Friday, August 13, 2004
After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him. Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?"
Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." John 6:66-69
Discipleship is not a free ride. God is not Santa Claus. There are times where it hurts to believe, or the way is hard, or our friends want us to do something we feel wrong or true Christianity becomes unpopular.
Currently, there's a lot out there that makes it inconvenient to act on our faith. Rules at work which try to keep us from displaying symbols of our faith, or even mentioning it on the job. Advertising media which tell us the only things that matter are getting plenty of sex, and having all the toys we could possibly want, and you have to be thin, beautiful, and self-centered to matter. Polirical agendas that pass laws requiring church organizations to do things contrary to the faith. People telling us that we have to be quiet about what we believe because of multiculturalism.
The temptation to pick and choose is always there.
Working on Sunday. Watching that movie that's really too racy, but has such a good story line. Letting the kids wear clothes that are advertisements to have sex just because it's the style. Deciding that "I can't force my views on someone else" when it's clearly time to stand up for an issue, like right to life. Agreeing to rules that pretend you are only a Christian when you are in church.
Bit by bit, everything whittles at true commitment to God.
We are given a choice. We can be like those disciples who said "This is a hard saying, who can follow it?" and although we might like God, we can comfort ourselves with thinking that because he wants us a certain way, it just doesn't have relavance in today's world, that that way of living was just for the old days.
Or we can be like the apostles, and say, "Lord, you have the words of eternal life. Where else can we go but to you?"
Caesar, the non-believing world, is always there, waiting for us to offer up a pinch of incense to show if we are on his side or God's.
Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." John 6:66-69
Discipleship is not a free ride. God is not Santa Claus. There are times where it hurts to believe, or the way is hard, or our friends want us to do something we feel wrong or true Christianity becomes unpopular.
Currently, there's a lot out there that makes it inconvenient to act on our faith. Rules at work which try to keep us from displaying symbols of our faith, or even mentioning it on the job. Advertising media which tell us the only things that matter are getting plenty of sex, and having all the toys we could possibly want, and you have to be thin, beautiful, and self-centered to matter. Polirical agendas that pass laws requiring church organizations to do things contrary to the faith. People telling us that we have to be quiet about what we believe because of multiculturalism.
The temptation to pick and choose is always there.
Working on Sunday. Watching that movie that's really too racy, but has such a good story line. Letting the kids wear clothes that are advertisements to have sex just because it's the style. Deciding that "I can't force my views on someone else" when it's clearly time to stand up for an issue, like right to life. Agreeing to rules that pretend you are only a Christian when you are in church.
Bit by bit, everything whittles at true commitment to God.
We are given a choice. We can be like those disciples who said "This is a hard saying, who can follow it?" and although we might like God, we can comfort ourselves with thinking that because he wants us a certain way, it just doesn't have relavance in today's world, that that way of living was just for the old days.
Or we can be like the apostles, and say, "Lord, you have the words of eternal life. Where else can we go but to you?"
Caesar, the non-believing world, is always there, waiting for us to offer up a pinch of incense to show if we are on his side or God's.
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