He earned his country's highest military decoration by lying down on the job! Go with me in your imagination to the Korean War. Three men huddled in a shallow trench on the front line. Two tended their machine gun and behind them crouched our soldier with the field radio that was his responsibility. He sweated with fear as the attacking enemy force pushed nearer to the position his company had been ordered to hold. Bullets kicked up little puffs of dust or caused the compressed "zip" sound as they passed by.
He was yelling into the mouthpiece hoping to be heard above the orchestra-gone-crazy sounds of battle. The machine-gun went silent. While his comrade was struggling to clear the jammed cartridge the enemy grenade landed. For an eternal second or two its image burned into their brains as it rolled to the back of the trench. The radio fell over as he launched himself. The soldier's chest fell upon the explosive so that his body would take the full deadly force.
Nothing happened. It was a dud. He earned the medal without a single scratch, but that makes no difference at all. When he hit the ground he was a dead man.
Come now to a field in Vietnam, May 28, 1970. As his personal chopper flew in he saw that the soldier below wasn't obeying orders. The man was writhing and flailing. He lay badly wounded in the middle of a minefield. All the activity was causing massive loss of blood. Before the helicopter settled he was out the door and running. The commanding officer of 1 Battalion, 6th Infantry unit slowed to a walk as he entered the mined area. Onward he pressed. The fear in his throat restricted every gasping breath. Later he retold: "my knees were shaking so hard that each time I took a step I had to grab my leg and steady it with both hands before I could take another." At last he reached his man and wrestled him into stillness. They both made it to safety. The officer's name? H. Norman Schwarzkopf. I once read that "self preservation is the first law of nature, but self sacrifice is the highest rule of grace."
I tell you these stories because the Bible calls for a state of commitment that can only be described as "death to self." If only the scriptures were speaking of an occasional high act. The trouble is the pages are describing an attitude of daily self-sacrifice. That's why some people prefer to be religious. That way you can look holy and still hang onto your selfishness.
When Jesus responded to the rich young man's offer to be a disciple it broke both their hearts. Jesus was sad to see his retreating form and the wealthy ruler was deeply disappointed. Instead of valuing all that his resources could bring to the Nazarene's ministry Jesus had called upon him to sell what he had, give it all away to the poor and then come follow. The occasional sacrifice, even the sizable donation is one thing. To be asked to reduce oneself voluntarily to a state of utter dependence on God was just too high a price.
If you want to be a Christian in the Jesus style, He may not ask you to sell your house and your car. However be sure of this. He will confront the deepest, fondest area of self pandering that nestles in your heart. He will call you to a personal, self-sacrificial dedication.
Henry Ward Beecher wrote: "In this world (what matters) is not what we take up. It is what we give up that makes us
rich." That's another way of applying Jesus teaching: "Whoever wants to save his life will loose it, but whoever loses his
life for the sake of Me and the gospel will save it."