Like most Christians in America, I have had a pretty easy time. The troubles I had in the past were often caused by my own ignorance or immaturity. (See OMG! It’s Me) I have certainly not suffered anything for my faith like many of our brothers and sisters around the world. A number of circumstances in the last year or two have made me evaluate my progress toward becoming more like Christ as we are commanded to do. WWJD is still a relevant question.
One of the more difficult traits Jesus demonstrated was the
ability to perfectly fulfill His Father’s purpose for His life. Even though
Jesus is described as meek and humble, He did not run away from confrontation
or compromise when His detractors pressured Him. He ultimately stood before the
Sanhedrin and took their abuse, after which He bore the worst the Romans had to
offer by enduring flogging and finally crucifixion. Before He was subjected to
the final insults by the civil and religious leaders, He had made some cryptic
statements to His disciples that were made painfully clear by His obedience “to
the point of death.” Legend says that each of the disciples except for John
met a similar end as a result of their obedience.
When Jesus said His disciples would necessarily take up a
cross to follow Him, it was more than a nice metaphor. It pointed to a reality
that included potential suffering along the way and death at the end of the
journey. Peter and John, after being flogged by the Sanhedrin for preaching
Jesus, “went
on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been
considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.” Paul
spoke of suffering for Christ as a privilege and a necessary aspect of his
own sanctification. James
recommended rejoicing in the presence of trials. There are very few
examples in the New Testament of believers having a good time following Jesus
at parties, campfires and cruises to the Holy Land.
I like to joke that if people think following Jesus is going
to be a bed of roses, they should be reminded that roses have thorns. In Jesus’
final discourse on the night He was betrayed, He told His closest followers, “In
the world, you will have affliction, but have courage; I have conquered the
world.” There is a passage
in Isaiah that people like to recite for comfort in times of trouble, but
it begins with a less than comforting word: “When you pass through the
waters… when you walk through fire….” God said “when,” not “if.” We are
promised protection in and through not from affliction.
I have just finished reading N.T. Wright’s book, Surprised
by Hope. One of his main points is that many Christians think salvation is
about “going to Heaven when I die.” I will write more about this in a future post,
but for now I must admit that Wright’s point is well-taken. Many believers have
an escapist mentality. Their hope in Christ is a future hope of a blissful
existence in some indescribable, ethereal place that has no connection with
present reality. The most they hope for until then is health, prosperity, and
deliverance from trouble in their lives. That is not what Jesus promised, nor
is it anything like the experience we read about in the book of Acts or the letters
to believers in the New Testament.
Since believers are called to love and obey their Master and
daily become more like Him, it would be well to consider the outcome of His
perfect obedience to the Heavenly Father’s will. Yes, Jesus Christ did eventually
earn a crown of gold for His troubles, but first He wore a crown of thorns. As
I said before, taking up a cross to follow Jesus is not an invitation to a
party; it is a stark reminder of what following Jesus may cost.
Believers in the West, especially in America, have had a
mostly comfortable time for two or three centuries. The current political and
social situation has caused some of us to think that the days of easy-believism
are passing away. The pleasant crowns we are promised for discipline and
obedience are in fact, “in Heaven when we die.” Until then, the “ruler
of this world” whom Jesus conquered may have a thorny crown or two waiting
for the faithful. Jesus warned His disciples of what was to come, “so that in
Me you may have peace.” That’s the key: our peace is in Christ, not in escaping
the troubled circumstances we must inevitably endure.
Keep your eyes on Christ, and you can say
with Paul, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an
eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things
that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen
are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” Don’t look around;
look up. Now if I could just figure out how to do confrontation like Jesus did…
Related posts: Disagree
Agreeably; Loving
Biblically
