Halfway with Jesus: How to Tell

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Lying on his dorm room bed, freshman Kyle stared at the dark ceiling, pondering his new chapter of life. On the one hand, he was so done with high school. On the other hand, he wasn’t sure he was up to the demands of university academia.  Sure, State University was appealing. He’d already tasted his first rush into the party scene. Under-age drinking gave him a buzz, but no one back home needed to know.

Sunday morning rolled around, and although if he were back home, he’d normally be up for church with his family, but Kyle decided to sleep in, “just this once”.  Of course, one week rolled into the next. Another party with guys on his dorm floor, bed by 300am on a Sunday morning again. You can figure out the rest of Kyle’s story.

It’s not a 100% across the board for every high school senior entering university or the work world, but for a vast number of young Warrior-men, faith goes by the wayside. Demographically, young warrior age (18-30) men are the least likely to attend church. Their folks may have raised them in church, believing in Jesus, doing church-things. However, now that independence and decision-making is more in the guy’s court, the all-in commitment he may have made at a high school youth camp just a couple of months ago may be downgraded to what some have come to call a partially-consecrated life.

There are six signs if you are drifting into a Partially-Consecrated Life:

1. Selective Obedience.  Jesus teaches that if you love Him, you will keep His commands. Selective obedience means you’ll pick and choose which things you’ll follow Jesus on and which you’ll do your own thing. For Kyle, at 19, under-age drinking is not only illegal, but it is setting a precedent for bending the rules in other areas. One of the guys on his floor offered him weed. So far, Kyle’s hesitated, but like the beer-thing, he keeps hearing “just once won’t hurt anything.” 

Following Jesus isn’t some rigid legalistic moral ball and chain. Following Jesus is rooted in His unfailing love for you. You love Him by doing what He says.

2. Compartmentalizing Faith.  Our culture brainwashes us to keep Jesus in a timeslot. Sunday mornings, perhaps a campus ministry small group once a week or other Christian event, but that’s it!  The rest of the time is yours. Jesus, in this way of thinking has nothing to say about your academic studies, the relationships you have or what you plan to do on Friday night. It’s the sacred-secular divide that plagues alot of us. Me included.

Of course, Jesus is Lord of all of life. He literally is the force holding life together, keeping your body alive, the universe running. He is the creator and instigator of all things. Your Calc-3 class, your World History studies, and Political Science courses. Nothing is excluded from the influence of Jesus. Jesus is either Lord over everything or Lord over nothing. Faith is never a timeslot; it’s to be your life. 

3. Inconsistent Devotions. On the one hand, you can think of devotions as having a daily time in the Bible and prayer.  I recall having a text conversation with a young man about his relationship with Jesus. He responded with a guilty apology for not being in the Word much lately. He told me all about his recent road trip, (which sounded like a blast), but would do better once he got back into a rhythm.  Frankly, it’s not about having daily “quiet times” so much as it is about practicing the presence of God in all of life. 

A consecrated life in Jesus increasingly sees Him in virtually every aspect of life. Recently, we had some exterior work done at our home. The guy did a great job!  In the process, he mentioned our backyard hose bib had low pressure. He needed water and figured out a way to use the front yard hose bib.  Hours later, after he left, we walked into our basement storage room to find a wet floor and shelving. To be honest, we were caught off guard. Our basement has been dry for over 20 years. In the process of cleaning up and drying out the room, we also discovered our sump pump was not working. In the end, once my wife and I got our bearings on what we needed to do, we realized the Lord was present in the midst of our wet basement. Had the low-pressure hose bib not leaked, we would not have also discovered our broken sump pump as well. Given this happened during our Spring rainy season, we were actually blessed to find it when we did.  

God is in the details. Living a life of consistent devotion includes regular time in the Word, but ten minutes daily is not what Jesus meant by being fully-consecrated to Him. Even in trials and tribulations, you can be fully set apart for Him.

4. Justify Compromise. Remember Kyle, who was being pressured by his dorm floor-mates, “just once won’t hurt anything.”  We call it the slow drift. A bit of compromise here or there might not seem like much, but keep compromising and you will end up in a situation you will later regret. 

If a plane takes off from the Los Angeles Airport (LAX) headed for New York City’s JFK Airport, but the pilot misinputs the coordinates by one degree to the right, he will take his passengers to Washington, DC; 225 miles away from the intended destination.

Compromise is different from chillin’ or loosening up. In my young adult years, I was driven by a lot of anxiety because I didn’t see myself the way God does. That led me to sin in secret. It was eating me alive! As I grew in my manhood identity (as a son of the Father), I was able to loosen up, relax without compromising my all-in consecration to Jesus. 

5. More Interested in Appearance then Alignment. This is tough for a young man. Nothing wrong with looking sharp, but when looks become more important than aligning your heart with the Lord, a red flag should catch your attention. 

Christopher Sexton has this to say:

The louder your need to be seen,

The blinder you are to everyone else,

But once you make peace

With your own reflection,

The whole world

Stops being a mirror

And becomes a window

Full of awe-struck miracles.

The ego says: see me.

The soul says: see.

One word difference.

An entire universe of intimacy.

A partially consecrated man is an ego-man. He competes with Jesus for who will sit at the top.

6. Drifting Priorities. My wife and I were visiting with some good friends of ours, whom we’ve known for over three decades. We used to attend church together. Back then, we were all on the same page regarding faith and doctrine and how it all played out in life. Although playing the church game had more sway on us back then, we still held to the Bible and Gospel-centered living.

As we caught up, my wife and I noticed a subtle shift in priorities. Their agenda had less to do with Jesus and more to do with progressive causes. Not that social justice is contrary to the Gospel, but sourcing life from a fully-consecrated commitment to Jesus (Christ living His life through you), anchors one’s priorities, preventing the subtle drift away.

Circling back to Kyle staring at his dorm room ceiling. A conversation he had earlier in the day with a campus ministry staff mentor about these six signs got him thinking. Maybe it was time to move towards Jesus instead of doing his own thing.

Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.  James 4:5-8 ESV

Warrior On!

MW Editor’s Note:  Next week we’ll dive into 4 practical signs of a consecrated life.  If you see the need to process whether you are partially or fully consecrated to Jesus?  Reach out to us at info@mentoring-warriors.com