Perfect Fit

Jesus calls His people to go the opposite direction when everybody else is running away. The image of first responders running into a burning building gets at the kind of love Jesus names as laying down a life for someone else. The fish swimming upstream capture the way Jesus lived, and the way His disciples eventually chose to live after they encountered the resurrected Christ.

The perfect fit comes when what is important gets prioritized over what is immediate. Immediate choices feel good, easy, and earned, but they can leave a person trying to force a puzzle piece that was never meant to fit. The next steps of discipleship call people out of simply drifting downstream and into intentional movement toward God’s purpose.

The church is not just an organization. The church is a living organism, Christ’s body, where each person affects the health and direction of the whole. Sinful nature means that a church will drift toward unhealthy patterns by default, so intentional steps are necessary if the body is going to swim upstream.

Community means people within reach but not yet in relationship. The process does not end when someone gets deep into the core of church life, because maturity sends that person back into the community on mission. Forgetfulness becomes dangerous when believers lose sight of what it was like to be far from God. The lotus-flower kind of faith forgets the past, sees the harvest as hostile, and builds walls rather than relationships.

Jesus weeps over Jerusalem because people can be so close and still not be in relationship with Him. His heart breaks not just over obvious brokenness, but over people who cannot recognize what would bring them peace. The heart of Jesus sees people within reach but not in relationship, and it refuses to stay numb.

Jesus also shows a strategy through the widow of Nain. His heart breaks, He walks toward the funeral procession, touches what others would avoid, and does for one what He wishes He could do for everybody. The strategy is not trying to do everything for everyone. The strategy is asking what unique value can be added for the person, neighborhood, or group God has placed within reach.

Ford Point’s building, Celebrate Recovery, Love Handles, the yogurt truck, and the harvest party all become ways of adding value where God has opened a door. The call reaches across political lines and every other dividing line: walk toward the people everybody else avoids. The next step may feel inconvenient, vulnerable, and scary, but important things often are. Discipleship chooses to walk toward the giants, the crashing building, and the places that do not make sense, trusting that life to the fullest is found in following Jesus upstream.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Walk toward the harvest, not hostility Jesus sees people far from Him as a harvest, not as enemies to fear or problems to avoid. Political difference, moral confusion, and unfamiliar lifestyles can become excuses for insulation, but Christ’s heart moves toward people. Love begins when instinctive avoidance gives way to holy nearness. [54:45]
• 2. Remember life before relationship with Christ Forgetfulness can make faith cold and self-protective. The longer believers remain in one stage of growth, the easier it becomes to forget what it felt like to be outside, confused, or far from God. Memory keeps compassion alive because grace is never deserved by the person offering it. [37:35]
• 3. Do for one what you can Jesus did not wait until He could fix every funeral procession in Israel before He stopped for one grieving widow. Faithfulness does not require limitless capacity; it requires obedience with what is already in hand. One person served with no expectations can become a clear picture of Christ’s heart. [45:26]
• 4. Choose important over immediate Immediate choices usually demand little courage and offer quick relief, but important choices form a life around God’s purpose. The perfect fit is not discovered by forcing a plan or chasing comfort. Purpose takes shape through intentional next steps that resist the current. [32:28]
• 5. Swim upstream with intentional faith Sinful nature drifts downstream without effort, both personally and corporately. The body of Christ becomes healthy when its members intentionally choose the harder direction of relationship, service, vulnerability, and mission. Going opposite the current may not make sense in the moment, but it follows the way of Jesus.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [28:42] - Remembering Those Who Ran In
• [30:43] - Jesus Calls People Upstream
• [31:51] - Finding the Perfect Fit
• [33:24] - The Church as Christ’s Body
• [35:21] - Community Within Reach
• [37:35] - Forgetting What Grace Saved
• [39:34] - Jesus Walks Toward the Harvest
• [40:02] - Jesus Weeps Over Jerusalem
• [42:45] - Jesus and the Widow of Nain
• [45:26] - Do for One
• [46:26] - Adding Value to the Community
• [49:20] - Love Handles and Young Adults
• [53:56] - Walking Toward Those Different From You
• [55:22] - Choosing the Next Step

1. In Luke 19:41–42, what does Jesus do when He sees Jerusalem, and what does He say the people have failed to recognize?
2. In Luke 7:11–15, what details show the widow’s deep loss, and what actions does Jesus take when He encounters her funeral procession? [43:17]
3. According to John 15:13, how is the greatest kind of love described, and how does the image of first responders help illustrate it? [30:29]
4. What contrast is made between people who are “within reach but not in relationship” and people who see others as hostile or threatening? [35:31]

1. Jesus weeps over people who are physically near Him but do not recognize what would bring them peace. What does this reveal about Jesus’ heart for people who seem close to church, faith, or Christian community but are not truly in relationship with Him? [41:01]
2. Jesus walks toward a funeral procession and touches what others would have avoided. What does this show about the kind of nearness and courage that love may require? [44:51]
3. Jesus serves the widow without being asked and without any stated expectation of her response. How does this shape the way believers can serve people without making help conditional on gratitude, agreement, or church involvement? [44:03]
4. The church is described as Christ’s body rather than merely an organization. How does that change the way a person’s choices, spiritual health, and willingness to serve affect the whole church? [33:56]

1. Who is someone already within reach—at work, school, in the neighborhood, or in the family—but not yet in real relationship? What is one simple step that could move toward that person this week? [45:35]
2. Is there a person or group that has become easy to label as hostile because of political differences, lifestyle differences, or frustrating behavior? What might it look like to see that person as someone Jesus loves rather than someone to avoid? [54:45]
3. When believers forget what it was like to be far from God, compassion can grow cold. What part of one’s own story of grace needs to be remembered in order to relate to others with more humility and patience? [37:21]
4. What immediate choice is currently competing with something more important—such as investing in a relationship, serving someone, joining community, or taking a step of faith? What would choosing the important thing look like in a specific situation? [32:16]
5. Jesus did for one widow what He could do in that moment, rather than waiting until He could meet every need. What unique gift, skill, access, or resource has God placed in one’s hands that could add value to one person or small group? [45:41]
6. Where has drifting downstream become normal—personally or in relationships with others? What intentional “upstream” choice could help replace comfort, isolation, or avoidance with faithful action? [56:06]