If you are like me, you love Jesus with all your heart. Yet, when it comes to being motivated to disciple yourself or mentor others, you suffer from NCN syndrome. In case you haven’t heard the term before, we are trying to figure out why the vast majority of Christ Followers suffer from some level of No Compelling Need syndrome when it comes to being motivated to disciple themselves or others each day.
As I pointed out last week, only 7.3% of you responded to the survey by emphasizing personal responsibility for setting the direction of your spiritual life. That means the vast majority of respondents rely on spiritual mentors or gatekeepers who are suffering from NCN themselves. As the Body of Christ, we’re currently trapped in a self-defeating cycle. That’s because I believe there is one verse we’re all getting wrong or ignoring. Let me explain.
When I came across 1 Peter 1:24-25, it pointed out my tremendous problem. I want to believe that the shortness of this life is true, but my daily actions give no support to this belief. I have trouble staying motivated and focused on moving closer to Jesus myself—let alone helping others do the same.
Most of us don’t spend much time thinking about how short life really is, especially me. Almost daily, I hear that little voice say, “What’s the hurry? There’s always tomorrow or the next day.”
Mostly, we live as though we have an endless number of tomorrows. We plan for the future, create long-term goals, and assume we’ll have plenty of time to fulfill the list of hopes and dreams—including spiritual ones.
Bottom Line Upfront: Are you a problem solver and a risk taker? Do you feel like figuring out a good mystery? Please jump in and help us solve this great puzzle. I know we can develop a solution that helps people create a daily habit of discipling themselves and those around them while constantly fighting off this No Compelling Need syndrome.
The major premise of solving this puzzle is for each one of us to recognize the need, and find the self-determination, to create a daily habit of spiritual fitness. If we can help ourselves and those around us move closer to Jesus each day, then we’re helping this world move from darkness to light.
If we continue living without a sense of urgency, we miss opportunities—for ourselves and miss any kind of impact we can have on others for eternity. Here’s the verse that I’ve been wrestling with, and that so many of us seem unable to grasp:
“For, ‘All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.’ And this is the word that was preached to you.” – 1 Peter 1:24-25 (NIV)
What needs to get done today? Our lives are like a vapor, here today and gone tomorrow (James 4:14). Add to that how Psalm 90:12 teaches us to “number our days” so that we may live with wisdom, yet I have to keep fighting NCN to do anything spiritual for today.
Thankfully, the Lord keeps sending me reminders to get moving. Like just two weeks ago, my grandson Cooper brought an art project home with his handprint in the middle of a big heart with the title:
Grandparents hold our hands for a short while and our hearts forever.
Gulp! Grandpa and Grandma aren’t going to be around forever? Gulp! Does that really mean Char and me?
Then last week, I was sitting in the reception area waiting for my oncologist to do my annual post-cancer check-up. Sitting across from me was this young, muscular, fit-looking guy. Probably 30-something. I’m pretty sure he had a tremendous career as some kind of football player.
He was trying his hardest to smile, but instead ended up sobbing uncontrollably for a couple of minutes. Then he’d regain his composure, smile, and you could almost hear him saying to himself, “I’ve got this.” Then his sobbing would start again. As the nurse took him back to start his chemo treatment, you could see it written all over his face: “I never dreamed life would be so short, I’m too young to die.”
Like that young man, most of us simply don’t get the shortness of life and how on-purpose our lives should be lived relating to time.
We are risking everything at Back to the Bible, including the kitchen sink, to launch a massive personalized daily spiritual fitness campaign in December to help figure out a solution to this huge motivational problem. We have to help more Christ Followers fight NCN. Changing this world by discipling ourselves and others is riding on it. We need your help every step of the way, so please reply with ideas, comments and questions.
More to come,
Arnie
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