There are things about the Bible and Jesus that I just don't like.
Can I just admit that?
There are aspects of living as a committed follower of Jesus that makes my skin crawl and my stomach turn. It is much easier for me to talk about loving God and loving people through grace and love; the warm and fuzzy stuff, if there is such a thing. I would much rather be discussing how to combat social injustices and encourage spiritual development than have this conversation.
But this is important and necessary.
In fact, this is so important that I am going to be covering this topic in three dedicated posts to help answer the content presented here or, at the very least, hopefully make a lot of people uncomfortable and uneasy.
I have been discussing the elements of this post for several days on Twitter, Facebook, with Gateway pastors and with my friends. I don't like this part of following Jesus and you may not either... but this is the reality of anyone who willingly chooses to let Jesus lead them in all areas of their life.
The problem is pain and suffering. Well, it's more than that. The problem is also being hated, mocked, oppressed, harassed, teased, offended, wronged, verbally abused, and socially rejected. These are some of the trials we endure in life and this list is in no way exhaustive.
I hate it. Part of me really wants to be comfortable and accepted. I don't want to hurt. Are you with me on this? Can't this be optional? How come we suffer?
I started this conversation with a tweet via Twitter that said the following:
"Question: is it possible to grow spiritually without trials? Why or why not?"
Here are some of the responses that I received on Twitter and Facebook:
"spiritually grow? Yes and no not everyone goes through them but still grow how you handle it is how you grow."
"Personally, I think trials are like exercise. W/out them we get lazy, weak, diseased, n lose capacity 2 walk."
"Nope...James 1:2-4"
"Nope. Read CS Lewis' "The Problem of Pain". Not as good as James 1, but profound nonetheless."
"'NO PAIN GO GAIN!' Christ is there for the broken man!"
This is obviously just several opinions but it seemed to track with some sort of pattern, minus one exception. Most people who decided to join in the conversation seemed to agree that the trials of life or seasons of hardship/pain/suffering seem to be pivotal in experiencing a deepening of faith in Jesus.
Now, the danger of basing your entire view of trials based on other's opinions is that they do not have the authority that the Bible has when it comes to living a Christ-like life. Therefore, if we are pursuing a life that is pleasing to God, worthy of Jesus, and deserving of our calling to be known as sons and daughters of God, then we MUST examine what God has to say to us in His own words, the Bible. Otherwise, we are creating our own religion...
So, how true is all of this? Is there some basis for this in scripture? How do trials, pain, suffering and social uneasiness relate to following Jesus? What harm is there in just focusing on good things and trying to avoiding pain/suffering?
If we are truly following after Jesus with our entire life and not just pursuing a godly and spiritual life, then we need to consider Jesus' thoughts on the trials. We need to examine what Jesus taught about who He considered to be His followers; the new life that He was offering. Additionally, we should consider what His closest companions thought; the people who walked with Jesus, talked with Jesus and lived a long and happy... um, er. Wait, it didn't go down like that for them.
Here is the part that I deem uneasy. This is the part that... well, quite frankly it scares the snot out of me!
Jesus said, "Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.
“Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.
‘I have come to set a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
Your enemies will be right in your own household!'"
(italics added- Matthew 10:32-26)
Wow.
Well that kinda sucks, huh? Jesus is telling His disciples that their closest relationships are going to get torn apart because they have chosen to follow Jesus. Notice that He is not telling them that this might happen. No. He is telling them to expect it and that it will happen because He has come to separate His true followers from those who are not His followers.
What does that mean to us? Our lives should be characterized by the same disruption as His disciples. Have you ever seen this in a family? I have. Maybe you are experiencing this right now. Maybe someone you know decided to check out this Jesus thing and now you hate them. Maybe your the person who decided to follow after Jesus and now you've lost cherished relationships with friends and family because of Jesus. Now they think you're a freak. Maybe you're into this whole God thing but have not encountered any problems. Maybe you're thinking, "There's no way God could have meant this for my life, could He? I thought that Christians had the good life! They're always talking about peace and love." That's partially true. An ever growing amount of peace and love should be more and more evident in someone who truly follows Jesus because of God's Spirit that comes alive in all them. But just gaining peace is not the point and the "good life" is definitely not the point either.
This all comes as a cost.
Jesus continues, “If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it." (italics added- Matthew 10:37-39)
More shock and awe from Jesus.
