Being an Expendable Christian

I read a letter from a missionary today and it got me thinking about a topic the church needs to think through regularly and precisely.  That topic is expendability.  What do we mean when we speak about being expendable?  It means the willingness to be spent completely, in all manner of life and experience, up to and including death, for the sake of the kingdom. 

That missionary wrote the following:

Some missions are impossible if you are not expendable. Bows are not expendable – arrows are. Guns are not expendable – bullets are. Airplanes are not expendable – missiles are; but guns and airplanes are worthless without bullets and missiles. Someone has got to be expendable to do some jobs.

This is a very challenging thing to read.  This flies in the face of even the slightest hint of a prosperity gospel mindset. Really, it flies in the face of normal, everyday self-preservation.  But as it flies in our face, we have to acknowledge that it soars on the wings of the great commission.  Taking the gospel to every nation demands a cost.  Who is going to pay it, and how much will be paid? One thing is sure, it won’t be paid by people who are primarily looking for growth, success, power, reputation, comfort, etc.  It will be people who are expendable. 

But we are not only talking about missionary endeavors.  We are also talking about God’s will in any area.  Certain times and situations are going to cost you to be a Christian, to operate as a Christian, and to share a Christian message of forgiveness and life through Christ.  What kind of person is going to remain faithful in that situation?  A person who has embraced expendability.  As a side note, this is closely related to embracing obscurity as well as the issue of risk, and most of what will be said will easily transfer to those ideas. 

Who should have the mindset of Expendability?

This question of who should be expendable will be best answered with an argument from greater to lesser.  If great people can take on a mindset of expendability, then it will apply to everyone else down the line.  Therefore, exhibit A is the Apostle Paul.  The following verses show that he had an attitude of expendability.

2 Corinthians 12:14b–15 for children are not responsible to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. 15 I will most gladly spend and be expended for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?

Philippians 2:17 But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.

1 Thessalonians 2:8 Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.

Acts 20:24  “But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.

Acts 21:13 Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Expendability and Wisdom

Probably the biggest question is the hardest to answer.  What does expendability specifically mean for us?  Does expendability means we throw caution to the wind?  Should we waltz into the head hunter’s tribe and see what happens?  Perhaps looking at the word picture of bullets and guns will give us some help.  Bullets are expendable and guns are not, but does that mean you shoot wildly and randomly, going full automatic like Yosemite Sam?  Not at all.  Guns come with sights and scopes.  Expendability never means waste.  It is the awareness that there will be shots fired that don’t hit the target.  Just because only one bullet hits the target doesn’t mean you only carry one bullet and take one shot.  A part of hitting the target means taking multiple shots.  Were the shots that missed wasted or unneeded or less important?  Not at all.  They were just the necessary first shots of a series needed before the job was completed. 

The Bible still calls us to wisdom.  We want everything we do to count.  But we can’t know at every moment what is going to work and what isn’t.  This is the nature of risk.  Therefore, biblical wisdom also tells us that we must not waste our lives waiting for perfect moments or fearing failure. 

Ecclesiastes 11:4 (NASB95) — 4 He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not reap.

Ecclesiastes 11:6 (NASB95) — 6 Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.

It should also be noted that there is no explicit instruction about when to flee persecution and when to face it.  Jesus said at times you would flee persecution and go to the next city (Matt. 10:23), and other times you would be handed over and the Holy Spirit would give you words to say (Matt. 10:19).  Paul sometimes went to places where he knew pain and danger would come (1 Thess. 2:2).  And other times he manipulated situations to avoid trouble (Acts 23:6).

Therefore, we need to take on a willingness to spend and be spent, to be abused and mistreated, to lose money, time, and reputation, and even to lose our life in service.  We do this mixed with wisdom and good biblical counsel.   But the most important biblical counsel is that the gospel frees us from fear of death and what we give will come back to us 100 fold.  Then we act in faith, seeing where the Lord takes us and how long the Lord will use us. 

Reconciling Expendability, Individual Dignity, and a Loving Sovereign God

The last thing to think about is other problematic notions connected with expendability.  In addition to the fact that we are inclined to selfishness, our cultural wells are poisoned with self-esteem teaching.  There is little chance we have escaped its influence.  Expendability clashes with self-esteem like tie-dyed with plaid.  You can’t promote yourself and pursue yourself while endorsing expendability.  So our selfish inclinations make this hard.  But what about the dignity of being made in the image of God.  Expendability seems to make people into a commodity.  Is God just using people?  It has an evil ring to it. 

The problem is our infection with a non-biblical worldview.  Creatures interacting with creatures is different at every level than the Creator interacting with his creatures.  God gives life and he takes life.  It is his to do with as he sees fit.  And he does love his creatures.  He isn’t using people, he is giving them life.  And the fullest life that can be lived is living by grace for the Lord of life. As Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)  Just as importantly, God knows better than we do that life does not end at death.  Therefore, he knows the best time and manner for our death and the best way for our lives to have the impact they should.  On top of that, we must remember that we will not all have the same impact.  God ordains what our lives should be.  But even this we cannot know now.  Who can weigh the difference between 80 years of faithful service and dying at age 23 while bringing the gospel to a distant tribe?  Only God can judge between these.  And therefore, the book of Revelation tells us our sovereign God has ordained those who will die for the gospel (Rev. 6:11).  Are you in that number?  You can’t know until it happens.  All you can do is put on a mindset of expendability and be a living sacrifice in whatever ways God orders your life.