by Holly Culhane
Every time someone close to me has experienced surgery, they’ve left the medical prep area on a gurney and been wheeled into the operating room. After that, as they’ve recounted their experience, they were helped onto the surgical table by competent staff and readied for what lay ahead.
That’s why it was so odd to me when a few weeks ago after being prepped for a partial meniscectomy – my first surgery and, admittedly, not a biggee on the scale of medical procedures – I was asked to follow the nurse and walk into the operating room. I was then asked if I could get on the surgical table by myself and, never one to turn down a challenge, I did so. Willingly, I crawled up onto what felt like a metal slab and took my instructed position, voluntarily stretching my arms out on two metal limb supports. After the general anesthetic took effect, scopes were inserted under my right knee, and ultimately the doctor shaved off the torn portion of my right meniscus, the cartilage our Creator gave us that acts as a shock absorber between the thigh bone and the shin bone.
It was the next day, as I was icing my knee to help reduce the swelling, I thought how odd that part of the experience was for me compared to what I had expected. I had not foreseen a request for me to freely place myself atop the board where I would seemingly eagerly sacrifice a damaged portion of my body.
Since then, I’ve often pictured that scene and, each time, I’ve remembered what a dear friend told me months previously, a phrase her husband frequently shared with those he has pastored: The problem with living sacrifices is that they keep crawling off the altar.
Ouch! Mic-drop moment…
Aren’t we called to be living sacrifices, willingly and voluntarily sacrificing our will, our preference, and our preferred way for the Father’s and for what His Word teaches?
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice — the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.
Romans 12:1-2a
Since that medical procedure, I have often found myself needing to crawl back on the altar. Oddly enough, I haven’t pictured the moment I’ve crawled off of it. But when I do, I don’t shepherd well. I think more of myself than of the Provision, Protection, and Presence needed by those I lead.
We are called to shepherd well the team we supervise, the church we pastor, and the family and community we influence. God’s Word tells us the only way we can do so effectively, in the manner that honors Him and the sheep of his pasture, is by voluntarily remaining on the altar of sacrifice. We must fight every fiery dart, every temptation, and every distraction the enemy sends our way intended to derail and remove us from where the Father wants us to reside – in full submission to our Good, Great, and Chief Shepherd.
I pray you will join me in the battle to stay on the altar and to be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind He finds acceptable. Will you join me in worshipping Him and witnessing how He can transform us into being the shepherds He wants us to be?
DIGGING DEEPER QUESTIONS:
- Can you recall a specific moment when you realized you had crawled off the altar — and what brought you back?
- What is the cost, for those you lead, when you are not fully surrendered to the Good Shepherd?
- What would it look like, practically, for you to remain a living sacrifice in your specific sphere of leadership this week?
