“Salvation is free, but it ain’t cheap.“

Evangelicals rightly assert that salvation is a gift of God that cannot be earned, but instead must be accepted freely by faith in the gospel of the risen Christ.  However, just because salvation is free for us does not make it cheap.  There is always a price attached to our faith in Jesus.  Maybe a better word than price would be “value.”

The first human being to ever physically touch Jesus Christ was his mother, the virgin Mary.  (Protestants could learn something from our Catholic friends; we can honor and esteem this virtuous woman without deifying her.)  We “have Jesus” by repenting of sin and trusting Him to save us.  She “had Jesus” by carrying Him in her womb and giving birth to Him in a cave-turned-barn.  She was the chosen vessel to birth, love, and nurture the Savior of humanity and the King of Kings.  She must have been something else, for sure, because of all the Jewish girls in Palestine, her virtue and character caught God’s eye.

But have you ever considered the price she had to pay for “having Jesus?”  Imagine a strict religious culture where girls were married in their early to mid-teens to young men that were chosen by their parents and where all pre-marital intimacy, conversation, and contact was strictly forbidden.  Imagine, then, a 14 year old girl living in that culture, betrothed to marry a young man, and she begins showing; her belly begins to grow and everyone in the community notices that she is pregnant before she got married.  The stares and ugly looks aimed at her must have cut to the quick.  And what would she say when people asked her about the pregnancy as an unmarried teenager?  God did this to me?

Don’t be confused by our commercialization of the birth of Christ.  Mary paid a price for carrying that baby boy.  And just like Jesus messed up the neatly organized religious world of His day with His birth, He still messes up our neatly organized world when He enters it.  He wants to do more than give us a happy life.  He aims to hurt us, wound us, destroy in us the things that would eventually kill us, and prove to us that we are not the center of the universe.  He is.  Once we see this and believe this, we really begin to live with joy and peace and meaning.

There is always a price attached to having Jesus because there is an infinite value in the Person of Jesus.  Because He is of the utmost worth, because He is the ultimate and supreme possession, following Him may cost us status, fame, popularity, social standing, or prosperity.  But have we really lost anything at all if we gain Christ?  Indeed, we have gained everything.

So I am thinking about that little Jewish teenage girl today; how she must have felt, how she hurt and suffered at the judgments passed on her and the price she had to pay for carrying the Messiah.  But it was worth the price she paid.  God had come to turn things upside down, to change history, and to save us from our sin.  A small price to pay for such a tremendous payoff.

One theological issue I have always had with the so-called “prosperity gospel” is that many who espouse the idea that God never wants you to suffer or be sick miss out on the great lessons that can be learned through struggles, valleys, trials and hardships.  (To be fair, one of the things I appreciate about them, however, is a hunger for more of God and at times, an audacious faith to ask God for the miraculous).

At least in the mind of the Apostle Paul, sickness and strife, hardships and hell, suffering and severity were all opportunities for God to remind him that he, like us, was not nearly as strong as he thought.  Sickness reminds us that we are but human, frail and utterly dependent on God (and our sisters and brothers) for everything.  (And if it’s always God’s will to heal us, then we could never die).  So the real issue for the Christian is seeing God in our valley and embracing Him as our strength, regardless of how long it takes for the circumstances to get better.

It is in the crucible of pain and suffering that God often speaks loudest to us.  As C.S. Lewis, noted, pain is God’s megaphone to a deaf world.  He humbles me, cuts me down to size, and clips my wings of pride when I begin to think more highly of myself than I ought.  He is wise.  He knows what it takes to remind us of exactly how little control we have over any element of life.

I am currently in the midst of such a reminder and it is no fun, to be sure.  For the past 8 days I’ve been sick with a combo of strep throat and bronchitis.  Lots and lots of medicine has left my taste buds deadened, my body restless and unable to sleep, my throat raw and my lungs filled with, well let’s just say, some very unsightly “stuff.”  In the middle of this sickness, I can fret and fuss.  Or I can go into a frenzy of prayer demanding that God do what I want immediately (namely, making me better).  Or, I can pray in faith for healing and accept the undeniable fact that His strength is only recognized in my weakness, and for that revelation to be given to me, I must first be weak.  Sickness makes us weak.

We don’t do well with weakness.  We want to be strong.  Physically, spiritually, emotionally, and financially.  Yet when I make an idol out of the facade of being strong, God shows me Who is really God; and it’s not me or my health or my bank balance.  It is the Lord, God Almighty, make or Heaven and earth.

I am also reminded today of other brothers who are going through infinitely greater trials right now.  Men like Matt Chandler, Johnny Hunt, Danny Akin, John Piper, and Jack Graham are dealing with tumors and cancer.  All I have is a hacking cough.  I pray for each of them, and countless others, that God would heal them as well as show them more of Who He is in the sickness.

Do not hate your struggle.  Embrace it as a tool that God is using to chip away your flesh and fill you with His Spirit.

Ever so often, I meet people that leave an impression on me so deep that I feel compelled to share it.  This is one of those times.

