
and have repented, become disciples and been baptized for the forgiveness of
their sins. Still others have simply walked away from the truth, with bitterness
and in a quest for “an easier way”. In Luke 9, Jesus makes three things crystal
clear if we are to “come after him” (i.e. be Christians, be Christ-like= be
saved). We are commanded to deny self. Honestly, I think this is one of the most
hated “musts” of the Bible. Think about it- how often do you rejoice in the
thought of denying yourself? This teaching is so contrary to “Americanized
Christians” and our sinful nature. My “self” wants to be selfish, lustful,
greedy and prideful. There is little room in so many of our hearts for the true
call of Jesus- to deny self. It is equally amazing how much disciples do rejoice
after they have made the decision to obey!
Secondly, Jesus goes on to say, “he must take up his cross daily”. This may be
one of the most misunderstood teachings or at least the most watered down. Jesus
was on his way to the cross to die for all mankind. Several people have told me
lately that they cannot believe they used to lose sleep and then go to work
tired while helping another disciple overcome struggles or while studying the
Bible with someone. Some mention how they went broke or stayed broke because
they sacrificed so much to seek and save the lost or to give to missions. Sadly,
there is remorse and resentment in their memories- but little mention of the
souls saved from their sacrifice. Michael Hart, of Curacao, recently wrote that
if one person becomes a disciple as a result of him being “bankrupt” that he
would be the happiest person on earth. That is the heart Jesus speaks of;
sold-out to dying daily, no matter the cost. Walking toward your death daily, so
others can be saved is the message of the gospel and most certainly the heart of
Jesus. One might ask, “How much is too much?” Jesus answers the question in Luke
14:33 -any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple
or John 12:24 -unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains
only a single seed.
Thirdly, Jesus teaches, “he must follow me”. Equally misunderstood, many try so
hard to minimize these words because he calls for total commitment.
Interestingly, we are saved because of the total commitment of Jesus- how can we
think any less is asked of us when the scriptures are so clear? “Follow me”- It
takes great faith, love for God and love for other men to live this out. When
faith and love are gone or waning, this seems a harsh command and even
impossible. With faith and trust in our Savior, we can fulfill our destiny by a
hard-line decision to obey him.
1 Timothy 4:15-16 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so
that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely.
Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your
hearers. Paul tells Timothy how to save himself and others. He is challenged to
“be diligent, give self wholly to them and to persevere”. The most defining two
letter word in English is IF. This is translated from the Greek, which actually
says, “continue in them; this for in doing” (epímene autoís toúto gár
poioón). A strong IF! Salvation comes immediately at the baptism of a disciple
and the shower of grace continues as the disciple lives by faith, in obedience
to the gospel message. As soon as the wall of sin is broken down, we are saved.
If we pull our hearts back, God is amazingly merciful, but he has limits when we
have “trampled the Son of God” Hebrews 10:19-39, have “stubbornness and your
unrepentant heart” Romans 2:5 or “embrace another gospel” Galatians 1:6-9. We
can in fact, fall from grace if we harden our hearts against our Savior. Thank
God he is so patient, as each of us stumbles constantly! Just get up!
Another issue brought up here is the salvation of others by us “watching our
life and doctrine closely and persevering in them”. When disciples truly live
the life they are called to, others will follow and the church will be filled
with thriving disciples, inspired by an imperfect but “in the vine” leaders and
teachers. Luke 6:40 A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is
fully trained will be like his teacher. I constantly can check my heart by
looking at the fruit of my life. A favorite quote of mine:
“When asked if leading a person to Christ was the greatest joy in life, Leroy
Eims replied that there is something even greater than that. What is it that could be
greater than seeing someone come to the Lord? He said, When the person you have
led to Christ grows and develops into a dedicated, fruitful, mature disciple who
then goes on to lead others to Christ and helps them in turn as well.”[1]
How exciting to see disciples making disciples, who will then make disciples!
Remember, they will become like you- be diligent. It is an issue of salvation.
James 5:19-20 My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and
someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the
error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins. In
the same way, when disciples have wandered away, we are to passionately save a
life! One might think it prideful, even arrogant to say, “I helped turn that
guy, that ministry or that church around”, yet this is the very heart of God.
Certainly, no man can turn someone back to God without the power of the Holy
Spirit. It is always God working in us when people are saved from death. We are
called to bring salvation to the world through the preaching of the message, but
without us preaching- there is no hope for the world, or for us. Let’s get over
our “super-spiritual” hang ups and preach the word without compromise. While
some are still debating church-polity, direction and who’s right; thousands have
left for the love of the world and search for lost vision while billions are
still lost. How are we to “save a life”? First, we must be in love with God and
his word- then we must deny ourselves, die daily and truly follow Jesus,
teaching others the same. Anything less will give birth to illegitimate
“Americanized” Christians who are not disciples. We “know how to save a life” as
the song asks. The real question is; will we live it?
He stoops down to make us great
(let us stoop down to make others great!),
Matt Sullivan
[1] Milton Jones, Discipling: The Multiplying Ministry (Grapevine: Star Bible
and Tract Corp. 1982), p. 49
