Sold Out

I recently tweeted an idea I thought I would share here on the blog to help unpack it over the next few days. The statement was:

When your staff's SOLD OUT for Jesus, BOUGHT IN to the vision, PASSIONATELY serving others, & ON FIRE to see life-change, leading is easy!

SOLD OUT for Jesus
For me, the phrase “sold out” means that a person is giving all they have. They have no reserves left. For those of you who are poker players (or watch “Celebrity High Stakes Poker”) a similar term would be ALL IN.

In the Bible, there is a story where Jesus asked a man to “sell everything” and follow him...

Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Mark10.21)

“Everything” for the man in this story was what the man depended on… For him it was his wealth. This is what Jesus asked him to give up, in order to be “sold out”… but the man just couldn’t do it.

At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!"(Mark10.22-23)

For some people it’s not wealth they depend on, it’s power. For some, they depend on being accepted by others. Or maybe they depend on being at the center of everything. In fact, for some, they so badly want to be seen as having what others have that they're willing to depend on DEBT…

From this story I have learned that whatever it is you depend on other than Jesus, you need to get rid of it! You need to be SOLD OUT, COMPLETELY, then, and only then, are we able to truly understand what it means to enter into the Kingdom of God, the place where Jesus wants to lead us.

My chips are in the middle of the table. I'm ALL IN! It's your move...