A 68-year-old woman riding a bus in New York lost her right to be respected when a group of junior high students waged a 10-minute barrage of vulgar, cruel insults about her weight. The incident was captured on a cell phone, posted online, and quickly went viral. A subsequent outpouring of support, prompted by a sympathetic viewer who wanted to send her on a vacation, raised nearly three-quarters of a million dollars.

On the other side of the world, a young mother of two lost the love of her life when a terrorist’s bullet killed her husband. His killer heard he was a “missionary,” so he murdered him. In reality, he was a good man who loved Jesus, who lived and worked in a cruel place. A memorial fund was established to help care for his family.

One woman loses 10 minutes of respect. The other loses her husband forever. The world rallies to their causes, and I’m glad.

Then I think of other men and women who serve with Crossworld, who are called to lose so much of themselves daily.

• The familiarity and comfort of home | They leave relationships they’ve spent a lifetime building, to live on another continent.
  
  
• Physical security | A man endures a knife held to his neck by a man with whom he was sharing the message of life.
  
  
• Professional identity | A family walks away from high-paying jobs in America to battle searing heat, choking dust, and professional obscurity in a country where people desperately need their skills.
  
  
• Financial stability | A couple raises support to live in an affluent country where gas, groceries, and clothes cost twice as much, and they must justify to people back home why their support level is “so high.”

How much are these sacrifices worth?

It can seem like it’s not worth it. But then I remember Jesus.

He gave up His well-deserved respect, not for 10 minutes but for 33 years. He, too, had to justify every word and action to people who didn’t get it. He, the Creator of the Universe, endured not a knife to His throat but thorns on His brow, nails in His hands and feet, and a spear in His side.

How much was that worth?

When I think of Jesus, I remember that this call is worth my life and so much more.

Do I rally to His cause?
Do I empty my wallet when I hear of places where He is still without honor?
Do I empty my schedule of trivial engagements so that I can invest in a life-giving relationship with my next-door neighbor?
Do I empty myself of the pursuit of my own comfort, security, and significance?

It might be obvious to answer yes, but the obvious answer isn’t an easy one. Every day is a battle.

This is what I wrote in my journal a few weeks ago:

The flesh dies hard. Godliness is not a permanent state of being in this life. It is a daily choice. It’s as if we’re forever on a steep incline, and every time we coast, we lose momentum and find ourselves rolling backward. Only a continual expenditure of energy fueled by the grace and strength of Christ Jesus will assure progress toward the summit.

Are you rallying to Christ’s cause? We want to journey to the summit with you. Talk to a missions coach.

Dale Losch joined Crossworld as a disciple-maker in France in 1988, and has served as Crossworld’s president since 2009. He is the author of A Better Way and Giving Outside the Box. He loves to motivate people to use their God-given passions to make disciples wherever life happens. Hear more from Dale.