Losing to Gain

The following article was first published in the Grace Baptist Church (Singapore) YYA Missions 06 Newsletter (Volume Two) on 3 Dec 06.



Losing to Gain

I remember it clearly. It was 1998. I stood before the church and gave my testimony before my baptism. I had quoted Matthew 16:25 - “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it[i].” and said that there are some paradoxes in the Christian Faith which I cannot understand. However, I said that I will take a step of Faith in obedience, and be baptized, though not fully comprehending the paradoxes in the bible.

It is almost nine years on and I’m still learning what Matthew 16:25 means. I have learnt that discipleship to the Master is costly: it means sacrificing[ii], not merely giving from your excess but sacrificing your wants – your ambition, your material comforts, your holidays, your energies and resources – wholly giving to Jesus. Please do not think that I am advocating asceticism, sacrifice without devotion to God is mere going through the motion – a form of legalism. Sacrifice should be an expression of love and obedience[iii].

I remember it clearly again. It was just last year, in 2005, during our preparation for the Youth and Young Adults (YYA) Mission experience and experience trip to Thailand. We had asked the younger ones why they had wanted to attend the mission trip. Deborah Yap replied that usually in December before Christmas, she would usually be going out with friends, attending parties and shopping. She said she was convinced God had called her then to the mission trip. It meant sacrificing her usual activities before Christmas and going in obedience and love. She had wanted to see how God was working in expanding the reach of His Kingdom. I believe she was richly blessed by the trip.

This year, the YYA Mission Team will be headed to Jakarta, Indonesia in partnership with Desmond and Wendy from 13 to 20 December. The team comprises five new members and six returning members. We will be involved in ministry to the chapel and student fellowship as well as outreach to orphanages for the local street kids. The theme verse is aptly from Isaiah 58:10[iv] - we will be giving of ourselves to the down-and-out, as a demonstration of love and obedience to God and compassion for man. Though the members of the team may or may not be blessed in this life-time, I am sure the team shall be hearing the heavenly “Ka-Chink” – the storing of treasures in heaven.

Ollie

Nov 2006

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[i] All quotations are from the New American Standard Bible unless otherwise stated.

[ii] “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” - Matthew 16:24. In contemporary times, taking up your cross is often meant as carrying your burdens and making some sacrifices. However, in Jesus’ time, the cross was an implement of death. When Jesus meant “take up his cross and follow him”, He literally means to die - to wholly give yourself to him and share in his shame and death.

[iii] Luke 21:1-4. The widow’s gift consisted of 2 copper coins – a small sum but all she had. It was an act of love in obedience to God’s law of tithing and sacrifices.

[iv] "If you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out, Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight." Isaiah 58:10 -from the Message Bible.