In a recent sermon the simplicity of this headline struck me in a powerful way! The follow-on sentence would be, “He called us to follow Him, to be in a relationship with Him.” I have thought about the many ways in which we could unpack this and put it into context in our own lives. We go to church, but how successful are we at being the church, taking our Christianity beyond the building and into our daily lives? It gave me an opportunity to think about a Bishop I know in a part of Africa where ninety nine percent of the population is Muslim. His ability to come together in prayer with his congregation was compromised by the fact that the roof of their building collapsed, and they are not allowed to meet in groups to pray outside in the compound! In these troubling times I am also thinking about the horrors which have taken place in Afghanistan when the Taliban effectively took control of the country again and began targeting Christians. Men, women, and children came under threat of death, rape, torture, yet some have remained in-country to ensure that a remnant will be present, assuming with God’s help, they are able to survive. Perhaps this is what is meant by following Christ in the way the early Christians faced torture and death under their Roman rulers.
For those of us in the West, such threat is a distant reality, even though the culture is increasingly pressing to see God removed from many parts of our lives; in our schools, in the media, and our institutions of higher learning where liberal thinking predominates and espousing a Christian viewpoint is discouraged, or worse. By any standard we are, for the most part, rather soft when it comes to experiencing discomfort for our faith. As stated above, how many of us live out being the church? My own experience sitting on vestries or councils is what I suspect applies on a broader scale, a committed few consistently show up to take on the work of the church while many view one hour on Sunday, with perhaps some occasional bible reading during the week, to constitute following Jesus. I don’t say this to criticize others since I find my own walk with the Lord has often been lacking, and in need of constant reflection as to how to do better. Nonetheless, if we heed Christ’s caution to be prepared, not knowing when He might return, it might be a good idea to consider just how seriously we take this warning. Of course, I can only imagine the refrain “Oh sure, but not in my lifetime, right!” No doubt our Christian brothers and sisters in Afghanistan have a very different perspective on that, as do Christians in India, Africa, and anywhere else where there are forces which would like to see the Christian faith eradicated.
The other part of the headline also struck me very powerfully, and I may have reflected on this in an earlier writing. The early church was, for the most part a community of house churches where Christians met in prayer and fellowship, and in support of one another, especially those in some need, even though the ones providing support would have been very much in need themselves, at least by any standard we might consider. Their focus was on their Savior, and they had the privilege of either knowing him, or knowing someone who had known him. For us, such experience comes to us through the gospels and being in fellowship with others to build each other up, and to learn more deeply about the life we are called to live. No, Jesus did not call us to be Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, or any of the other denominations and the myriad splinter groups which have spun off to claim some more authentic expression or practice, doctrine, or liturgy. He simply said, “Therefore go out and make disciples of all nations.” What we have done is create hierarchical organizations that incorporate power and privilege in much the same way in which the Pharisees were criticized. Please do not get me wrong, certainly much good has come out of the efforts of organized religion to honor and celebrate God and His Son. Schools, universities, hospitals, are all wonderful contributions to humanity, and certainly the many beautiful edifices around the world can be inspiring. But has there been a cost beyond the material cost? Have we, along the way, lost the simplicity and intimacy of knowing Christ as our personal savior? Have we in the West become so bound up in structure that we have lost the power of knowing the struggle?
One only needs to look at the hustle and bustle of everyday life to see that we are swamped by an avalanche of advertising telling us what it is we need or need more of to make our life “better,” none of which can. Yet our friends’, neighbors’, colleagues’, new whatever no doubt infuses us with some yearning for which working harder, or a promotion may be how we can satisfy that yearning. Of course, it never does, and we end up spending less time with our children, often looking to their teachers to be surrogate parents, or else we leave them to television and social media to be entertained, all too often without appropriate supervision. Our governmental organizations seem to spend more money while achieving less, while our trust in them to act in our best interests continues to deteriorate. Is this the outcome He meant when He said, “follow Me?” Worse, is this the world He died on a cross to save? I often hear people use the phrase “What would Jesus do” when facing a challenging situation or confronting an issue of conscience. What indeed, and were He to return today how would He consider the state of his Father’s creation, or the Earthly church he came to establish? He led by example to establish the framework for what He asked us to do in becoming His hands and feet. Can we be satisfied with the result?
One of Albert Einstein’s most perplexing quotes given that he was not one for religion (yet I do not think of him as an atheist) states, “When the answer is simple, God is speaking!” Perhaps we might apply a similar sentiment to our faith practices in that when we keep our relationship to God through His Son simpler, then it is we who might hear better! God asks very little of us when you really think about it, and Jesus summed it up very simply when he instructed, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.” Simple enough, yet extraordinarily difficult to put into practice and maintain as a lifestyle in today’s culture. Might the problem be that we just want too much? I know that in my own travels I have spent time with families who live very simply yet seemed very much at peace and happy. Is that the answer, give more and seek less? When people learn that I am from Australia they often ask, “Australia, how wonderful, why don’t you live there now?” My answer is very simple and revolves around the fact that my family, except for a daughter who lives in England with her family, are all here in the United States! I love Australia and the lifestyle there, but the people who are most important to me live here. Moreover, I have become accustomed to the many things which are available here, in addition to my Christian friends who are my faith family. Such things become anchors, not in a bad sense, rather they are things which make change difficult, in much the same way that we become engaged in a faith tradition that becomes comfortable, and perhaps, lacking the challenge we need to become more engaged in deepening our relationship with the Lord, we are becoming stuck practicing a routine.
I believe we need to ask more of ourselves, and those we follow in ministry. We certainly need to worry less about buildings and more about ministering to others. Above all, we need to think more about the freedom we enjoy following Jesus, and those who risk life and limb under constant threat to be able to do that which we, sadly, may have started taking for granted. Let us pray daily for our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan, India, Africa, and anywhere else where openly following Christ means persecution.