I ended my last post from the chapter entitled "Suffering" focusing on Piper's assertion that "Christianity is not a life that one would embrace as abundant and satisfying without the hope of fellowship with Christ in the resurrection." I spent some more time looking through the scriptures for passages where Jesus spoke of suffering for following Him. Jesus himself said that "You can enter God's kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose the easy way (Matt. 7:13-14 NLT)." If our lives are set on taking the easy way, something incompatible with the Christian life described in the bible, Jesus is saying that we are not on the Kingdom path.
Why do we try to dumb things down in many of our churches today, watering down the gospel and the call of Jesus on His people so that our sales pitch to unbelievers (or wavering Christians) sounds more enticing and not so costly and demanding of our lives? Jesus didn't hide the fact that following Him would cost us, He promised that we would have to stop relying on ourselves, stop pursuing wealth and status, that we needed to obey his commands (repenting of sins that we like to indulge in), that we would face rejection, persecution and sometimes even death for proclaiming that He alone is the Savior. Look at Luke 14:25-34, Jesus made it clear that our lives are no longer our own if we are to be His disciples, so we most count the cost and give those we share the gospel with the same opportunity. You can't come away from reading the New Testament and not get the sense that as followers of Christ we will have to choose a difficult path, one that involves suffering and sacrifice in this lifetime.
Why would we choose to follow Him then? According to Paul, the reason we should choose this path is because we have the hope of eternal life in God's Kingdom, with a particular desire for God Himself. How could we truly follow Christ if He is not what we long for? Why would we follow Him no matter what, at great cost, unless he was more desirable to us than any of the things we might lose in following Him? As we walk with Christ in this fallen world, we see and know only in part (1 Cor. 13:12), but that gives us a taste of the riches of Christ. The thing that makes Christianity "worth it" is the reward that is yet to come, the one we get a picture of in Revelation 22. If that is not our ultimate longing, the motivation that keeps us going on this journey as part of God's church, then we will end up choosing the easy way and never truly follow Jesus. We'll settle for less.
Does Revelation 22 excite you? Is the hope of eternity with God directing your life? Or are you settling for less?
I haven't been able to stop thinking thinking about this idea of the easy way vs. choosing a life where we will suffer and sacrifice that we might gain Christ. I think it's fair to say that without a love and desire for God that shapes our lives we will inevitably settle for less and choose the world over Jesus. It occurs to me that worship can help stir up our affections for God, especially when it is balanced with an equal amount of truth and heart. And it would seem imperative that our worship must consistently anticipate the hope of eternal life, the world to come, the return of Jesus and the establishment of His kingdom, that we might cultivate a hope that can withstand any amount of suffering or sacrifice.
God, would you help me, help us, to stop pursuing goals and lifestyles that have no eternal value, or even mixing them with some elements of being a Christian, and instead help us to be willing to "give up everything we have" to follow after You (Luke 14:33), knowing that the cost is worth it because of the promise of the "joy in Your presence and eternal pleasures at Your right hand (Psalm 16:11)."
I've still got more from this chapter, so look for part 3 soon.
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