Matt Chandler - Co-Opted

If you have your Bibles, please grab them. We’re just going to walk line by line through that. Um, let me start this way: everything I love about my life right now I can trace back to a wrestle with God when I was 20 that went deep into the early hours of the morning. Um, I had a wonderful plan for my life. I had worked at a church; it was a disaster. So, I came to the conclusion that I wasn’t called to ministry. Therefore, what I was going to do is head to Texas A&M. I was going to be proud of you! I didn’t know you were up late last night, I think. Um, I was going to either go into business or political science—lawyer or business. I was going to make a killing, drive a Porsche, have a beautiful wife, and teach an amazing Sunday school class. I was going to be incredibly generous with all the money God gave me, and that was my plan. I thought it was a good plan.

My camp counselor the year I became a Christian was Greg M. Greg Mot started Breakaway Ministries at Texas A&M. It is a massive college Bible study. In fact, now they meet in Reed Arena, where Texas A&M plays basketball. I had met some good friends, and I had an all-bills-paid apartment that I cannot fathom is still standing. It should not have been standing even at that time. I had a great Christian community, and I knew the church I was going to. In fact, that first year after I became a Christian, I would drive two and a half, almost three hours. Back then, Breakaway was at Central Baptist; they had a 7:00 and a 9:00 service, and I would drive to College Station by myself. I would go to Breakaway at 7:00 and would get back in my car to get home early Wednesday morning, around midnight or 1 a.m. I can’t wrap my head around letting my son drive three hours away on a school night and then return home to get there by 1:00 a.m. in time for school in the morning. But that was the house I grew up in. No smoke about that; I love the freedom I had and what it taught me about life. I had to own some things to be responsible, and I appreciated it at the time. But thinking about it now that I have a kid, I’m like, «That’s crazy. That’s madness.»

I had good friends, a Christian community. I knew I needed that. I was a new Christian who had gotten saved out of some nonsense, and I didn’t quite trust myself. So, having a place with Christian roommates who deeply loved the Lord, and a Bible study to plug into, a church I knew I was going to join—it felt good. I knew where I was heading in life, which was a life, in my mind, built around my love for Jesus. It really was. I wanted to go to A&M; I’d liked A&M before that. I fell in love with A&M in 1986 when they smoked Auburn in the Cotton Bowl. Bo Jackson had won the Heisman that year, and back then, A&M had a defense and just wrecked shop. I thought, «These are my people,» and I have been heartbroken ever since. It’s fine. But that was my plan for my life; I had it all mapped out. Back then, I was a night owl. That’s before my kids jacked me up, and now I love 5:00 in the morning. Back then, I loved 2 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. I had gotten a new book called «Flying Closer to the Flame» by Chuck Swindoll. When I became a Christian, I would listen every morning on 105.7 in the Houston area. Dr. Tony Evans was on from 9:00 to 9:30, and Dr. Chuck Swindoll was from 9:30 to 10:00. What’s funny about that is when I think about how I preach now, I realize those brothers left a mark on me. I would listen to those guys. So, Chuck Swindoll had a new book, and I grabbed it. I opened it up and started reading it. That was not uncommon; I did that a lot. I was so hungry to understand this thing that had happened to me. Then, around 11 at night, I got this really powerful sense that I wasn’t supposed to go to A&M. So, I did what all godly people do: I surrendered to that call, asked no further questions, and fell asleep. No! I immediately began to enter into this back-and-forth with the Lord. Clearly, He doesn’t understand the life I’m trying to build for Him. He must have forgotten what I had found myself in and why this was so important and safe for me. He must not have seen it. So, I began to go back and forth with the Lord. From there, I started to ask, «Well, where am I going then? You’re asking me to make a series of phone calls and tell a bunch of people.»