"What man is a man who does not leave the world better?" This quote is taken from Kingdom of Heaven, but is so completely relevant to our lives that it's impossible to get away. Everyone wants to leave a mark. Andy even made the point that if we're leaders, we HAVE to want to leave a mark. That's what makes a leader. And the truth is, every single one of us leaves a mark. But which mark do we leave?
Things come up. That's just life. It would be so boring if every day things were exactly the same. A phone call, a conversation, a bank account statement... All of these things happen, and suddenly, we're all in the middle of a "crisis" point. We have decisions to make, things to say and do, and all of a sudden, we have a mark to make. And the most troubling part of it all, as a leader and as a follower, is that you never know where that mark is. Every single one of us is going to touch someone or hit someone in some way, and we're going to make our mark. The problem is that we don't know when that's going to happen. We won't see our greatest opportunity until after it's past us. Have you ever had someone come back to you later and said, "you know, you really stuck with me when you said that?" And you're completely floored. To you, it was just a casual comment or compliment. But to them, it was the world. It changed who they are and how they think, and a light bulb all of a sudden went off. And maybe if you'd known that ahead of time, you would have planned it out better, or maybe been too scared to say anything at all. So maybe that's a blessing. Either way, we don't know when our mark is being made, and a lot of the times, if we were going to pick where our mark was going to be made, we'd pick a different moment.
In the story of Joshua, Joshua gives his people three commands (Joshua 23-24). He tells them to cling to the Lord you're God. He tells them to love God. And then, as our kids could tell you, in Joshua 24:15, he says, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua tells his people to follow the Lord, love the Lord, and build their house to SERVE the Lord. And to this day, people are reading Joshua's words and following what he said. That was a mark made. And the thing is, we all have a mark to leave. But we need to make THE mark, not A mark. YOUR mark, not a mark. We all have a specific mark to leave, and we all have a choice to make.
14 "Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?"
15 The commander of the LORD's army replied, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.
-Joshua 5:13-15
The funny thing about this passage to me is the angel's answer. "Are you for us or our enemies?" Joshua asks. That seems like a pretty easy question, right? You've got two choices. 50% chance. But, you know, in pure God-fashion, the angel throws us for a loop and says "neither." What? You're not for me, or for my enemies? Suddenly, Joshua realizes something. God's not FOR us. We're FOR God. Now, I'm not saying that God's not for us and that He doesn't fight for us, because absolutely He does. But the point is, the angel didn't come down to earth to make Joshua's mark. Joshua was on the earth to make God's mark. God didn't come to play a role in my story. I was created to make a mark in HIS story.
And Joshua's response is just so perfect. He humbled himself, fell down, and asked, "what message does my Lord have for his servant?" He is out to serve the Lord. He hears what the Lord's messenger is saying, and he fires right back, "what message does my Lord have for me?" "What can I do?" His life is about serving God. How many of us can say that and mean it? I think we all want to mean it, but how many of us can actually say it and mean it and take it and make it our own?
Andy Stanley said his father had one quote that hung on his wall in his office the entire time he was growing up. "God takes full responsibility for the life wholly devoted to him." It's not about who is for or against you, but it's about who you are for. Yes, there are consequences to following God. There are consequences to not following God too. We have responsibilities and consequences in this wonderful relationship we have with our Lord. God calls us to do these crazy things that are sometimes not fun. But our responsibility is to be obedient to God and to trust him with the consequences. The thrill of life that comes from knowing Jesus is so great and so wonderful, but it comes with great responsibility. The responsibility of being obedient to the King we know. And sometimes that obedience is blind and hard and just plain not fun. But we have to trust our God to take that obedience, and to take those consequences, and make them what is good and holy. Our responsibility is to obey and to trust. And that's how we can make our mark.
It all boils down to three things. 1) You don't know the biggest thing God will do for you. You don't know how He's going to use you or change you. You don't know the biggest blessing He will give you. You don't know where your mark is going to be. You don't know if it's going to be a little thing, or a big thing. But it's there. God didn't create an idle creation. He created an active, fast-paced creation that seeks to glorify Him and change the world and mix it up. 2) You don't want to miss it. Our relationship with Christ is so thrilling, and the plan he has for our lives is so, so big. That mark He has planned for us is so great and so big that we don't want to miss it. We don't want to miss our chance. 3) Living to make my mark is too small a thing to give my life to. God's mark is worth giving your life to.
All of this left me wondering... Am I doing everything I can do for God? Am I sold out to Jesus? Am I living my life wondering if God is FOR me, or am I living my life knowing that it's FOR Him? Am I expecting God to be a part of my story, or am I living it to be a part of His? Where is my mark, and am I ready to make it?
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