“Compromise your walk with God, and your work for God will be compromised”: Rev Edmund Chan on mission and mandate

Many people live in a world of illusion where they confuse motion for meaning, speed for direction and ambition for purpose.

As a disciple of Jesus, we are not called to do more; rather, we are first called to live deeper.

3 life conditions to pay attention to

1. Busyness

Busyness is not a crime. In fact, if we are not busy, we can be lazy.

It is because of the busyness of Jesus’ ministry that He fell asleep on the boat in the midst of a storm. Yet the Bible tells us that Jesus woke up before the sunrise – in the darkness before day – as was His habit, and He went off to seek His Father in prayer.

This is being meaningfully busy – all out for the things of the Kingdom – and at the same time having that quietness and the restedness in the presence of God. The problem is not busyness, it is over-busyness, where we are overcommitted but underconnected.

We have to come to a place where we connect with the deep things of God, so that ministry is an outflow of life. The quality of our life will determine the quality of our leadership and our ministry. Otherwise, we’re just running around without a sense of meaning and purpose to our busyness. 

One of my favourite limericks is:

Mary had a little lamb,
‘Twas given her to keep.
But then he joined the Baptist church
and died for lack of sleep.

No offence to the Baptists, it could be any church, but you get the idea – we can be so busy for God that we miss that walk with God.

Missional intimacy is where there is a sense of mission and yet a sense of intimacy as we walk with God. It is where we are willing to be anchored to the will of God, to walk in the light of His leading.

Busyness is not just the enemy of time; busyness is also the enemy of devotion and depth.

The antidote to busyness is not to sit down and do nothing. The antidote to busyness is to anchor in the will of the Father.

2. Drivenness

We are often driven by our own insecurities. There’s a fear of missing out.

There are three things we must be weaned off. The first, we must be weaned off our Activity Addiction.

Many cannot sit still – it is one activity after another, one meeting after another. We need to commit ourselves to the things that truly matter and not just be activity addicted.

The second is our Acquisition Compulsions. In our insecurity, we must have more acquisitions, because that’s where our self worth and our net worth are seen and defined.

We’ve got to understand that having more doesn’t satisfy our appetite; having more merely enlarges our appetite. 

I see Christian leaders or businessmen giving their life to their business or their ministry or their mission, but neglecting the family, their marriage, their children. And when the bubble bursts, they discover there’s hollowness and emptiness. There isn’t a sense of satisfaction.

Does an increase in our net worth and our possessions make us happy? Of course. Give me a million dollars, I’ll be happy. But we are asking the wrong question. 

The question is not: Will money or possessions make us happy? The question is: Will it truly satisfy?

It can make you happy for a while, but it never satisfies because your appetite would merely enlarge. The One who can truly satisfy the inner longings of our soul is God Himself.

It is not what we possess, but what we pursue, that defines us. 

The third thing we must be we must be weaned off is our Accomplishment Validations.

Very often our insecurities cause us to be driven for validations in our life, our movements, our ministry, because our self-worth is based upon our achievements.

Our self worth is never based upon achievements. Our self-worth and security are always based upon our identity. And our identity is not just defined by who we are, it is more importantly defined by Whose we are. We belong to God. And this is where the condition of our soul needs to be managed.

3. Emptiness

You cannot go all in for Jesus and go all out for His purposes if you are running on empty. We have to learn to be well-watered, so that our ministry is flowing from the inside out.

Ministry is an outflow of life. The quality of your life will determine the quality of your ministry.

Pay attention to the Condition of your life, because otherwise there will not be the foundation, the ballast, the gravitas, the substance, for an all-in discipleship. 

Pay attention to the Calling in your life, because the calling is why we live and what we live for.

In understanding the calling in our life, we must first understand our philosophy of life. There are three philosophies:

One, life is a party. Do what you like, fulfil your indulgences and desires because life is short. Two, life is a pain. And so you get the stoics, enduring life with all its trials, its afflictions, its misery and its pain.

