WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?

“The following of Christ is not the achievement or merit of a select few, but the divine command to all Christians without distinction.”- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

            In his book, The Cost of Discipleship, Bonhoeffer attempts to give people an understanding that following Christ is not something that only monks, pastors, or high-esteemed members of the clergy have the privilege to do, but it is a call from Christ himself to every living being on earth, that we must follow Him whole-heartedly in order to receive grace. Bonhoeffer deals with the idea that in our modern society, we have belittled grace as an almost meaningless oddity that we all have access to, but in fact, grace really doesn’t mean anything to us. Bonhoeffer rebukes this by stating that grace in fact is the most precious thing a human can possess, because it is something that no man has earned; yet it Jesus gave up everything, so that through His sacrifice we could receive life from Him instead of death. Grace is not something that man should belittle as unimportant, but it should be the thing that we give all things for because without God’s sacrifice, we would have nothing. God gave up everything for us, so we in turn should be able to give up everything and follow God right? Sounds easy enough, but for some reason no person is truly capable of doing that. Which leads me to my question:

WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?

            Everyday life in the twenty-first century is riddled with things that cause people to lose focus on tasks that should be of great importance, and distract from the things that truly matter. For example, in writing this blog I have been distracted by the Internet, social networks, books, the television, and my cell phone. Why is this it though, that we allow these things to take us away from the God who sacrificed everything for us, and we don’t appear to have a care in the world. This mindset is extremely dangerous because we have been given fair warning in the scriptures about following the ways of anything except God, and yet everyday we do it seemingly with ease. I have been in the place before where I feel like I can do everything on my own, and I don’t need God in my life because I’m doing just fine without Him. It usually is about that time in my life though, where something I cannot handle alone happens, and I’m left feeling foolish for allowing myself to stray away from the One who can handle all things. Before I turn to God though, it seems as if I try to turn to everything else possible before actually going before Him in prayer. This happens with large and small things.

Peter gives us some insight into what following false teachers means for those believers who trust in things other than God.

“These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.” 2 Peter 2: 17-22

What Peter is trying to get people to realize here is that when you trust in things that are other than God, you’re following a waterless spring. You’re putting your faith into something that will yield you no results instead of trusting in the Water of Life who died so that you could receive free grace. Honestly, you may experience temporary happiness while following these false idols, but at a certain point that pool of happiness will dry up. You need to place your trust in the everlasting pool, which yields nothing but true joy.

The interesting thing to me in this chapter is that Peter claims that these things offer some sort of freedom and joy to those who use them, but they themselves are just products of slavery and corruption. These people that force these things down the throats of citizens in society only do so because they have to earn the biggest paycheck and have the coolest product. They are slaves to the competition of sales and “big business,” not seeing the whole picture of life. They operate in a close minded world, that it dominated by salaries and what material things they can place in the hands of people so they can in turn live lavish lifestyles themselves. They prey on the people who are weak, the people who constantly look for the next best thing, those people are their market. They look for people who don’t know what they live for, and are dominated by the American dream of having the coolest gadgets and the nicest things.

As Christians, we are called to deny all of these things and live solely for the one who died, and gave us all we could possibly need. Jesus tells us throughout His ministry that He is the only we could ever need, the quencher of our thirst, and the savior of our souls. He is the only one who has ever done anything that can truly be worthy of our devotion and praise. Not the next iPhone, Xbox, or 3D television that is put on the market. Not the coolest clothes designers have to offer, or whether or not we have a cool car. It’s not about social status or material things, it’s all about Jesus and His sacrifice and grace.

The scariest thing to me about all of this is that Peter says it will bode better for all of us had we never had heard the Gospel in the first place, than to have heard it and still place our hearts of material things. I don’t know about you, but that does not sit too well with me. I can think of countless occasions when I have worried far more about the things I have and how people view me, than my relationship with Jesus. Peter claims that it would be better for me to have never claimed to be a follower of Jesus, than to claim what I claim and concern myself with earthly things. He likens it to a dog returning to his vomit. That’s what earthly things are equivalent to, vomit. How does that make you view everything you place your time and devotion into? It makes me feel as if I have MAJORLY been wasting my time. The most frustrating part to me is to think that I could keep doing it too. That is where the importance of a true relationship with God comes into play, and surrounding yourself with those who realize the true purpose of life.

So build each other up in community, strive to go out of the way to limit your activity with anything that hinders your relationship with God. Most importantly, if something is getting in the way, recognize it, and get rid of it. Love God, and love others. Don’t love distractions.

“And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” Luke 9:23

It won’t be easy to do, but anything worth having doesn’t come easy. Remember that. Live earnestly and intentionally, remembering the sacrifice Jesus made for you, sacrifice comfort for true discipleship.

God Bless,

Trip Starkey