He is telling us that He must come first in our lives. This means that I need to love God and Jesus more than my mom and dad and sisters and wife and son. Jesus is first in my life; not them and not me. I need to be willing to choose His direction in my life even if it means death (whether physically, relationally or socially).
Does this bother you yet? If not, keep reading.
"Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, 'If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?'" (Mark 8:34-36)
The cross today does not carry the same emphasis that it did back then. It is a trendy piece of jewelry or tattoo. Jesus' audience would have known exactly what He meant. More than the metaphor, this painted a very real verbal imagery in their minds as if He was telling them, "I want you to be ready to die the most horrific, humbling death in the known world, everyday." Oh, and by the way, this was before anyone saw Jesus get killed and have to actually carry a cross.
Look at the latter part of that passage. It's like Jesus is asking them, "What is the point to having your health, home, cars, 401K, happiness, nice house, and promotions if you lose your soul? What benefit is it really? Why sell out your soul to this world? Forget those things and follow me. Die to the desires for needing these things and follow me into a new life."
Die to desires. Die to "my way." Die to stuff. Die in order to live.
Can't this happen without pain or some type suffering? No. Not according to Jesus. Remember the two posts about blessings (here and here too)? Well, then consider this:
"Blessed are you when men hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man."
(italics added- Luke 6:22)
Hate, exclude, insult, reject- why? For the sake of being one of those who call themselves a Christ-follower. Jesus had a good deal to say about all of this but let's just take a look at one more, shall we?
"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you." (italics added- Mark 15:18-19)
I love how Jesus says this but the message itself makes me uneasy. Look at that again, "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own." Jesus is telling us that the "world" hated Him first and that kinda comforts me knowing that He endured it first. However, those "worldly" people (who were also very religious in Jesus' day) mocked, beat and ultimately killed Jesus. Not good for the comfortable Christian life. Are you noticing that following Jesus, REALLY following Jesus is not comfortable? Notice too that there is a warning for us in there... the world would love us if we belonged to it.
Who around you hates you because of your pursuit and love for Jesus? Who around you loves you because you don't talk or act differently now that you have a relationship with Jesus? What do you need to change to be considered hated on account of Jesus?
What ever it is you need to change about your relationship with Jesus, go do it today. Always speak the truth; marinated in grace, motivated by love, empowered by the Holy Spirit for the sake of Jesus.
Stay tuned...
Can I just admit that?
There are aspects of living as a committed follower of Jesus that makes my skin crawl and my stomach turn. It is much easier for me to talk about loving God and loving people through grace and love; the warm and fuzzy stuff, if there is such a thing. I would much rather be discussing how to combat social injustices and encourage spiritual development than have this conversation.
But this is important and necessary.
In fact, this is so important that I am going to be covering this topic in three dedicated posts to help answer the content presented here or, at the very least, hopefully make a lot of people uncomfortable and uneasy.
I have been discussing the elements of this post for several days on Twitter, Facebook, with Gateway pastors and with my friends. I don't like this part of following Jesus and you may not either... but this is the reality of anyone who willingly chooses to let Jesus lead them in all areas of their life.
The problem is pain and suffering. Well, it's more than that. The problem is also being hated, mocked, oppressed, harassed, teased, offended, wronged, verbally abused, and socially rejected. These are some of the trials we endure in life and this list is in no way exhaustive.
I hate it. Part of me really wants to be comfortable and accepted. I don't want to hurt. Are you with me on this? Can't this be optional? How come we suffer?
I started this conversation with a tweet via Twitter that said the following:
"Question: is it possible to grow spiritually without trials? Why or why not?"
Here are some of the responses that I received on Twitter and Facebook:
"spiritually grow? Yes and no not everyone goes through them but still grow how you handle it is how you grow."
"Personally, I think trials are like exercise. W/out them we get lazy, weak, diseased, n lose capacity 2 walk."
"Nope...James 1:2-4"
"Nope. Read CS Lewis' "The Problem of Pain". Not as good as James 1, but profound nonetheless."
"'NO PAIN GO GAIN!' Christ is there for the broken man!"
This is obviously just several opinions but it seemed to track with some sort of pattern, minus one exception. Most people who decided to join in the conversation seemed to agree that the trials of life or seasons of hardship/pain/suffering seem to be pivotal in experiencing a deepening of faith in Jesus.
Now, the danger of basing your entire view of trials based on other's opinions is that they do not have the authority that the Bible has when it comes to living a Christ-like life. Therefore, if we are pursuing a life that is pleasing to God, worthy of Jesus, and deserving of our calling to be known as sons and daughters of God, then we MUST examine what God has to say to us in His own words, the Bible. Otherwise, we are creating our own religion...
