I hear stories all the time about how the church is growing in places like China or Africa or Russia, but then I think of the comparison to the church in the United States and wonder how it is that the same explosion is not happening here.
Chambers talks today from the passage in Mark 10, concerning the rich young ruler and the command by Jesus to him to sell all he has and give it to the poor. The man goes away sorrowful because he has a lot of stuff.
Chambers says, "Very few of us truly know what is meant by the absolute "go" of unconditional identification with, and abandonment and surrender to, Jesus."
We in America have a lot of stuff, in fact, and I may not have my percentages absolutely right, but even the poorest of us in the US are richer than 95% of others in the world. Regardless of the percentage, the fact remains that each of us has a lot, and, even though we may give a lot, we don't usually hurt our lifestyle by our charity.
I look at my life and the lives of my family and friends, and I see a lot of giving to others. There is church, United Way, feeding the hungry, sponsoring children from 3rd world countries, and a lot of other good things. But then I look again, and I do not see a lot of denying self in the lifestyle. I may fast for a day and give that money for food to a food bank, but the days before the fast day and the days after are no different, and it was no great sacrifice for me.
Those Christians in other places that are on fire for Jesus, put me to shame with their dedication and lives in following Him. But I say, "they don't have a lot of things, and Jesus is all they have" and use that as an excuse for my life. However that excuse is really a condemnation of my life and my discipleship. I say "I have stuff that I have to be concerned about and they don't". Condemned again.
The meaning of the terms unconditional surrender to Christ and absolute discipleship, are foreign to me, and that is not good.
To paraphrase Pogo, "I have met the enemy, and he is me".
No comments:
Post a Comment