We just finished a long weekend and i had some great adventures i wanted to tell you about. I finished work on Thursday afternoon and jumped in the car with a friend of mine and headed up to Atlanta to pick up his girlfriend. Then we drive up to his family’s lake house. We were up there with me and two other couples one married and the other dating. Friday we took his families boat out on the lake it was as great i tubed and knee boarded. then we all swam around for a while it was great, well they all had someone to do it with but i was fine because i got to drive the boat and it was amazing. I have decided i am going to have to own a boat one day. It is not an if any more it is only a when. The rest of our group showed up late Friday night and we made dinner, it was another couple who is dating and two other single guys. Saturday morning we boated again and swam a lot it was a lot of fun. The three couples, one married and two dating and then me and this other single guy but again i got to drive the boat so i was in heaven.
We then headed up to the Navigators conference Saturday night. Checked in went to the first session, roasted marshmallows, swam in a lake we were not supposed to and had a great time. we got up on Sunday at an ungodly hour to run up Currahee (the hill from Band of Brothers) it was a great time.it was dark so i could not even see the group beneath my feet but i could see the vagu out line of a white road and that is where i went and supporsingly i did not fall or twist anything. Then we got back and had two workshops which were good.
That afternoon/evening i had a minor melt down. This may take more than one post but the BLUF is: we are all human and no one is perfect.
The navigators have developed an amazing way to witness to people and to disciple people but at the conference i was reminded of why i left the navigators while i was at West Point. The Focus of the retreat was on disciple ship. Whenever i would bring up the direction that God has been taking me and the cry of my heart i would be shut down (most times in not so graceful or loving a way) and told that i needed to relook at my way of following Jesus.
What is sad to me is that what i feel is the cry of my heart is where all these people came from and they have such a clear grip on. There are basic truths that are infallible however how each of us takes those truths and applies them in our own lives is going to be different we are all individual and unique people.
the cry of my heart, the reason i wake up every day and read my bible and pray, the reason i go to battle everyday with my mind to have victory is so that i can be one with God! The cry of my heart is to be in a relationship with Jesus Christ and to be close to him.
I believe that is our mission that is our journey however while we are on this journey we were "commissioned" to bring other into the kingdom to join us on the journey.
if my focus is on Jesus and to be close to him to have him fill my cup to over flowing then from that over flow of my heart i will be so excited about Jesus who i know that i will have to share it with others and bring them into the kingdom.
Here is the problem how do you get 100% of the body of Christ doing Great Commission work 100% of the time??
Only a small percent about 5% of the body of Christ is called to be missionaries or pastor or called to full time ministry. But what about the rest of us? What about us in the trenches?
well in the normally use of the word we laborers who go to work every day and have a normally job are not in full time minister...however this is where i would raise a red flag and ask you to reevaluate. I would argue that we in the trenches, we laborers are called to and can do Great Commission work 100% of the time.
When I go to work i devote myself to my job 100%, when i am working out i devote myself to it 100%, when i am working on relationships with people i am there 100%. That is how we obey.
The cry of my heart is to obey, not to go. Yes it is hard to go to Africa or some other nation. However i would argue it is just as hard if not harder to go to work day after day working at it with all our hearts as working for the Lord and not for men. Being faithful. Being a light for those in the dark of how a man or woman of God should live their lives. Now do not get me wrong this does not mean that we on the line do not have to be ready to go for the fumble at any time and run for the in-zone but our focus is giving it our all every play. If you have ever played D or O line in football you will understand this, you have to sell your body every play. You have to sell out every single time the ball is snapped. There is not holding back and going half speed. That is what i believe living for Jesus looks like.
One day i hope that someone will look at me and i do not want them to day that was a man who disciple people, or who told people about Jesus.
I want people to look at me and say,
"There is Joe Lambert; he is an Infantry officer who is squared away and excellent at his job. That is a man who is a PT animal. Joe Lambert is a Christian. That is a man who has something different and something i do not have and that is what i want."
Well now you have my two cents. I am not down playing any other point of view and i hope that i have not offended anyone. However if we can agree on the base line truth:
1. Our relationship with Jesus is our Number one priority
2. As we grow close to him we will bring other into that same relationship
These are true. However how they are manifested in my life is going to look different than they are going to be in your life.
