Are You Committed or Involved? by ‘Brother Bill’

Are you committed or involved my mentor asked?  I’m committed knowing that’s the right answer. He said: “You’re about as committed as a kamikaze pilot with landing gear.”

I asked how so? He said, “you’ve been coasting on talent and power.  So when are you going to get some character and a tenacious attitude?  You’ve been playing not to loose, not to win.”  Napoleon said, burn the ships when we win then we will return in their ships.

Since all that happens to you is God’s will whether good are bad, it’s for your good says Romans 8:28-29 if you’re His.  So I ask again; Are you a convenient Christian or a committed Christian?  Do you leave it all on the field or save it for later?  Are you a victim of life or a victor?

Now My story:
Well now, my mentor doesn’t deal in soft pillows—he deals in flint and fire.  And though his words may sting like a hornet, there’s a peculiar kindness in them, the sort that aims not to comfort a man, but to wake him.

You say you’re committed. That’s a fine word—respectable, even noble—but a word alone is like a boat tied to the dock: it may look seaworthy, but it ain’t going anywhere. Commitment, real commitment, has a way of cutting ropes, burning bridges, and making a fellow terribly uncomfortable in all the right ways.

So, you’ve been “coasting on talent and power.”  That’s the kind of accusation that doesn’t come knocking unless there’s some truth sitting quietly behind it, rocking in a chair.  Talent without toil is like a plow in the barn—impressive, but it won’t turn a single row.

Now, Scripture doesn’t leave a man guessing on these matters:

“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot.  I could wish you were cold or hot.” (Revelation 3:15, NKJV)

There’s no medal for lukewarm living.  Heaven doesn’t applaud hesitation.

And as for this business of playing not to lose instead of playing to win:

“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.” (1 Corinthians 9:24, NKJV)

That there is not a suggestion—it’s a command with its sleeves rolled up.

My mentor invoked burning ships, and though Napoleon gets the credit in our telling, the spirit of that notion is older than empires.  It’s the idea that retreat is no longer an option.  The Bible puts it this way:

“No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62, NKJV)

A man who keeps glancing over his shoulder is liable to plow a crooked field.

Now about being a “convenient” Christian versus a committed one—well, convenience has ruined more good intentions than outright rebellion ever did. Convenience says, “I’ll serve when it’s easy for the gifts not the God.”  Commitment says, “I’ll serve because it’s right.”

“And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:27, NKJV)

Crosses, you’ll notice, weren’t designed for comfort.

As for whether we’re a victim or a victor—Scripture answers that with a confidence that borders on audacity:

“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37, NKJV)

Not survivors.  Not barely-getting-by souls. More than conquerors.

And that passage—Romans 8:28–29—well, it doesn’t promise ease, it promises purpose:

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28, NKJV)

That includes the hard words from mentors, the uncomfortable truths, and the seasons where we realize we’ve been drifting instead of driving.

So here’s the plain truth, dressed in its Sunday best:

You can’t be half-committed and expect full transformation.  You can’t save something for later when the call is for now leave it all on the field,be a gamer not just a practice player.  For you can’t win a race you’re afraid to run hard.

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord…” (1 Corinthians 15:58, NKJV)

That doesn’t sound like coasting.  That sounds like a man who’s decided the ships are burning and forward is the only direction left.

Now the question isn’t what our mentor thinks.
It’s whether we’re ready to prove him wrong—or right—with the way we live when nobody’s watching.

So, give all we have to Jesus as he did for us Galatians 2:20″

20: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

21 “I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”

All in is the only way to win.  The greatest adventure is not the wide way leading to destruction, but the difficult way leading to to life.  Blessings brother bill/dad