If you’re a Christian and your life is easy than you should rethink whether you’re really a Christian or not.
“Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”[1]
Huh, Jesus?
If I find my life I’ll lose it? But if I lose my life I’ll find it?
Backwards! Upside down! Revolutionary! Extraordinary! Difficult!
It seems to me that Jesus is saying that the life you find in this world is temporal and unsatisfying. There is another world to live for. A world that is permanent and gratifying. The world behind the world. The world of Jesus. The Kingdom of G-d.
It’s easy to live for the world because that’s the life everyone lives. It’s the life that everyone close to you has lived before you. But didn’t Jesus say something about this.
“Truly I tell you, no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of G-d will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”[2]
There is something more than dedicating your life to marriage and family, which consists of so many worldly distractions. So leave the comfort of your parent’s home! So leave your ambitions for a wife and a family! These things are good but there is something better.
The problem is it’s harder.
Why do we pursue worldly things first?
Why do we make Jesus second in our lives?
Is this really Christianity?
We sacrifice Jesus for the world when we should sacrifice the world for Jesus.
Jesus is something more. He requires more.
We worship a Jesus that says to take up a cross and follow Him[3], but instead we take up ease and mediocrity. The cross is bloody and painful. The cross is a burden.
But we’ve made Christianity easy.
Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve.[4] We are called to do the same.
“If I could become the servant of all, no lower place to fall”[5]
But look at the church! It’s all about being served to. All you have to do is look in the church bulletins. All you see are programs after programs geared towards this. But we are called to be slaves![6] We are called to leave the four walls of the church and serve people not ourselves!
It’s easy to sit in the pews and settle for religion.
But there is something more.
If Christianity is easy than Christ is not in you. You should be in turmoil at all times because you have a choice everyday to either follow the world or follow Christ. Should I buy that or should I give to the poor? Should I get back at that person or love him? Should I look at her lustfully or with purity? Should I get married or stay single? Should I judge that homeless person or give him money when he asks? Should I be arrogant or humble? Should I be selfish or selfless?
So many choices! Do we take the time to think about them or even recognize them?
Do we have the eyes to see and the ears to hear?[7]
Have more righteousness than the Pharisees![8] Go beyond the easy religion of Christianity to the difficult way of Christ!
And there you will find your life.
[1] Matthew 10:39
[2] Luke 18:29-30
[3] Matthew 16:24
[4] Mark 10:45
[5] Lyric from the song “January 1979” by mewithoutYou
[6] Matthew 20:27
[7] Matthew 13:16
[8] Matthew 5:20
Wow. I’m really impressed with this one. It’s your best post yet! That’s an interesting point I never thought about that when Jesus says “He who finds his life will lose it” implies that he’s missing out on the joys and excitement of true life (which comes from throwing away this temporal, typical, obvious, predictable, “easy” life). Deep. I’m going to meditate on this post and unpackage this concept and respond to it in a post of my own soon, as a mere comment wouldn’t do it justice.
And more mewithoutyou quotes!
“Do we have the eyes to see and the ears to hear?” <- Powerful!