Crossing the Red Sea
John Fischer

There was a sea of red as almost everyone in the Angel Stadium crowd of 30,000 stood to their feet and held up a red sign. The next day, a picture of that red sea was on the front page of the California section of the Los Angeles Times, next to an article that reported on the 25th anniversary celebration of Saddleback Church that had taken place in Anaheim. On each one of those red signs were the words, “Whatever it takes.” Those standing were responding to Rick Warren’s call to service and commitment to the Lord’s will for their lives for the next 25 years.

It’s a bold and daring statement. And everyone put some bite behind those words by declaring together, corporately, in Rick Warren’s prepared statement (the content of yesterday’s devotional), “Wherever you lead and whatever the cost, I’m ready. Anytime. Anywhere. Anyway. Whatever it takes Lord; Whatever it takes!”

I wonder what it will take. It will undoubtedly take some sacrifice of time, money, talent and influence. It will take thinking of God first, and others after that, before ever considering ourselves (the opposite of how this naturally goes). It will take valuing “worship over wealth, ‘we’ over ‘me,’ character over comfort, service over status, and people over possessions, position, and pleasures.” What a radical departure this is from the popular messages of today that appeal to what we think we deserve, and yet, how refreshing to know that it’s only in serving God and others that we are truly happy. This isn’t some legalistic drudgery we are committing ourselves to; it is the most exciting life possible.

These people have caught a vision for using their life for something more than themselves. Many of them are already experiencing the fruits of serving God; they are now simply saying: “Whatever is next, Lord, we’re ready.”

For some, it may mean sacrificing those home improvements they’ve been thinking about so that a family in Rwanda can have a home they never thought possible. For others, it may mean giving up that hobby at home for a ministry across town. For others it may mean making their family available to a single mom and her needs. For still others it may mean getting over their fear of relationships and committing themselves to a small group. Still others, it may mean hardship or sickness — even death — so that others can be serviced with the comfort and strength they have received in their own affliction and grief.

For all of us, it will mean being a part of God’s church in the future, and that’s pretty exciting when you think of it. Worth crossing over that sea of red to “Whatever it takes!”

PDL