Following Christ

Did you ever wonder what it would be like if you had Judgment Day perspective today?  How would your attitudes and choices change is you could look at your present life with benefit of knowing what you will know when you finally see Jesus face-to-face?

John Piper, the dean of to-the-heart’s-core spirituality, spoke to this a few years ago.

It is possible to waste your life. Few things make me tremble more than the possibility of taking this onetime gift of life and wasting it. Every morning when I walked into the kitchen as a boy I saw hanging on the wall the plaque that now hangs in my living room: “Only one life, twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.” And now I am almost 58, and the river of life is spilling over the falls of my days with tremendous speed. More and more I smell eternity. And oh, how I want to use my life well. It is so short and so fragile and so final. You get one chance to live your life. And then the judgment. I speak as a father who has children your age, and I am jealous with Jesus that they and you not waste your life. ("Don't Waste Your Life," from December 29, 2003)

It occurs to me that two things will keep us from pursuing the quest of a Christ-focused life.

The first is settling for the average “good” Christian’s lifestyle.  We humans have an inbred need to be part of larger cohort.  While we want to respected and admired, and we certainly want to have self respect, we seem content with doing what the rest of the people are doing.  Average, good, middle class, heartland of America styled Christianity is admirable to a degree.  Except that it takes the sharp edges out of the Gospel.  It seeks to smooth and re-route the path that was meant to be sometimes rocky and steep, at other times muddy and overgrown, and only occasionally smooth and straight.  In other words, it takes the need for faith and daily dependence on Christ out of discipleship.

The second is indulging ourselves too much and disciplining ourselves too little.  Following Jesus is not easy.  It is simple.  But it is not easy.  Anyone who tells you differently is engaging in sophistry.  “Take up your cross and follow me.”  “The servant is not above his master.”  “In the world you will have tribulation.”  “Any man having set his hand to the plough and looking back is not worthy of the Kingdom of God.”  Those are Jesus’ words!  It takes desire and disciple, passion and persistence to follow Christ.  Following Christ cannot be done on a never-give-it-a-second-thought or follow-when-it’s-convenient basis.  It must be done with forethought and fortitude.  It must be done by bringing our flesh into submission daily, winning the war against self and determining to do the small things that are necessary to advance on the path after Jesus today.

Get your eternal perspective established.  Fix your eyes on Christ.  and move out!