Going Against the Grain – Simple Followers of Jesus

Going against the grain is difficult. Especially to do so in a significant way.

But aren’t we Christians above all people called to go against the grain? For example, Jesus said, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” (Matthew 16:25)

This advice is counter cultural. Who wants to lose their life? We want safety. The world and our flesh say, “Find yourself – Be your own person – Look out for number one – If it feels good, do it – Promote yourself – At all costs, save your own skin!”

Jesus didn’t save his life, he gave it up. He accomplished more in 33 years than the combined effort of everyone who’s lived in the past 2,000 years. I wonder, what about me? What will I accomplish? If I choose to try maximizing a lifetime of comfortable suburbanite lifestyle – living the American Dream – what will be left to show at the end?

“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.”

Am I ready to follow Christ where it hurts? True abandon, complete surrender, reckless faith…?

The god of America seems to be comfort. Is it my god as well? What story do my actions tell? Do they say, “I’m ready to do anything, go anywhere, just so long as there’s air conditioning, sanitation, running water, privacy, and preferably high-speed Internet”?

“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.’”

I say I’m a pilgrim, that this world is not my home, that I’m a stranger. But what do I catch myself doing? Accumulating stuff, crafting the perfect apartment, furnishing it with every luxury, buying toys, polishing my public image. In short, so often valuing temporary materialism and fluff over eternal relationships. Not that all “stuff” is bad. One way God blesses us is materially. And looking forward, the Bible states the Lord Jesus Christ is preparing a place for us now. I have a feeling that place ain’t gonna be too shabby. Imbalance in any direction is dangerous.

I say I’m a stranger, yet I call this my home.

Food is another example. Every possible option at my fingertips – and every day I eat well. When I want something, I buy it.

“Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.”

While living in luxury and plenty my mind frequently dwells here below on earthly things, not above on Christ. I become numb to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Like one wearing headphones, I’m tuned out from the leading of God’s still, small voice.

The more I think about it, the more I’m hit with the fact Jesus loved me enough to undergo pain. For my ransom He paid a price which hurt Him and wasn’t comfortable or convenient.

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”

Am I prepared to do the same for others? Will I be Christ to the hurting? Will I become poor, that the marginalized might become rich? Jesus said the road to the Kingdom is narrow, the gate is small, and there be few that find it.

Being is more important than doing; yet doing is the natural progression from being. Not out of guilt, obligation, or mere excitement for Christ’s mission, but springing from a love for Jesus Christ himself.

There’s a fork in the road. One is broad and easy, one is narrow and difficult. Which will I take? Which will you take?

How about taking the plunge?