I don’t have to tell you that there are some strange ideas on “religion” floating around today. They are not new, of course, for such views go back to man’s earliest reaction to God’s laws. We seem to grasp at any straw in sight when we want the blessings of being in God’s family, but not the conditions. Jesus never even hinted that being His disciple would be easy. Abundant, yes (John 10:10). A challenge, yes (Matthew 10). Dangerous, yes (John 16:33). Satisfying, yes (3 John :4). Genuine happiness, yes (Philippians 4:4-9). But easy? No (2 Corinthians 11).
What does one do when Jesus makes demands upon his life to which he will not submit? There may appear to be many options open to him, but none will succeed.
In Jeremiah’s day, King Jehoiakim didn’t like what the prophet wrote, so he “cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire,” Jeremiah 36:23. It didn’t work either, for God told Jeremiah to write all the words again, plus a few more.
Jehoiakim’s attempt sounds a lot like what I read once in a newspaper article. Bob Lively, a “teacher and counselor in residence at Riverbend Church” in Austin, wrote that many of those with whom he works in his church grew up serving a God who was an “angry tyrant who lay in wait intent upon catching them in the least little indiscretion so that he could punish them with the dual-edged sword of shame and guilt. All too often Jesus was presented as a fiery ideologue who demanded of his followers absolute compliance to strict rules.” Sure enough, when his friends had read their Bibles, they found that Jesus did say that not everyone who calls Jesus Lord will inherit the kingdom of heaven. Jesus often spoke “scary words,” like the fact that some may have to beware false teachers, or choose between Jesus and family, Matthew 7:13-15, 10:34f. Lively says that it takes a person who is “not in his right mind to follow a man who says such things.” But Lively says he does follow Him. How, we ask? “It’s simple,” Lively responds. “Long ago I decided that Jesus never spoke much of what is attributed to him. In my view, the scary messages in the gospel narratives held to be the words of our Lord are nothing more than the evidence of the bad mood of some ancient editor.”
How’s that again? He “decided” that Jesus did not really say those things? That the words don’t really count. Talk about selective reasoning! He likes the part about the Good Samaritan, but leave out “depart from me, I never knew you” because he decided that Jesus “did not really say them.” Just leave out the words that you don’t like, or that you “decided” Jesus would not have said. Yes, it does remove the “scary” parts; and it also takes away the “got to...” parts. But it sounds a lot like Jehoiakim and his penknife to me.
“Let him deny himself...”
In Luke 9:23-26, Jesus is quoted as saying that His disciples must be willing to follow Him, deny self, take up his cross daily, and not be ashamed of Him. The only ones who are likely to deny these words are those who want to follow their own passions, their own appetites. This is not a demand for a vow of poverty, nor is it a formula for financial and economic success. It is one of the demands Jesus makes on those who claim to be His disciples. You must place yourself in a position of submission, take up your “cross” every day, and even be willing to confess your discipleship to others.
“Ye are the Light of the World”
What can be more “scary” than to discover that we are the torch-bearers, that we must be the light of this world? Today’s world says it is every man for himself. “If you don’t toot your own horn, who will?” is its motto. Mind your own business. Be tolerant. Do your own thing. But Jesus says we must be a light to others so they can find their way out of darkness, Matthew 5:14. We can’t just ignore our obligations to others.
“Except a man be born again”
Nicodemus did not like these words as found in John 3:3-5. They certainly sound menacing. Could Jesus really be saying that those who are not “born of the water and the Spirit” cannot be saved? That’s pretty scary, especially if you want to be eligible for the kingdom of heaven, but don’t want to be baptized. Surely, Jesus would not use such legalistic words. But the Bible says the same thing in other places, including Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, Galatians 3:26-27. If Lively has his way, there won’t be much of the Bible left when he gets through.
“One Body”...“One Church”
The words get real scary here, for Jesus said He would build His church, and Paul wrote that Jesus had purchased His church; that the saved are in that body; that there is but one body, and that one body is the church (See Ephesians 1 and 4; Acts 2, 20, and Colossians 1). Therefore religious division is not only not good, but just the opposite. Man’s “Attend the Church of Your Choice” formula is but an eternal failure.
Lively says “you are betting your life on the truths you choose to believe.” The Bible, however, says that it is your eternal life that is the issue here, and that eternal life rests upon the truths God has revealed, not just what you “choose to believe.” Neither Lively’s “I decided” nor Jehoiakim’s penknife can change God’s truth. Besides, Proverbs 14:12 says that man’s way is often the wrong way, not the right way
