salt-shaker.blog

Why is it we so seldom follow through on inviting less familiar neighbors and friends to dinner or dessert or coffee? We realize there are many obstacles. Our lives are busy and juggling our schedules is like a circus act sometimes. That is undeniable. But a wise person once told me that we pretty much make time for what we want to do. Our response to this challenge might reveal a previously unnoticed reluctance to interruption of our comfort zones. 

In one of the episodes of the Chosen, Jesus tells Ramah’s father that He requires a lot from those who follow Him, not much from those who don’t. Interesting! He does tell us to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Him. He called the apostles to turn their backs on their everyday lifestyles so they could be taught. Radical? Indeed! What does radical look like to us today? Missionary? Bible college? Full time ministry? You don’t have to do that to be a disciple! It will be different for each of us, but following Him demands that we open our hearts and lives to His call. We have to be willing to have our ideas of normal challenged. The comfortable Christianity we live out here in the United States is not the avatar for discipleship. Don’t be guilty – be thoughtful about what you hold close in your heart.

Gospel begins with “go”. This implies effort, action, perhaps discomfort – the opposite of business as usual. When Jesus sent His people out they went out to preach and heal – words and work. If we as a Jesus followers are to be a healing influence in a confused culture, we must link arms and go forth together. We need to help one another not to become submerged in a ‘normal’ that neglects God’s kingdom. Christianity is not a spectator sport. We are heralds of a coming King!

A guy did this very thing about two thousand years ago. Consider this insert from The Voice in Matthew 3 about the ministry of Jesus’ cousin: “Sometimes when people see John they are reminded of the last time God’s people had wandered in a wilderness—after the exodus from Egypt. John is all about wilderness. He preaches in the wilderness, and he wears clothes just like the prophet Elijah had worn. They think perhaps John is inaugurating a new exodus. Actually, that is a pretty good way to think of it. The Anointed One, whose way John comes to prepare, will call humanity away from comfort and status; He will call His followers to challenge their assumptions and the things they take for granted.”

We as the church are God’s voice now at the threshold of His return, the John the Baptist of our age. Ours is the privilege to call our lost friends and neighbors to “repent for the kingdom is at hand.” Putting the “go” into gospel requires us to connect, serve, and risk rejection. Let’s extend ourselves  to our brothers and sisters this month in hospitality. It will be good practice as ambassadors. Remember how our hearts were melted when Jesus invited us to be His? We can be His echo!