The message of the gospel was and is, "repent and believe". The pattern of those who believed was that they, "left their old way of life and followed Jesus". Today it seems that people believe following Jesus doesn't require anything different from them. Life as a "follower" means they sometimes talk about Jesus, regularly attend worship services, occasionally give some money, and have a christian CD or two. Other than that, they pretty much look like every other American.
Is this the pattern that we see in the gospels? No way! In fact, what we see is something quite opposite. If following Jesus 2000 years ago was radically transformational, shouldn't it be the same today. Has Jesus lowered His standards of a disciple? Is it easier to be a christian now?
What are we doing to demonstrate that we are truly following? I suggest we look at three things: 1.Money, 2.Time, 3.Relationships. Would what we do with these three things say, "Follower of Jesus"?
AND the Christian cd's they own often aren't very good or often very "christian"!
ReplyDeleteChan really helped challenge me in this regard when we studied "Crazy Love" at BASIC last summer.
Following Jesus costs everything. Not just then. Not just smoething.
Now and everything.