Mutual exclusivity is when one thing excludes something else
or two things cannot occur at the same time. An example is tossing a coin once,
which can result in either heads or tails, but not both. You can’t look and
sneeze at the same time. It has been proven that if you focus on keeping your
eyes open, it will keep you from sneezing. You can’t focus on yourself and
others at the same time.
Jesus had a lot to say about mutual exclusivity in the
kingdom and life with Him. Can you recognize what is mutually exclusive in each
of these statements of Jesus?
"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and
love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You
cannot serve both God and Money.” (Matthew 6:24)
"If
anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross,
and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever
loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:24-25)
“The last
will be first, and the first last.” (Matthew 20:16)
“He who is
greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be
humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matt. 23:11-12)
Jesus said that our money and his money, our life and his
life, being first and last, servant and master are mutually exclusive. We cannot
live for ourselves and live for God. Jesus wants all of us, not a part, or a
day or an hour, but all of us. With Jesus it is all or nothing. In His
relationship with the Father it was all or nothing. Jesus said He was one with
the Father, and He calls us into that oneness with Him and the Father. He said
when you have seen me, you have seen the Father. The world is looking for the
Father in us. As the world rapidly degenerates into greed, selfishness, sin and
idolatry, we will have to make a decision. Are we going to live for ourselves
or for God? Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, we are going to have to take
a stand no matter what the cost.
I am on a journey to the heart of the Father and invite you
on this journey. I do not know where it will take me or what the cost will be,
but it is a journey that I am compelled to take by the Spirit. This
unexplainable appetite for more of God calls me to lay down more of myself and
my desires and to pull away and spend more time with Him. I don’t believe it is
only happening to me. I believe God is calling to Himself a people from all
over the world who are willing to lay everything down in their pursuit of Him
and are willing to stand up and declare His name no matter what the cost.
Please respond if you are on this journey, and let us
together walk into the future God has for us.
Andy Clark
Thanks for this post Andy! I'm in.
ReplyDelete