Why You Don't Want to Follow Jesus, Part I

Normally I keep the topics of this blog short and light.  However, I've recently been reading Luke 9.  Something jumped out at me that I have read before, but just never viewed with the right set of lenses.  This is such a hard chapter to read, especially towards the end.  The reason that it's hard to read is because, well, I'm an American.  That's right, it's hard to read because I read it through the lenses of an American.  An American Christian that is. 

I think here in America we believe that the Gospel was written specifically for us.  However, it wasn't.  The Gospel was originally written for the Jews.  Jesus was a Jew in case you forgot that.  He came to speak to the Jews.  It wasn't until the Apostle Paul came along that the Gentiles were even invited into the conversation.  So, unless your Jewish, count your blessings.  And if you're Jewish, count your blessings. 

Needless to say, the Gospel was never intended to be what it has become here in America....a lazy excusable resource guide for living a quasi-socially acceptable Christian lifestyle.  And the truth is that today in America, it's not really all that accepted in most circles.  The reason we as Christians think that it is acceptable is because most of us do not have friends that are not Christians and most of us don't run in circles where we are the only Christian.

So here we are at Part I of "Why You Don't Want to Follow Jesus".  There's no catch here, by the way.  I'm not going to quote you the verse and then tell you what it really means.  To do so would be giving you the watered down American version.  I will say this, it might sound like I'm pointing a finger and I am.  Not just at you, but at myself also.  I'm guilty as much as anyone else.  So please remember that I say these things in love.

So, if you want to keep on living your life of excuses, stop reading now.  Otherwise you're going to be confronted with a decision that you're going to have to make.  You can accuse me of being too black and white here on this issue and that's okay.  It's your choice.  But the truth is, if you believe this scripture to be true, then you've gotta take it at what it says.  Not what Jesus might be inferring.  Because the truth is, if Jesus wanted to use this as an example, he would use it as an example and not just come out and say it like it is.  So here we go....

"As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."
Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." - Luke 9:57 and 58

There it is.  That's right.  Jesus was talking about being homeless.  So remember this, just because you're a Christian doesn't mean you're guarantee'd a home.  You're not guarantee'd to have a place to lay your head.  If Jesus wasn't, what makes us think that we are? 

So the truth, if you want to follow Jesus, you gotta give up the idea that you might always have a place to call home.  You might not.  I challenge you to wrestle with that for awhile.  And honestly, we can't understand until we're in that moment.  But if you want to follow Jesus, you gotta give up the idea that having a home.  I know the American Dream says this is okay, but if you want to follow Jesus, you're gonna have to give up this idea that your entitled to have a home just because. 

Now, this doesn't mean go sell your home and live on the streets.  What it does mean is that you need to be ready to let go if called by God to do so.  And here's the kicker, we are all called by God to do so.  So if you want to follow Jesus, you gotta let go. 

Tough...I know.  Right there with you.  I would encourage you to post your thoughts from a non-American perspective.  That's going to be tough because we are Americans.  But Jesus wasn't, and the gospel wasn't written just for us.  Remember that. 

Saturday's with Mom...

I remember when I was growing up that my Mom and I would spend our Saturday's together.  Dad was usually out cutting grass or fixing something, so this gave us time to hang.  One of my Mom's Saturday rituals, one still practiced today, was to go to McDonald's for a Diet Coke.  I always remember going there with her on Saturday's and we would share a Coke in the car. 

There was something really special about those Saturday mornings.  I think it was just the fact that I was with Mom that made me content.  I didn't need anything to make me happy in that moment, I just needed to be with Mom.  Eventually, though, if we were out too long I would get restless and hide in the clothing racks of the local department store or I would run up and down the aisles of the grocery store.

Psalms 131 says, "Jehovah, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty; Neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too wonderful for me.  Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child with his mother, Like a weaned child is my soul within me.  O Israel, hope in Jehovah from this time forth and for evermore."

Being content with where God has us is so key and important to our relationship with Him.  It's like being happy just being with Mom on Saturday mornings.  I don't need her to buy me anything to be happy.  I just need to be with her.

Are you happy just being with God?  Or, are you caught up with all the things around you that you've forgotten to take time just to be with Him?

God,
Help us take the time today to just be with you.  Amen.