Don't "give it all to God"

Here's my problem with all or nothing Christianity

Just give it all to Jesus!

This is what I've heard at so many youth groups, church services, retreats, etc. I've seen it over and over again. Now in my faith journey, I'm realizing that I'm not really into that type of language. I feel like it's not helping people live true discipleship.

Don't get me wrong, I love the posture. I really think we need to live surrendered lives. Images of the disciples leaving their nets behind come to mind. Or the rich person Jesus told to sell everything to follow him.

But do you know what I've found to be the biggest problem with that?

It's not actionable.

Real faithfulness as we know is obedience. There has to be something we do. Faithfulness is action. It's not just a posture.

And in my experience, with that all-or-nothing approach to Christianity, people don't know what to do with that. In fact, when I see the lives of people who say that over and over and over again, their lives are kind of the same.

People think really following Jesus is selling everything we have and give to the poor. Sorry to burst your bubble. It's not. What would we do with our lives if we did that? How can God build his kingdom through us with no possessions?

Here's what I think is better, and I really need you to bear with me and try to understand:

Real surrender is repurposing.

Real surrender is about taking everything in our lives and repurposing it for the glory of God. It is about repurposing my job, my money, my spouse, my kids, my hobbies, my joys, my sadness and finding real ways to make them build and reflect the Kingdom of God.

Here are some real concrete examples that are better than "surrendering it to God":

• Instead giving up my job, repurpose to be about being a light and salt in the workplace

• Instead of giving up my spouse, it's about serving her like Christ

• Instead of giving up money, it's about it's about repurposing it to build God's kingdom

• Instead of giving up my friends to follow Jesus, it's about turning those relationships to be true fellowship

These examples of repurposing make surrender real. It makes discipleship practical. And it makes faith tangible. To me, that is 1000% more actionable, more tangible, more enjoyable than "giving God everything."

I think real surrender aka repurposing looks like:

• Daniel repurposing all his learning and knowledge to serve God in Babylon

• Abraham repurposing his wealth, his land, and his family to build the family of God on the earth

• Joseph repurposing his wisdom and accounting to help Egypt overcome famine.

To me, those are real actionable and truly surrendered examples from the Bible of what it means to live surrendered lives.

I love what French priest Rev Jacques Philippe said. He wrote in his book Searching for and Maintaining Peace, "God asks for everything, but he doesn't necessarily take everything."

To me, this is what it truly means to live as a practical disciple. It isn't what we do on the altar of a church service. It's how we carry that surrender in our lives.

What do you think? Do you think repurposing is more actionable than just "surrender"?