“I Surrender All” Well...Sorta...
I grew up singing this hymn~
The Hymn Where We Lie As We Sing
There’s an old hymn we love to sing at least in Traditional Worship.
I grew up with my mom playing it and I sang it…with zeal…
“I surrender all… I surrender all…”
And the last time I sang it, I thought who are fooling here…
I mean honestly can I sing it this way…
I surrender SOME….
I surrender my sin—but not my comfort.
I surrender my future—but not my timeline.
I surrender my prayers, but not my wallet…
I surrender my life—but not my reputation, relationships, or sense of control.
Honest confession:
“I surrender all” may be the boldest lie we sing in church.
Why This Matters to the Title
Because faith is not trusting the finish line.
It’s trusting the voice.
And the voice keeps saying:
“Follow me.”
But surrender means you don’t get to choose where that voice leads.
We love Jesus as Savior.
We tolerate Him as Lord.
Partial Surrender Is Still Control
We’ve mastered selective obedience.
We say:
“God, use me”
“God, lead me”
“God, I’m available”
As long as He doesn’t:
disrupt our comfort
mess with our plans
touch the thing we’re protecting
Partial surrender isn’t surrender. It’s spiritual micromanagement.
We don’t follow Jesus.
We supervise Him.
We Sing Surrender, Then Ask for Directions
The irony is painful.
We sing, “I surrender all”
and then immediately ask:
“Where is this going?”
“How long will this take?”
“What do I get out of this?”
Jesus responds:
“Follow me.”
And we respond:
“Okay, but what’s the outcome?”
Faith doesn’t work that way.
If you need guarantees, you’re not surrendering—you’re negotiating.
Surrender Feels Irresponsible to Control People
Surrender sounds reckless to anyone who worships control.
Parents hear surrender and think:
“What if my kids don’t turn out right?”
Pastors hear surrender and think:
“What if the church shrinks?”
People in relationships hear surrender and think:
“What if I get hurt?”
Yes.
That might happen.
Hard truth:
Surrender isn’t safe. It’s faithful.
And those are not the same thing.
Jesus Is Not After Some—He’s After Follow Me
Jesus never said:
“Follow me a little”
“Follow me when it makes sense”
“Follow me as long as it works”
He said:
“Follow me.”
Which means:
no leverage
no conditions
no exit strategy
Sarcastic but surgical:
Jesus doesn’t want to be a consultant. He’s the King.
We Confuse Surrender With Losing Ourselves
This is the fear beneath the hymn.
“If I surrender everything, I’ll disappear.”
“If I let go, I’ll lose myself.”
“If I follow Jesus fully, I won’t like who I become.”
That’s when Jesus finishes the sentence:
“Follow me… and I will make you.”
Surrender isn’t erasure.
It’s formation.
You don’t lose your life when you surrender it. You lose it when you keep trying to save it.
Real Life Surrender
(Where the Hymn Gets Uncomfortable)
For Pastors
“I surrender all” means:
preaching truth without guaranteeing growth
trusting faithfulness over applause
For Parents
It means:
releasing outcomes
modeling trust instead of fear
For Relationships
It means:
loving without control
forgiving without leverage
Truth bomb:
Surrender always costs more than we expect—and saves more than we can imagine.
The Making Still Belongs to Jesus
“Follow me, and I will make you into…” says Jesus…
Follow me and I will make you into more than you are…
Isn’t Christianity more about becoming than who we have been?
Thankfully. Through Grace?
Not:
“figure yourself out”
“optimize your life”
“self-manage your holiness”
You surrender.
You follow.
He makes.
Final snark (with love):
If you’re exhausted trying to control everything, congratulations—you’ve discovered why surrender exists.
Sing the Hymn Honestly
Maybe next time we sing “I surrender all,” we should mean it.
Or at least be honest about the struggle.
Because faith isn’t trusting the finish line.
It’s trusting the voice.
And the voice is still saying:
“Follow me.”
Even when you don’t know where this ends.
Even when it costs your preferred outcomes.
Even when surrender feels terrifying.
So stop surrendering some.
Stop supervising Jesus.
Stop demanding the route.
Follow Him.
And let Him do the making
Rev. John Roberts
Surrendering is hard, and we need to continually work on letting Jesus lead us [without asking for further instructions}! Lord, help me to truly surrender to you!