​The Benefit of Radical Amputation

It was an early morning in November 2011 when my sisters and I sat with our dad in a surgical waiting room. Just a few short weeks before, our mom had been diagnosed with breast cancer found during a routine yearly mammogram.

I sat there that morning recalling the events of the weeks since the day we heard the dreaded “C” word. There had been a whirlwind of doctor’s appointments, scans, blood tests, and consultations.

I remember when the breast cancer specialist told us in a family consultation that the best course of action for the type of cancer my mom had was a mastectomy—a radical amputation of my mom’s breast. It was a shock, but none of us argued that day in the doctor’s office because we trusted she knew the best course of action to eradicate the cancer in my mother’s body. 

That day in the waiting room, all we could do was just that—wait and trust the Lord that this radical surgery would put mom on the road to being cancer-free. We rejoice that her amputation paid great benefits in saving her physical life that day!

​You know Jesus told us that “radical amputation” is the only course of action for us if we are going to be salt in this world and affect change in other people’s lives. You can read the passage in Mark 9:43-50. Jesus tells us that amputating a hand or a foot or plucking out one’s eye is the best course of action if that will keep us from sinning. If you just read that statement, you might think it was the thinking of a radical cult group. Jesus isn’t telling us to literally amputate our limbs, but He makes that shocking statement to help us realize how much He hates the sin that we allow to stay in our lives. He was contrasting how some people would rather enter eternity holding on to the sin they love so much (with two hands, feet, or eyes) than letting go of that here so they can gain eternal reward.  ​

I would venture to guess that you or someone near you has a similar story to the one I told you in the opening of this blogpost—the person has cancer, and the doctors tell him that it needs to be removed. A person would be foolish to keep a hold of the cancer cells in his body when he is being offered a remedy for that cancer. But spiritually speaking, how often have we snuggled close to our sin while we push aside the conviction of the Holy Spirit? We choose to keep the “cancer” of sin rather than doing what Jesus said and radically amputating that sin from our lives so that we can best serve the Lord here on this earth.

Jesus goes on in Mark 9:50 to speak about the beneficial properties of salt.

We know that salt has:

• A preserving effect on food
• A cleansing property
• A seasoning for food

​Salt has many other beneficial properties as well. But Jesus reminds us that when the salt has lost its saltiness, it is no longer of any use but “to be trodden under foot of men” (Matthew 5:13).

Jesus commands us in Mark 9 at the end of verse 50 to “Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.” Is it possible that we struggle to have peace in our homes, in our churches, and in our communities because as Christians we are salt, but we have lost our savor? ​

I wonder if you and I have lost our saltiness with the people around us because of the sin we are allowing to remain in our lives? Are you having a positive effect on people around you with the Gospel or have you found that your salt has lost its saltiness? If we are going to make a difference in this world as Christians, we are going to have to ask the Lord to help us take BIG steps of radical amputation in the areas of sin that are causing us to lose our saltiness.

​Paul says it this way in Colossians 3:5:

 “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth….”

We have to put to death the things that cause us to sin, renew our minds, and then put on the new man (Ephesians 4:22-24). Then we will be able to be “the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13) that Christ commands us to be.

What steps of “radical amputation” do you need to take today in order to be a Christian who is actually making a difference?