All In
By Grant Gaines
In 1519 Hernan Cortes with about 600 Spanish soldiers landed their water-worn boats on what we know today as modern day Mexico. These conquistadors had traveled throughout the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean without much resistance, but now faced the stiffest test of their journey-conquer the mighty Aztec empire.
This was no small feat as a countless number of other expeditions with far more men and supplies had unsuccessfully attempted to defeat this powerful nation for over 600 years by the time Cortes’s men landed ashore. Knowing that his men were timidly looking ahead at the ensuing battle, Cortes did what only a mad man would do-he burned his own ships.
In doing so, Cortes took away any hope these men had of retreating from the battle and returning home unless they were to emerge victorious. Cortes gave his troops two options: win or die trying. There was no “Plan B.” There was no “Win or Go Home.” If the men wanted to go home, they had to win the war first.
I believe Jesus wants us to take a similar attitude when following Him. Just as Cortes metaphorically told his men that they are either all in or all out, Jesus does the same for us. In fact, in Revelation 3:15-16 (NIV), Jesus tells the church in Laodicea, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”
I don’t know if you caught that, but Jesus said He would rather us be “cold,” or an unbeliever, than to claim to be a Christian and never truly follow Him. Jesus wants us to either be 100% in or 100% out, there is no middle ground when following Him.
We see an example of someone with this “all-in” attitude in Mark 14. This chapter begins by telling us that it is two days away from the Passover (Mark 14:1). Not only was the Passover the most significant Jewish holiday, it was also the day that Jesus, the spotless lamb of God (1 Peter 1:19), was crucified for the sins of the world (John 3:16) to set us free from the slavery from sin (Romans 6:6-7). Knowing that His time was short, Jesus was spending His last days with the ones He loved the most.
This particular story finds Him reclining at the house of Simon the Leper (How would you like that to be your nickname-“the Leper!?”). As Jesus was talking with His friends, teaching them more about the Kingdom of God, and possibly reminiscing on the good times they shared, the text tells us, “…a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on [Jesus’] head” (Mark 14:3, NIV).
You know, if I were in this story I think I would act in a fairly similar way as this woman. If I had a bottle of perfume and knew it would bless Jesus to pour some on His head, I would gladly spray some all over His body. I might even use up to half the bottle on Jesus if I was feeling generous. But if I can be honest with you, I’m not so sure I would pour it all out on Jesus because you never know when you might need some perfume on a “rainy day.” And heck, aren’t we supposed to only give a tenth of our wealth to God? Why use the other 90% of the bottle?
But that’s not what this woman did. When you look back at the text, you will notice that it specifically says that she “broke the bottle” and poured it on Christ’s head. She essentially did the same thing Cortes did when he burned the ships-she went all in.
How did the disciples and other bystanders respond to this woman’s devotion? The same way the world will react to you when you decide to go all in for Christ-they criticized her by saying, “Why waste such expensive perfume?…It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor,” (Mark 14:4-5, NLT) and they all yelled at her with a critical tone.
But while the crowd degraded this woman, the Creator defended her because this “all in” attitude is the outlook that most satisfies our Savor.
Is this the type of attitude that you most often live with as you follow in the footsteps of Jesus? Are you “breaking your bottle” as you go all in to follow Christ or are you simply spraying some squirts of perfume on Him as you dabble in your Bible during a morning quiet time? Are you delving deep into an intimate conversation with your Father or are you merely throwing up “Hail Mary’s” when you need help? And are you worshipping God with your whole life or are you mindlessly moving your mouth as worship songs are being played?
For every person, “breaking the bottle” is going to look different. For some, “breaking the bottle” is full time vocational ministry, for others it simply means disciplining yourself to get daily time in the Bible and in prayer.
Take some time today to truly examine what it looks like for you to give your whole life to follow Christ because whether you are a pastor or a parent, a missionary or a middle schooler, a seminary student or a secular salesmen, God wants you to break your bottle, He wants you to burn your ships, He wants you to go all in.
Comments? Questions? Suggestions?
©Grant Gaines 2013
