Readings for today: Judges 9:22-10:18, Luke 24:13-53, Psalms 100, Proverbs 14:11-12
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” (Proverbs 14:12)
I was talking to a group of teenagers yesterday about the Christian life. We were looking at Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount where He talks about anger, lust, vengeance, and loving your enemies. It seems an impossible task. The students were honest enough to ask if God grades on a curve. They could not fathom a life without anger or anxiety or lust or revenge. We talked through a whole host of scenarios where these things crop up. Surely Jesus doesn’t expect us to actually put His sermon into practice, does He?
I think a lot of Christians feel this way. They consider the Bible “aspirational” at best. A standard to aspire to rather than an actual way of life. They know their imperfections. They know how often they fall short. They know how challenging it is to follow Jesus so they settle. They lower their expectations. They reduce the horizon of their lives to something more manageable. And they hope God will cover the rest.
Why do you think there is so much death in our world? So much depression? So much suffering? When we refuse to follow Christ. When we refuse to trust Christ’s wisdom for our lives. When we refuse to lean on Christ’s strength to resist temptation. When we reject Christ’s way, there are consequences. Someone crosses us. Betrays us. Wounds us. Instead of taking our pain to Christ for healing, we feed the anger as it wells up inside. Eventually it builds to the point where we lash out. We spend time looking at pornography, fantasizing about other human beings. The porn subtly and subconsciously begins to shape our sexual expectations. Instead of letting our sexual relationships be defined by Christ and His selfless love, now we treat the men and women we meet/date/marry as objects to be used to gratify our own desires. And if they cannot or will not, we are free to discard them and move on. Stress from work or school begins to pile up. Assignments. Tests. Papers to write. Projects to finish. Tasks to complete. Our to-do list is overwhelming. Instead of grounding our work in Christ and trusting Him to give us the energy and wisdom and motivation to take care of our responsibilities, we avoid. We play video games. We hang out with friends. We scroll through social media. Time is wasted. Deadlines draw near. Anxiety builds. Do you see a pattern emerging?
There is a way that seems right to a person...but take a step back. What have we gained from the way of sexual freedom in our culture? Sexually transmitted disease. Unwanted pregnancies. Broken relationships. Sexual abuse and the #MeToo movement. What have we gained from the way of violence in our culture? School shootings. Domestic terrorism. A rise in racism and hate. What have we gained from the way of greed in our culture? A widening gap between rich and poor. Too much money centered in too few hands. Corporate welfare. A corrupt relationship between our political leaders and Wall Street. What have we gained from the way of exploitation when it comes to creation? Plastic filling our oceans. Greenhouse gases eroding our atmosphere. Climate change disproportionately impacting the global poor. These, friends, are the ways of death.
Christ shows us the way of life. But to gain the life He offers, we must let go of our life in the world. Only the one who loses their life for Jesus’ sake will find it. Only by denying oneself and taking up a cross can we follow Jesus. Only by giving ourselves away will we gain all Christ has to offer. This, friends, is what it means to live the Christian life. This is what it means to follow the way of Jesus in our world.
Readings for tomorrow: Judges 11-12, John 1:1-28, Psalms 101, Proverbs 14:13-14