So, how true is all of this? Is there some basis for this in scripture? How do trials, pain, suffering and social uneasiness relate to following Jesus? What harm is there in just focusing on good things and trying to avoiding pain/suffering?
If we are truly following after Jesus with our entire life and not just pursuing a godly and spiritual life, then we need to consider Jesus' thoughts on the trials. We need to examine what Jesus taught about who He considered to be His followers; the new life that He was offering. Additionally, we should consider what His closest companions thought; the people who walked with Jesus, talked with Jesus and lived a long and happy... um, er. Wait, it didn't go down like that for them.
Here is the part that I deem uneasy. This is the part that... well, quite frankly it scares the snot out of me!
Jesus said, "Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.
“Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.
‘I have come to set a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
Your enemies will be right in your own household!'"
(italics added- Matthew 10:32-26)
Wow.
Well that kinda sucks, huh? Jesus is telling His disciples that their closest relationships are going to get torn apart because they have chosen to follow Jesus. Notice that He is not telling them that this might happen. No. He is telling them to expect it and that it will happen because He has come to separate His true followers from those who are not His followers.
What does that mean to us? Our lives should be characterized by the same disruption as His disciples. Have you ever seen this in a family? I have. Maybe you are experiencing this right now. Maybe someone you know decided to check out this Jesus thing and now you hate them. Maybe your the person who decided to follow after Jesus and now you've lost cherished relationships with friends and family because of Jesus. Now they think you're a freak. Maybe you're into this whole God thing but have not encountered any problems. Maybe you're thinking, "There's no way God could have meant this for my life, could He? I thought that Christians had the good life! They're always talking about peace and love." That's partially true. An ever growing amount of peace and love should be more and more evident in someone who truly follows Jesus because of God's Spirit that comes alive in all them. But just gaining peace is not the point and the "good life" is definitely not the point either.
This all comes as a cost.
Jesus continues, “If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it." (italics added- Matthew 10:37-39)
More shock and awe from Jesus.
He is telling us that He must come first in our lives. This means that I need to love God and Jesus more than my mom and dad and sisters and wife and son. Jesus is first in my life; not them and not me. I need to be willing to choose His direction in my life even if it means death (whether physically, relationally or socially).
Does this bother you yet? If not, keep reading.
"Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, 'If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?'" (Mark 8:34-36)
The cross today does not carry the same emphasis that it did back then. It is a trendy piece of jewelry or tattoo. Jesus' audience would have known exactly what He meant. More than the metaphor, this painted a very real verbal imagery in their minds as if He was telling them, "I want you to be ready to die the most horrific, humbling death in the known world, everyday." Oh, and by the way, this was before anyone saw Jesus get killed and have to actually carry a cross.
Look at the latter part of that passage. It's like Jesus is asking them, "What is the point to having your health, home, cars, 401K, happiness, nice house, and promotions if you lose your soul? What benefit is it really? Why sell out your soul to this world? Forget those things and follow me. Die to the desires for needing these things and follow me into a new life."
Die to desires. Die to "my way." Die to stuff. Die in order to live.
Can't this happen without pain or some type suffering? No. Not according to Jesus. Remember the two posts about blessings (here and here too)? Well, then consider this:
"Blessed are you when men hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man."
(italics added- Luke 6:22)
Hate, exclude, insult, reject- why? For the sake of being one of those who call themselves a Christ-follower. Jesus had a good deal to say about all of this but let's just take a look at one more, shall we?
"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you." (italics added- Mark 15:18-19)
I love how Jesus says this but the message itself makes me uneasy. Look at that again, "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own." Jesus is telling us that the "world" hated Him first and that kinda comforts me knowing that He endured it first. However, those "worldly" people (who were also very religious in Jesus' day) mocked, beat and ultimately killed Jesus. Not good for the comfortable Christian life. Are you noticing that following Jesus, REALLY following Jesus is not comfortable? Notice too that there is a warning for us in there... the world would love us if we belonged to it.
Who around you hates you because of your pursuit and love for Jesus? Who around you loves you because you don't talk or act differently now that you have a relationship with Jesus? What do you need to change to be considered hated on account of Jesus?
What ever it is you need to change about your relationship with Jesus, go do it today. Always speak the truth; marinated in grace, motivated by love, empowered by the Holy Spirit for the sake of Jesus.
Stay tuned...
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composed by
dave
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