Monday, January 30, 2017
533 - I Want That
Spirituality
Column No. 533
January 31, 2017
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
January 31, 2017
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
I Want That
By
Bob Walters
“Sell everything you have … then come,
follow me.” – Jesus to the rich ruler, Luke 18:22.
Leaving a known and worldly life
behind and forging an unknown and eternal life in Christ ahead is difficult,
scary, confusing and humbling.
And then it is easy, joyful and
obvious.
Done right, it remains humbling
though believers often don’t notice that part.
We’re too busy being thankful and amazed by the vast depth, dimension
and intensity of the love of God, the light, wisdom and sacrifice of Jesus
Christ and the abiding closeness of the Holy Spirit. It’s all right there with us, by us, in us. We know it.
This is how I’d describe “coming to
Christ” and living in His grace. The
“find” is often more of a stumble than a ballet; quite likely a surprising
accident not a systematic discovery. You
can be sure that the most unshakeable Christian faith is founded in freedom and
love, not bondage and coercion. The truth of Jesus arrives by accepting a
relationship in love; not in losing or conceding an argument in anger.
We may not even be seeking the Kingdom
of God – many of us are not. In fact we
might resist it vigorously and mock the “weak-minded fools” who profess to
truly know and trust Jesus; who in their faith uncritically love God and
others.
In this fallen world we have no
idea, no concept, no comparison by which to find the right and the wrong, the
true and the false, the wise and foolish, the good and the evil by anything
less than the love of Jesus. Oh, we
think we do. But we don’t.
Jesus is why discernment of these
things exists; He, in His person, is Truth.
The Bible verse above about the
“Rich Ruler” or “Rich Young Man” is a basic idea presented in Matthew (19:24),
Mark (10:21) and Luke – that those with great riches in this world have great
difficulty accepting the greater glory of the world to come: the Kingdom of
God. There is really nothing one can say
to those steeped and probably trapped in the mortal coils of self-directed
life. Debate will not unshackle their self-sustained
opinion. Nor are our selfless love and
example – not even the example of Christ – guarantors of transforming sometimes
even an open human mind.
When we crave to share the truth,
grace and glory of Christ but see any person, whether a rich ruler or more
likely a beloved family member or friend, walk away from sChrist’s command to “Follow me,” don’t we want to say
more? To plead, in love:
“Don’t go! You don’t know what you are
missing.”
For a midlife convert to Christ, which
I am, it was that specific line in the movie “The Resurrection of Gavin Stone” that nearly put me in a teary puddle
on the floor of the theater. In a good
way.
In finding Christ, I know from my experience
on the outside what doesn’t work.
But I sure understand what did for
Gavin Stone. See the movie. Take a tissue.
Walters
(rlwcom@aol.com)
shakes his head looking back on his life before Christ. He’s not bragging about humility; he’s reflecting
on narrow-minded stupidity.
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