Luke 9:23: And [Jesus] said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
It's the complaining. Specifically, it's the complaining you do about those other Christians. You know who they are — they're not like us. They have it wrong. They have no idea how to live for Jesus. You're not sure they're even reading the same Bible — if they read it at all. You don't mean to judge, but c'mon — it's like they're not even talking about the same Savior. In fact, some of you have come up with a totally different name for yourselves so no one confuses you with those other guys. As if you listened to Purple Rain one too many times and decided to be known as "the people formerly known as Christians." Listen to me. I'm pretty sure this message is from God: get over yourselves. Go to a mirror and repeat after me, "There's no way you've got it 100% right either, forgiven one." Just like me.
Now, come back. Allow me to remind you of what you already know. In each of our life stories, we are like Frodo Baggins. (If you haven't read The Lord of the Rings trilogy or seen the movies—do that now. I'll wait.) We've each been entrusted by the previous generation with the sacred task of returning "the ring" to the mountain of Mordor. That ring is Your Self.
We must die to that ring. We must return it to the pits from which it came so we can be free — free to join the greater adventure that lies beyond. But it's not an easy journey. No one makes it alone. Along the way, we need companions. For company, protection, shared wisdom, survival, and sometimes just for fun. We won't like all of them. Even the ones we love will sometimes trample our last nerve. We'll wish they would just leave us alone. But without these companions, we're likely to fall in love with the ring, to embrace our "selves" to the point that we abandon the journey because we will be so focused on our "self", we'll miss out on what lies beyond.
I love being alone. I find other people tiring, because when I'm with them, I have to think about them, you know, instead of focusing on me. And (sigh) that's so boring because, frankly, I fascinate myself. So right away, you can see that I need to spend time traveling with other people, or I'd be lurking in the dark focusing only on myself.
Do not be confused, I do want to be the hero of my own story. I want to believe I can make it alone. What I want to believe, however, is a lie. My kind Father in heaven confronts that lie with the truth of companions who both nurture and aggravate my soul. People — different people God ordains for us to encounter along our way — remind us that our journey is to relinquish the ring (self), not to become consumed by it:
And [Jesus] said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his
cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life
for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or
forfeits himself?" (Luke 9:23-25)
I'm journeying to lose my life?! Yes, and all my companions are there to remind me that it's more dangerous for me to hold on to my precious life than to lose it. What I'm going to say next is crucial.
We have an enemy. He whispers to us through the ring, through the world. He wants us to remain enslaved to it because he controls us through it, and he loves it when we're in bondage. He whispers lies about our companions. He hints that we'd be better off without them. He points out their flaws. He reminds us of their failings. He mutters that our dearest companion 'chews loudly just to annoy us'. He insinuates that a fellow traveler who holds a different view than we do doesn't even belong on the journey. Sometimes, he manages to make us afraid of, or to despise, the very companions who are there to help us. He divides us. He knows that without them, we're at his mercy more than ever. There's nothing easy about our journey. The road is full of traps. That companion who hates our music style may know a way around a deep chasm. That fellow traveler who doesn't believe there are rules to this journey may carry us when we become injured. That hardheaded companion we avoid because she thinks it's all about rules may lead us through a very dark forest.
Don't despise your fellow adventurers, loved ones. The journey will sort us all out. Don't be distracted by thinking that it is your task to point them out. Your task is to lose "self"— to carry your precious ring to the place of destruction and relinquish it in order to find your true life in the end. Don't try to do it alone. If God thought we could do it without others, He'd work that out. Don't you think He's sick of the complaining too? So, knock it off. It's annoying.
More importantly, consider this: if praise and prayer rise to heaven like incense, surely complaints drop to the earth like pestilence that can trip us up along the way. We need every bit of strength to die to the ring (self).
Ponder the Perplexities: When I wrote, "those other Christians," who came to mind? Can you commit to praying for "those other Christians" every day for the next week? Ask God to fill you with love for them. God already knows your heart, so if you resent them, hate them, or wish they would vanish from the planet, confess it, and ask Him to do a new work in your heart. Look for an opportunity to serve a believer who expresses his or her faith differently than you do. We all get on each other's nerves. That's real. But so is God's desire for us to value one another and to be united in Christ. Jesus said, "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me" (John 17:20-21). Adapted from: Running from a Crazy Man (and Other Adventures Traveling with Jesus) by Lori Stanley Roeleveld.
Prayer: Father in heaven forgive my complaints about others. Forgive my complaints about what I do not see, know, have, or understand that is from You. Lord, the enemy is working on me. I am wrestling with confidence, courage, esteem, and with applying the truth in my life alone. Forgive me for looking at others who are probably going through the same things in their lives. Guide me, my friends, my family, and all those who want to believe in You and in Your Son, Jesus Christ, in the best way to be obedient to You. Thank you for opening my eyes and showing me which way to go. I pray and give thanks in Jesus' name, amen.
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