Finish Well

“Do not despise the day of small beginnings.” Zechariah 4:10

This I get. I love to start things. New is exciting. New is a blank slate. New is dreams and theory and hypothetical. New is easier than changing the course of what’s already established.

We celebrate new, but if we’re honest, new is easier.

Managing something through the middle is hard. It’s where the lion’s share of the work happens. It requires faithfulness, a long obedience in the same direction. One foot in front of the other.

It’s not glorious. It’s often monotonous. It’s rarely celebrated, save for the few anniversaries and high water marks along the way. But isn’t the middle the point? Managing well through the middle is what we’re called to. To be faithful.

Today our D-Group was reading in Luke chapter 14 and a section jumped out to me in a way it hadn’t before. When Jesus was teaching on the “Cost of Discipleship” he warned people to consider the cost before building, to weigh the likelihood of victory before marching out to war. The truth He wants His followers to hear is this; following Jesus will be hard.

Jesus says of the man who began to build and later quit, “all the onlookers will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man started to build and wasn’t able to finish.’” (Luke 14:29-30)

…Wasn’t able to finish. I don’t want that to be said of me.

What matters is not that you start. What matters is that you finish. The goal is to finish. If we are faithful, we will be finishers.

“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” James 1:12

What does finishing look like in discipleship? It is a life lived in dependance on and obedience to Jesus Christ. A life lived with the purpose of knowing Him and making Him known. And we make Him known through making disciples who make disicples.

A disciple is follower or learner after Christ who loves God, loves people, makes disciples, and multiplies.

Multiplication is key. When is a disciple maker’s job finished? A disciple has not made another disciple, has not passed the torch, until the one they have discipled has began discipling others also. Paul said to Timothy, “The things you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these things entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Timothy 2:2)

I would argue that finishing is never really final, but transitional, cyclical. This pattern is found all throughout nature. All around us. When the seasons complete their cycle, they begin to repeat again. After the dead of winter comes the emerging life of springtime. When a couple reaches the end of their life, their legacy is continued on in the lives of their family who will follow their example and repeat the cycle. (I’m trying not to cue up images of Simba held out in the arms of his father atop Pride Rock here but why fight the inevitable?! It’s the “Circle of LIfe.”)

The end of a church family should not be a slow death memorialized by a decaying building, but the giving of life to the next generation. Sending out new churches to reach new people in new ways with the same old message. A movement of church multiplication as new leaders are developed, equipped, and empowered to grow the Kingdom through a faithful presence in new places.

Paul said to the Corinthian Church, “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1) The example of Christ is this; die to self that others might live.

“Truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain. But if it dies, it produces much fruit. The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” John 12:24-25

Where do I need to die to self to see others live in ways that matter eternally? For me, it’s usually selfishness that threatens to keep me from finishing well. It’s comfort that tells me not to die to self. But Jesus says, “take up your cross and follow Me.”

Maybe your facing the starting line and you need to be faithful to take the next step.

You might be in the middle and you feel like no one even notices your faithfulness. It’s hard and it’s messy and it’s nothing like what you drew up in your mind. Take another step.

And you might be near the end. You’ve run a faithful race. Ask God who you can entrust with the mission He’s given you. Who can you pass the baton to? It’s never too late to be faithful.

Paul said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race.” He, no doubt, heard, “Well done, good and faithful servant” when He met Jesus face to face.

That’s our finish line. Jesus’ smile. His affirmation. His very near presence.

To be sure, we get there only by His faithfulness. By His finished work on the cross.

But our right response to His grace is our own faithfulness. Our finishing well the work He’s given us to do.

We can’t control what others do. We can’t keep people from fumbling the baton we’ve passed on. Many things in the world will trip us up, but we can be faithful to hold on tight to that which has been entrusted to us, to get up when we fall, to put one foot in front of the other, and to keep our eye on the finish line.

But we can’t do it alone. That’s why the relay race requires a team. No one can run that long, that far, that hard, by themselves.

Stick with your team. Keep going. He is worth it. The ones you are passing the baton to are worth it. Finishing is worth it. And we finish by remaining faithful.

Faithful to begin.

Faithful to keep on in the middle.

And faithful to finish well.