Thursday, January 31, 2013

The Cost of Different

There is the saying we hear in church a lot: we are to be in the world but not of it. It is adapted from the verse below:

“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.
 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth."  John 17:13-17

This is a great prayer and worth nothing. Usually I think I do pretty good at not being of the world. However, when I see someone who is godly, someone who has shaped their entire life around the teachings of Christ I can see how far off I am. I am in the world, obviously. I am not of it... Technically. But when I honestly look at how my life measures up to the life of Christ, I realize that I am a lot more like the world than Him.

As I see daily examples of the indifference of the lives of "Christians." I wonder if in America Christianity will grow or implode. We idly stand by, say a few prayers or attend a church service every so often, but our lives are no different. We talk the same as the world, we 'stand' for the same things, or at least we don't stand for anything different, in many cases silence is interpreted as agreement; we watch the same things, spend our money the same way and many times Christians try their hardest to look like the world so they will not have to explain themselves.

I believe that God can do anything. But, how often do I/we let myself/ourselves be the one(s) that He uses.

I guess the more we live in the world and think ourselves a part of it, the more we expect things and we feel that we have rights and entitlement to things. Not that we should be allowing others to take advantage of us, but do we need to live like everyone else?

What about counting the cost to follow Christ.

"Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
 Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with 10,000 men to oppose the one coming against him with 20,000? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” Mark 14:25-33, 35

Just the fact that He calls us to 'count the cost' before following Him should make us stop and think. Our life will not look the same as those who do not follow Him. We may make less money, we may not have all of the comforts, but we should have a different attitude and our lives better be characterized by humility, grace and love.

God has chosen us to be His people. We are to be like Him and that is most definately different from being like the world. Sometimes it will hurt. Sometimes it will mean purposely allowing ourselves to be hurt to keep humble and to consider others as better than ourselves. Our lives may not be glamorous, or we might not live the 'high life'. But that is what we have to take into account when following Christ. He wants us to count the cost lest we jump in and decide shortly into the journey that we don't want to follow and bring disgrace to His name.

"If a commission by an earthly king is considered an honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?" --David Livingstone, Doctor and Missionary to Africa in the 1800's. Look him up. 

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