“All things are possible”, and many things are probable, but, death and taxes aside, few things are certain. Uncertainty is everywhere nowadays, and to the degree that Christians lack certainty, they are unsure as to how they can be God’s agents of change in the world.
In English Grammar, “Ifs” are conditionals, “Buts” are blockages. And “Maybes” are verbal fence sitters. What’s needed in this world are Imperatives, and the best one is “Must”. On the freeway of life, “If” is dependent on the traffic flow ahead, “But” on the number of stop signs and traffic signals along the way, and “Maybe” focuses on time factors. “Must”, however, puts me in the driver’s seat of a 4×4 vehicle with more grunt and better vision than most others on the road.
In the life of Jesus, “must” speaks of necessity. (Matthew 16:21 and 24:6; Mark 8:31, 13:10 and 14:49. Luke 2:49, 4:45, 13:33 and 22:37. John 3:7 (which we all know well), 9:4, 12:34 and 20:9. You really must look up these yourself! There are many “Musts” in the Apostle Paul’s ministry, and they all require exclamation marks!
(I once knew an elderly newspaper printer in a small town who had an old flatbed press. He selected lead letters and formed sentences by hand for his weekly, single-fold sheet, which locals called “The Egg Boiler because they could read it in the time it took to boil an egg! Whenever he ran out of exclamation marks, he used question marks instead. Really???? Yes!!!! I would not do this when trying to reassure a loved one of your deepest affections!)
But back to the apostle Paul and his many “Musts”!
“What must I do to be saved?” The jailor at Philippi asked Paul this after the Lord set the apostles free with an earthquake at midnight (Acts 16:30). The jailor’s condition required an imperative, not an option! There are no “maybes” in frontline evangelism!
This “Must” factor is seen in Acts 18:21, where Paul says that he “must by all means” keep the Feast [of Pentecost] in Jerusalem. In Acts 19:21, the apostle adds, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome”. A second “must” beyond a first “must”!
Then again, in Acts 23:11, the Lord stands by Paul and says, “Be of good cheer, Paul: for as you have testified of me in Jerusalem, so must you bear witness also at Rome.” Another “must” assurance!
But there’s more! In Acts 27:24, Paul appears before the captain of his ship, which appears doomed to sink with all on board and declares: “There stood before me this night the angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve, saying, “Fear not, Paul: you must be brought before Caesar: and lo, God has given you all those who sail with you.” A shipload of 176 persons is to be saved because of one man’s repetitious “Must”!
But there’s yet one last “must”: “Howbeit, we must be cast upon a certain island.” (Acts 27:26) Fourteen days later, they swam ashore — some clinging to wreckage — to the island of Malta.
“But”, you might well object, “I am not an apostle, and my life has in it more “Maybes” than “Musts”! The only imperatives in my life are making enough money to pay the mortgage, educate the children, balance income with expenses, and keep the family in food!” This post features the extraordinary, which is why the “Musts” all have Big “Ms”, whereas your musts may not. But recall that the Apostle Paul’s driving imperative began with unceasing prayers for the church at Rome, and that “if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.” (Romans 1:9-10) This reads more like a desirable Mediterranean cruise than a long torturous journey wracked with much more pain than pleasure!
So, reduce it to your less dramatic life as a Christian, if you will. But just make sure that your “Musts” override your “Maybes” (not to mention the inevitable “Ifs” and “Buts” that will be bound to hinder you from time to time. And remember that “apostle” simply means “one sent out” — which Saul wasn’t until 14 years after he met Jesus on the Road to Damascus.
Saul became Paul after being “sent out” prophetically from Antioch. The term Apostle is, after all, a job description, not a management title.