Saturday, June 7, 2014

Will the Real Christians Please Stand Up!

Luke 18:18-30 (NLT)

Once a religious leader asked Jesus this question: “Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “Only God is truly good. But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. Honor your father and mother.’” The man replied, “I've obeyed all these commandments since I was young.” When Jesus heard his answer, he said, “There is still one thing you haven’t done. Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” But when the man heard this he became very sad, for he was very rich. When Jesus saw this, he said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God! In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!” Those who heard this said, “Then who in the world can be saved?” He replied, “What is impossible for people is possible with God.” Peter said, “We've left our homes to follow you.” “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the Kingdom of God, will be repaid many times over in this life, and will have eternal life in the world to come.”

So, me and Rebekah have been to a lot of churches in the last few years and we are having trouble finding one that feels like home. It is hard to find anybody that wants to be real. To be real friends, and do real life together. Everyone we meet seems to just want to go to church on Sunday and maybe Wednesday and then get back to their own busy lives. It's like they're afraid of anyone seeing who they really are outside of church. Like if you spent any time around them for real you might see that they aren't perfect.

As I was reading my Bible I came across the story of the rich young ruler (or religious leader depending on your version). The thought came to me that maybe that is the trouble with Americans. We are all so rich compared to the rest of the world and it takes up a lot of time and energy to keep it that way. Maybe so few people in America can be real because if they met the real Jesus and spent some time talking to Him they would find themselves walking away very sad.

Do you have what it takes to meet the real Jesus? To walk up to Him and ask "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Could you handle the answer? Are you willing to try?

I think we need to get real with ourselves and with Jesus. Start asking the tough questions. Dig deep. Are we ready to do what ever it takes to inherit the kingdom of God? Shouldn't that be the only thing we are really concerned about? Does anything else even matter?


I will be writing more on eternal perspective next!

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