I just returned from a 2 day whirlwind trip to the beautiful hills and farms of Southern Indiana (home of Larry Bird and John Cougar Mellencamp).  It was my third trip to the region in the past 10 years and I spoke in 4 public schools.  I did not go to preach the gospel.  This was not a church event or a ministry conference.  These were straight-up public school assemblies where I challenged students to think about their future as they make decisions today; choices about relationships and drugs and alcohol and sex and grades.  I’ve been doing non-religious public school assemblies since I was National Beta Club Secretary in 1990.  I love them!  They keep me sharp and honest and on my toes.  If I can communicate to and hold the attention of 1,000 public school students in a gym, then I can do just about anything.  They can be a tough crowd.

Often students are unruly, cynical, and difficult to control.  I plan for this and come ready.  I usually have to embarrass someone right of the bat, show them I am in charge, and set a tone up front.  The rest of the time flows without any interruptions.  It is rare that I address an entire student body that impresses me from the word “go.”

That’s why I need to brag on the students I just spent 2 days with.  I really hope some of them read this.  I was flabbergasted…in a good way!  These young women and men were simply amazing; they were energetic and respectful, attentive and kind, encouraging and intelligent.  They laughed when I said something funny, but the moment I switched gears and got serious, they immediately cued in on me and hung on my every word.  And at one school, I felt like a Baptist Pastor after a sermon: the ENTIRE student body lined up to shake my hand and tell me how much they enjoyed the talk.  And it was genuine appreciation.

I wish the media would go Loogootee, Jasper, NE Dubois, and Forest Park High Schools and do a story on those kids.  I wish America could see the students I saw this week.  They have renewed my hope in the future of this country.  I honestly can say that I hope my 2 sons turn out like some of the guys I met, or that they date young ladies like some of the precious girls I met.

It is so uncommon for most people in our country to think of teenagers with manners and class, who listen and engage and pay attention, that it’s almost unbelievable.  But they do exist.  It would be a tragedy for me to waste an opportunity to  brag on some of the coolest students I’ve ever had the joy to serve!  And you need to know that they weren’t born this way…they had parents and grandparents and teachers and coaches and principals and pastors in a COMMUNITY that instilled those values in them and modeled those values for them.

I am richer for the experience.  My faith is renewed in teenagers.  If you ever get the chance to visit the small towns and farmlands of Southern Indiana, get there in a hurry and take your time when you arrive.  They will treat you like family.  That’s just who they are.  And I do pray I can return in a few years to see those happy, smiling faces and shake young men’s hands as they look me in the eye and say “Thanks for that great talk, I appreciated that.”  Manners.  Class.  Respect.  Southern Indiana teenagers.

If you are a parent, you need to read this.  I am talking to you.

The spiritual vitality of my children, the way they view God and the world, the way they relate to the Bible and how they pray, act, and treat others, is my responsibility up until (about) the age of 18.  My wife and I take this joy and job as a great honor that we approach with prayer, humility, and trepidation.  Our children are our only real and lasting chance to change the world.

Today I met a dad that blew me away.  He made me want to be a better daddy for my sons.

The story: I preached at a church near Charlotte about 8 months ago.  After my visit a dad emailed me about his son.  It wasn’t the typical email filled with frustration and lament about a son gone astray, but was surprisingly positive.  The father was contacting me to set up an appointment with me and his son because his boy felt a calling in his heart to preach the gospel.  His son looked up to me and his dad, instead of feeling insecure or jealous, took the initiative to ask me if he could drive his son to me so that we could spend  some time together.  His boy had lots of questions about God and ministry.  And his dad said he couldn’t answer them all so he called me.

He stepped into the process of his sons spiritual development at exactly the point most parents exit their teenagers life.  When mom and dad are generally giving their kid the car keys and unlimited freedom to do as they please, this dad went the opposite direction and moved closer to his teenager.

After months of me losing the email correspondence, forgetting about getting together, and needing to reschedule, they showed up today in little old Boiling Springs, NC.  The father and the son.  Hungry to know more, to gain more wisdom, to know what steps to take in their walk with Jesus.  As we ate and talked, I thought about all the social problems in America and had the strange thought; it’s dads (and moms) like this that we need the more than political change, climate change, or socialized healthcare.

The dad paid for the meal, encouraged his son, shut his mouth when his son spoke, offered insight and knew when to back off.  I was so stoked I could barely contain myself.  His son was 17.  He was 43.  And I sat across the table hoping that I would be willing to miss a day of work and arrange my schedule so that I could drive my son to meet with a mentor that he respects and admires.  What a great dad.

Be a dad like that.  Be a mom like that.  It all starts with being there and being interested.

My 4 year old is a bottomless, endless source of spiritual insight and sermon illustrations.  His outlook on life and ideas about God / Jesus are simply awesome.  And funny.  Genuinely hilarious as a matter of fact.  Any parent can relate to the desire to record every funny, clever, ironic thing their child says before we forget it.  We know we will indeed forget it, and quickly, because our kids have caused us to lose our short term memory.

Joseph (my 4 year old) is just now gaining a proper understanding of who Jesus is.  For some time, Jesus has been a combination of a cartoon character, a superhero, and God.  But the coolest thing is that Joseph talks about how he and Jesus talk all the time.  Evidently, they are best friends.  Here is an example…

Me:  JoJo, it’s cold outside right now, but it’s gonna get warmer this afternoon.