But for the Christian disciple, life is not a party nor a pain. Life is a pilgrimage.

Pay attention to the Compass of your life.

The missionary E Stanley Jones says this: “My life in my hand is a pain and a problem. My life in God’s hand is a power and a possibility.”

The question is: Whose hand is your life in? Under what authority do you and I live our life? We cannot say our life is in God’s hand if we don’t align to His authority. So our philosophy of life will determine our sense of calling. If life is a stewardship, then we live to steward it well, because you and I have only one life to live.

In Exodus 18, Jethro’s counsel to Moses is this: Moses, you are a leader. Your role is to teach the people, instruct the people, guide the people, lead the people, in these two things: The way they are to walk (the mandate) and the work they are to do (the mission).

The mandate precedes the mission, the mandate cradles the mission, the walk with God cradles their work for God. Compromise the walk with God, and the work of God is compromised.

One day all our works will be tested by fire. And what will matter is not the impressiveness of the work we do; it has nothing to do with our title or position. It has everything to do with the mandate: The way we are to walk defines the work we are to do.

The first call of the Kingdom is not to advance the Kingdom. It is to abide in the King so that His Kingdom can be advanced.

There is the Condition, the Calling, and the Compass for our life.

Ephesians 5:15-16 says: “Be very careful then how you walk or how you live, not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity.”

The Greek word for “walk” is περιπατέω (peripateó), which is not just a physical strolling. It has the idea of the conduct of your life, your direction and your choices.

How to “make the most of every opportunity”

1. Don’t miss God’s grace

The Greek have two ideas of time: Chronos, which is chronology, referring to the clock. And kairos, which means an opportune time or strategic windows of opportunity.

Here’s the principle: There are God-given opportunities even in conditions that are difficult. Even through trials, afflictions, setbacks, disappointments and discouragements, there are God-given opportunities. Don’t miss God’s grace in these opportunities.

One day you and I will stand before God, and there will be a day of accountability. And one of the things we have to account before God is what we did with the opportunities He gave us.

In a world where there are so many opportunities, which one do we know is the Lord’s leading? That’s why that mandate of abiding in Christ, of following the Lord’s leading, of divine appointment, is important.

As far as my life is concerned, my desire is a simple one. I’m not looking for more things to do. I’m simply asking God what’s the opportunity You’ve given to me? It’s not about positions and prerogatives and perks.

Responsibility is a stewardship that God calls us to – make the most of every opportunity where the grace of God prevails.

2. Don’t lose your momentum

The Apostle Pauls says make the most of your opportunity, leverage it.

There’s no time for neutrality. Don’t just cruise on autopilot. Live your life deliberately, live your life intentionally, because one day we’ll be called to account.

When the opportunities come, don’t just do what God has given you to do. Say to the Lord: How would You want me to do it? How are You leading me to do this? And give it your best. Because our Master is worthy of our best.

3. Don’t settle for less

Make the most of every opportunity because opportunities given of God are precious.

Paul says in Ephesians 5:15-16: “Be very careful, then, how you live —not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” (NIV)

Because the days are evil, opportunities can be lost. Because the days are evil, we can be easily distracted. And when we are distracted, God given opportunities are lost. Because the days are evil, we can become discouraged and we give up the opportunities God intends for us. Because the days are evil, we can compromise and become defiled. 

So don’t give up, don’t let discouragement or disillusionment or distraction or defilement cause us to lose the opportunities God has given to us. Make the most of every opportunity.

How do we live all in for the cause of Christ? How do we live all in for our Master in his redemptive work in us? You pay attention to those three things: Condition, Calling and Compass.

But there’s a decision we must first make. And the decision is to follow Jesus all in and be aligned to His authority.

I pray that this day, within your heart and mine, this fiery conviction will come forth to ground us in what we do because nothing else satisfies except this call to follow Jesus all in. 

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