Reality/Truth is Not Optional

Jn.4:34-36 - Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.
36 And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.

Matt.9:36-38 - But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.

Perhaps as many as 15 million people die of starvation every year. Many more die due to a lack of medical treatment. But 150,000 people die each day worldwide. This is a crisis of eternal proportions! But watch as the evangelical drones waltz in and back out on Sunday mornings without a tinge of crisis and, in fact, the western gathering rarely, if ever, addresses this crisis.

And allow me to make it more stinging. The majority of the starvation occurs in Africa and those that starve are black children. Now suppose starvation hit England or France or Germany? If millions of white English children were starving, do you believe we would show the same amount of concern as we do for the African children? What does that tell you?

The entire western evangelical construct mirrors the culture and by its narcissistic ambivalence it implicitly denies the entirety of Christ’s mission. New gymnasiums for our young people, glorious fellowship halls, state of the art sound systems, debt burdened worship centers, Christian cruises, over paid and over staffed, and a well oiled ecclesiastical machine that is not remotely related to New Testament Christianity is the accepted norm.

But millions are in want of common necessaries to say nothing of the urgency of their eternal destiny. “Is it really that bad?”, you ask.

Mk.8:34-37 - And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.
36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

For the moment let us ignore the health and wealth group which isn’t Christian at all. Let us lay aside the emergent movement since they have created a false religion. Let us not speak about the liberal mainline denominations. Let us turn the Word of God and its convicting light upon us. Yes, us. Let us stand before Christ without the comfort of comparison to others we deem much worse. Let us pretend there are no other believers but us, and let us take a penetrating inventory of our own Biblical discipleship. Are we truly followers of Jesus as prescribed in the Scriptures?

Matt.5:38-47 - Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.
41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

Does that kind of enemy loving spirit live with observation within the church?

Matt.6:19-21 - Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Do we obey that with conviction or with compromise?

Matt.6:25-33 - Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

How many shoes do you own? What do our clothes closets look like? Are our clothes "designer"? Do we worry more about the economy or lost souls? Is our passion to seek God’s kingdom or is that a convenient part of our western lifestyle?

Matt.7:1-5 - Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

Do I even need to address this?

Matt.7:21-27 - Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

Unnerving or just ho hum?

Lk.14:26-33 - If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,
30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.
31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?
32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.
33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

Forsake all? Get real.

As believers we have the option to obey or disobey. We have the option to shape Scripture into a pliable clay that fits nicely into our hedonistic lifestyles. We have the option to be assimilated into the surrounding culture until the church is only know by its buildings. We have all kinds of options at our disposal. But the reality of the situation is not an option.

We cannot deny reality, and we cannot take the church’s lukewarm situation and dress it up to appear as a cross bearing reflection of the Lord Jesus. Until we allow the Spirit to reveal the gravity of our own situation we will continue to move further and further away from Christ and His Word. But until then, we have other compromisers and false teachers to soothe our consciences. We are very adept at discerning others, but our discernment seems to stop at the doorposts of our own spiritual house.

Many times reality is a such an irritant that we must massage it somewhat in order to make it more palatable. But reality is also truth, and we do not have the option of changing what is true. We do have the option of changing our reality by repentance and complete surrender to all of God’s will. The glories of the Risen Christ await those who diligently and sacrificially seek Him.

So likewise,
whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath,
he cannot be my disciple.
What a great bumper sticker.