JoJo:  I know that, daddy.

Me:  How do you know that?

JoJo:  Jesus telled me that.

Me:  Really?  That’s awesome!

JoJo:  Yep.  Jesus tells me everything he knows.

So it is a daily occurrence for me to find out the latest revelation that Jesus has told Joseph.  However, last week Joseph went a step further in his relationship with Jesus.  He learned that he could use Jesus as a scapegoat when he got in trouble.

On our way to school, we stopped by our Crossroads office for a few moments and he saw a pack of chewing gum that did not belong to him.  He asked me if he could have some, and I gave him a piece but told him he could not take the rest with him because that would be stealing.  We left and arrived at his preschool when he spoke up from the back seat.

JoJo:  Daddy, you won’t believe it!  I was praying to Jesus and asking him for gum, and then all of the sudden, some gum just disappeared (he meant to say “appeared”)!

Me:  Really?  Where did that gum come from?

JoJo:  It just came here from heaven!  Jesus gave it to me!  He answered my prayer!

Me:  JoJo, are you lying to me?  Did you steal that gum from the office?  Did you disobey me and lie about the gum?

JoJo:  I’m sorry daddy!!! (Followed by 5 minutes of weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth).

When we arrived at school, he realized his transgression as he stared at the gum he had taken.  He knew I would see it the moment we got out of the car.  And when confronted with his own guilt, he deferred it to Jesus, not by repenting at first, but by blaming Jesus.  Of course, as a small child this is not surprising.  It is, however, fascinating to see the parallel between a 4 year old and the rest of us.

We do the EXACT same thing.  We willingly disobey the commands of God.  Simply because we see something that we want.  No matter if it’s good for us, bad for us, or will cause serious consequences.  Once we see that thing (boyfriend, girlfriend, money status, accomplishment, accolade, fill in the blank), we ignore the warnings from The Holy Spirit and we push ahead in a mission to get what we want.  Once we get it, we realize it was a bad idea.  It’s not what we thought it would be.  It doesn’t do what we hoped it would do.  We sense conviction and guilt as we see the folly in disobeying God, since after all, He knew what would happen and warned us to avoid the sin.

In that moment, we either confess our sin in humility or we blame another.  In JoJo’s case, he blamed Jesus for making gum appear.  He knew I would not scold or spank Jesus.  I didn’t buy it though, and neither does God.  And He lovingly points out to us in the moment that misdirection doesn’t fool Him.  He sees it all and knows it all.

Quit blaming Jesus for your transgressions and failures.  Own them as your own sinful disobedience and confess in repentance.  God will take you in His arms and offer you grace; grace that was purchased at a great price by Jesus on the cross.  Whatever it is that you are suffering from or through, it is not His fault.  On the contrary, He alone can help you and pull you out of that pit you are in.  Don’t blame the only one who can truly help you.  Take His hand.  Take His forgiveness.  Take His grace and live!

As you may or may not know, I am a part of a phenomenal para-church ministry called Crossroads Worldwide.  We began in 1995 and I serve as the President of this ministry.  From time to time I like to let you know what is going on here, from events to mission trips to summer camps.  So read on and see if you or your church may be interested in any of these opportunities.

13th ANNUAL CROSSROADS WINTER CONFERENCES - Middle/High School and College/Young Adult
January 15-18, 2010 in Gatlinburg, TN
We are still taking reservations and will continue til we fill up, so call 704-434-2920 or register at our website www.crossroadsworldwide.com

CROSSROADS MISSION TRIP TO THE NAVAJO
For the past 7 years, Crossroads has the distinct pleasure of working with the Navajo people in the four corners region of the United States (Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah).  We are excited to officially announce that you may be able to take part in this missions opportunity this Spring.  March 27-April 2, 2010. **THIS TRIP IS FOR CHURCH GROUPS OR INDIVIDUALS.  WE WILL PLAN EVERYTHING!**

Crossroads has been serving the Navajo people by building relationships and proclaiming the gospel, and our desire is that they will see the love of Christ and proclaim it to others as we continue to be a witness for Jesus.

As a participant on this trip, you will be able to assist the local people with various tasks while also leading Bible studies with children and adults, playing games with the kids, construction and painting, and many other cultural experiences. You will see great beauty and great poverty, and you will be immersed in a culture that you have probably never experienced before.

15TH ANNUAL CROSSROADS SUMMER CAMPS @ GARDNER-WEBB UNIVERSITY
Registration has begun!  Sign your group up now and get first pick on the week you want!
www.crossroadsworldwide.com

FREE SERMONS ONLINE
~By the end of the week, I will have 15 more sermons available for download on iTunes under “Clayton King Live”
~You can listen to Matt Orth preach on iTunes under “Broad River Community Church”
~You can also see my message from this past Sunday called “Don’t Get Married Til You Deal With Your Junk” at www.newspring.cc

TWITTER
By far, the easiest way to pray for me as I travel and preach is to follow me on Twitter.  It is free and easy, just search for “clayton_king” and you can get updates daily.