I realize with a title like that, I’m veering into strange, Lifetime movie territory. You know, Living a Lie: the Anna Gotta Davita story of treachery and betrayal in Suburban Kansas—that sort of thing.
No, today I am pondering a faith that costs everything. Recently, I talked about enduring vs. endearing truth and I guess this is in a similar vein. We say we believe, but we live the same as everybody else. We’re not moved by what moves God. We don’t respond how God would respond, and those things in themselves are not the bad part. The problem is we just don’t care about it.
The salvation narrative hinges on a belief in the impossible, not the implausible. Without Jesus’ resurrection, we have a very good man who died an unjustified death. He wouldn’t have been the first one and wouldn’t have been the last. The resurrection is what throws a kink in that hose, so to speak. If Jesus rose from the dead (like He said He was going to do), it changes everything and indeed, it has changed everything.
As I said, we can get so wrapped up in being relevant and “just like everybody else” that we no longer care to be formed into the image of Christ as we undergo discipleship. The church has figured out that Jesus offends people and a lot of people don’t want to hear about His sacrifice on our behalf so that we can live differently. So what does our message become? You don’t have to live differently! These are magic beans that will make everything better!
I’m not trying to be critical or harsh because I feel I can easily fall in the same trap at times with good intentions.
And please don’t misunderstand me: I value relevance and presenting truth in a way people can understand it. But we’ve left out the truth part (decidedly, a very important part). Jesus was relevant and conveyed truth without pulling any punches.
- This is what it will cost you.
- This is what it will be like, the world will hate you.
- This is the reward for your obedience.
There was no fine print with Jesus. I guess He really had the first "inconvenient truth." Sorry, Al Gore.
The disciples Jesus had around Him were not well-educated, influential guys. For the sake of argument, we could say that maybe they were drawn in by Jesus’ charisma or talents in speaking or whatever else. People follow charismatic leaders all the time, right?
This doesn’t explain why after Jesus was gone, they were willing to undergo severe beatings, persecution, and death for the belief that Jesus is salvation who rose from the dead. These were guys who knew how the world worked. They could have kept their mouths shut and lived out their days as “normal” fishermen, tax collectors, or whatever else. They could have gone back and forgotten it all.
History records the severity of the punishment many of them suffered for the claims they made. The truth was so real and so alive inside them that they gave everything. They understood what Jesus had done for them and what was at stake. How could they deny what they had seen with their own eyes, experienced with their own senses?
It would be like me trying to convince myself or someone else that I am, in fact, not typing on a computer right now or staring at a computer monitor. If anyone came by, they could see that even if I tried to deny it, that is what I’m doing.
Men and women for centuries have died for their faith because the truth is so real and tangible to them that denying it would be living a lie. Believing this truth of life through Jesus Christ demands response and daily action. As I said in the beginning, the problem is not that we don’t do everything we’re supposed to, it’s that we don’t care and won’t consider letting precious, hard-won grace change us.
I submit that if we profess to know God, follow Jesus, and obey His word—and then don’t live it, there’s a problem and we are liars. Crazy, right? If you have not experienced truth and let it go deep down inside of you, then you are living the reverse lie. Not because Jesus didn’t die for you and rise from the dead, but because that truth is not bursting out of you or causing a difference.
There’s no condemnation in any of this, and I realize I've outed myself as a "crazy-Jesus-guy."
This is a simple reminder that to live the truth costs everything. Faith is not just for the convenient, easy times (you don’t need faith then, really). It’s not so I can feel comforted and taken care of or just believe in something “bigger than myself.”
Truth demands everything without apologizing, and I want to go on record today, I want to live the truth.
