Following Jesus

The more I drive over to the Justice Center, the more I ask myself (and anyone who happens to be within earshot), “What does it mean to be a Christian?” I was discipled in an environment that laid a lot of emphases in praying a certain prayer in order to be “saved.” But the reality is that a lot of people have prayed that prayer – and often on more than one occasion but they lead lives that do not always reflect that a life-changing transaction has taken place. True, only God knows the motives of the human heart and no one is perfect. But as Paul pointed out, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old is gone and the new is come” (2 Corinthians 5). So what does it mean when someone says they have prayed that “prayer” but the new life promised to those “in Christ” seems to drag behind?

Recently I read a book handed to me by a friend that he had found personally challenging. The Jesus Mission by Steven K. Scott. It's a book designed for someone looking for answers or for someone who is dissatisfied with their present walk with Christ (i.e., they are dissatisfied in that they are asking themselves, "Is this all there is?). As Scott sees it, Jesus came to earth to accomplish 27 separate missions (and did so) and assigns each and every one of us four of our own. The first being, To become more intimate with God.

Writes Scott,

“What would happen if, instead of inviting people to pray a prayer to receive Christ, we invited them to become followers of Jesus Christ? After all, that was how Jesus called His first disciples. He did not ask two fishermen named Peter and Andrew or a tax collector named Matthew or countless others to recite a prayer. He invited them to follow Him. Those who accepted His invitation did so at great personal cost.” (p. 107)

Of course, it works...but what does it mean?

Who can argue with that? As I reflect on the Gospels never in any of his teaching sessions does Jesus wrap the gathering up asking everyone to bow their head, close their eyes and raise their hand if they are interested in becoming one of his disciples. No, he was far more direct and he wasn't afraid of making someone feel uncomfortable when he did so. He extended the invitation personally and in at least a few cases, when the person balked, he didn't say, “That's okay. Perhaps another time.” Rather, he scolded them. To the guy who asked for time to go home and accomplish the days of mourning for his father, Jesus replied, “First things first. Your business is life, not death. And life is urgent: Announce God’s kingdom!” (Luke 9:60, Msg) In my mind how I imagine conversations like these went down is that as he traveled about Galilee preaching and teaching some were far more intrigued than others (based on the principles found in the Parable of the Sower). Their interest was piqued or they found themselves moved at what he was saying about the Kingdom of God. And then, as they pondered the things they had just heard, he would pounce cat-like: “Follow me.”

While theologically speaking we could say that those who accepted his invitation settled the fate of their eternal soul, at the moment it was their here-and-now life that changed radically. To be a follower of this rabbi was to sign on to a life that required you to sell out completely. No half measures were allowed nor tolerated.

In Matthew's account of the sending out of the Twelve, Jesus puts it to them this way:

“Don’t think I’ve come to make life cozy. I’ve come to cut—make a sharp knife-cut between son and father, daughter and mother, bride and mother-in-law—cut through these cozy domestic arrangements and free you for God. Well-meaning family members can be your worst enemies. If you prefer father or mother over me, you don’t deserve me. If you prefer son or daughter over me, you don’t deserve me.

“If you don’t go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me.” (Matthew 10:34-39, Msg) 

Of this charge, Scott says,

So you might ask, “How could such a life be glorious and joy producing?” Here is how. First, when you realize you have no rights, you lose your expectations. Self-directed expectations and an entitlement mentality are the enemies of happiness. They make it impossible to be grateful, and gratefulness is the source of happiness. At the same time, when you have no rights or expectations, you are grateful for everything that God provides. Also, by dying to self and to your rights, you enter into a bond of intimacy with our Savior that provides joy that is not dependent on other people or circumstances. The “streams of living water” begin to flow from your innermost being, as Jesus promised in John 7:38. (p. 110)

It's an exchange, Jesus says. In laying down my life, surrendering to his leadership and rule, I find a freedom that the life I'm living now does not have now nor can ever have. At different times during my walk with God since becoming one of his disciples in 1980, I have wrestled either with a sense of entitlement (i.e., that God somehow owes me something because I said “yes” to him or signed on to be one of his under-shepherds) or dissatisfaction at the outcome of my career choice (i.e., small church and corresponding small income.) But in saner moments I recognize that these attitudes reflect just how much 'world' remains in me, indirectly bargaining with the Almighty to let me off easy, to give me eternal life as well as all the trappings that make one a success in this life. I'm glad he doesn't give me what I sometimes crave, recognition and prestige, fame and fortune. Instead, he gives me bread that satisfies – hearth and home, kith and kin, faith and fellowship – and it is enough.

Now I am the one making the appeals to follow Jesus whether it's to the Justice Center crowd or kids at the mid-week youth gathering or folks at Refuge. A long time ago I gave up giving the pitch – the “bow-your-head, close-your-eyes, no-one-looking-around” command followed by “the-raise-your-hand-if-you-want-to-become-a-Christian” one. Primarily it's a matter of logistics. When you're speaking to the same folks week in and week out you pretty much know who's in and who's not. But there's an evangelist who visits our place every six months who does this and every time there are those who follow suit, raise their hand and pray the corporate prayer we are all instructed to pray. To him, he takes it as he sees it – people who are getting saved. But to me, it's only an indicator that the waters are being stirred and perhaps this is the night that this person does decide to lay down his life-agenda before the Lord who calls him to do just this.

Last Wednesday night we heard a teaching at Focus, the youth gathering held at Refuge every Wednesday night, that was presented at the Onething Conference in Kansas City this past December by Misty Edwards. It was a message based on Matthew 11:28-30 and as she aptly put it, the invitation to throw off the heavy yoke we find upon ourselves does not mean an invitation to go unyoked. We will be yoked to someone but his yoke is supremely easier than any others we may otherwise choose. It made me think of Bob Dylan's classic song during his Christian phase,

Bobby is so right...I wish he had stayed the course

Might be a rock'n' roll adict prancing on the stage
Might have money and drugs at your commands, women in a cage
You may be a business man or some high degree thief
They may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief.

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

Of the passage in Matthew 11 Scott says,

Here, Jesus invites us to come alongside Him and to bind ourselves to Him rather than following behind. When two oxen were hitched or yolked together, one served in the dominant role and would carry the bulk of the load, while the other would balance the load. Here the Lord tells us that when we are yoked to Him, He will do the heavy work while we walk with Him. As we walk alongside Him, He will accomplish His work through us. He becomes our partner, to empower us to do that which would otherwise be impossible for us to do! (p. 111)

As all of us who have been at this for any length of time already know this is easier said than done. For me, there's just too much of my own ideas still rolling about in me, or a tendency to want to shoulder the bulk of the load instead of just doing my part of the work. A little less than two years ago, I met a guy at the JC who eventually I had the honor to pray with to receive Jesus. I've written several posts about him since. This Saturday night we're beginning a Bible study in his home with his wife, Marie, and a few other folks from their neighborhood that I'm entitling “Following Jesus: What it means to be a disciple of Jesus.” I'm sincerely hoping that not only will we enjoy fellowshipping together at Troy & Marie's home but we will also be sincerely challenged to examine our lives to see if, indeed, we are really following him or just thinking we are because we go to church every Sunday.