Sacrifice with a purpose

Puka Nacua, a wide receiver for the LA Rams, decided to spend his first offseason training with his veteran teammate Cooper Kupp. Kupp's grueling workouts had Puka showing up at 6 am and throwing up in his bushes for the first week. Sounds pretty rough!

Do you think an admirer of theirs would have observed their workout and concluded:

Good players show up and puke in Kupp's yard at 6 am in the offseason.

It sounds pretty silly, but we can tend to do that with spiritual sacrifice.

Spiritual Sacrifice

I read stories of missionaries giving up conveniences, promising futures, and safety, for the sake of following God. I see how busy they are with little time to themselves. Then I feel guilty when I spend time doing something I enjoy. I think:

Good christians deny their comforts, desires, and security.

So sometimes I find ways to stay busy just to be busy. In the end, I often don't accomplish much but at least I didn't enjoy myself, right? But staying busy doesn't make me a good christian any more than waking up early to deposit my breakfast in Kupp's yard makes me a good football player.

When I focus on the sacrifice instead of the cause, I miss the active ingredient that makes the sacrifice effective and worth it. I think it is also rooted in cheap pride where I am drawn to do the things that others will praise without doing the harder work to really accomplish something of substance. I try to seem, rather than to be.

Following Jesus

Jesus never hid the cost of following Him, but He always kept the focus on Him rather than the cost. He told people that what He had to offer was worth more than what they had, but that they could only have one life. So if they wanted the life He offered, then they had to give up the life they had. Sharing an illustration of this He said:

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
- Jesus (Matthew 13:44)

To the rich young ruler, who had much to lose, He said:

If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me
- Jesus (Matthew 19:21)

The focus wasn't "sell your possessions". Rather it was "be complete", "treasure in heaven", and "follow me".

Conclusion

Good players show up at 6 am and puke in Kupp's yard, but it isn't why they are good. It is just a side-effect, a cost that may need to be paid for the goal they are striving for.

So shift your focus from the loss to the gain and you will find the cost worth it. Also, invite people to join your vision rather than your sacrifice. Don't hide the cost, but when we make the sacrifice the main event it tends to attract fakers who just want to look good to others. That brings man glory, not God.