This week I've been reading "The Irresistible Revolution" by Shane Claiborne, who has dedicated his life to living for Jesus and being a radical lover of God. The book is interesting and thought-provoking, and so far Shane has raised more questions in me than answers. Shane is way more radical than I will ever be, an inspiring figure, and while I've struggled with a lot of what he has to say and raised points I disagree, he loves God and really wants to follow him. He asked an interesting question that I have been mulling over... if there were no heaven or hell, and the question of being a Christian simply concerned following Jesus and loving him, would you still be a Christian??
As I walked the trails I pondered this thought. Salvation goes beyond a free ticket to heaven. It goes beyond a safe status and a label. Salvation is about a relationship, between you and Jesus. If I met up with Jesus and he asked me to follow him, not even mentioning a future in the glitzy, gold-filled realms of heaven, would I take him up on it?
Something similar happened to Jesus's first disciples in Matthew 4. Simon and Andrew were hard at work on the Sea of Galilee, fishing for a living. Normal guys, Hebrew, young. Then Jesus came by. And they dropped their nets and never went back.
Do you think Jesus mentioned, "Hey, my name's Jesus, and I'm God's son. Hang out with me, and if you pray the prayer, bingo, you're in to heaven and a future filled with awesomeness." Do you think he said, "Yo boys, I'm the Messiah you've waited for. I'm gonna be king of this world someday and you'd best be on my side."
Jesus said, "Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men." No promise of salvation. No promise of anything, except to show them a NEW profession... one of casting out their nets for men. Nonsensical. What about this encounter attracted these men to Jesus? What else did he say to them? What WAS it about him that would cause some average, sane men to leave their profession behind and become disciples of a complete stranger?
We can ask ourselves the same question when we consider what we've left behind for Jesus. What is it about him that causes us to lay down our lives, give him our time, our money, surrender our burdens and plans and joys and let him take over? Have we even truly done this? I marvel at this simple story of the disciples first meeting their master. I would love to see the video, hear the audio of what went down. How Jesus convinced them. If there was any actual convincing to do. So often we hear this story, and for me at least, I have a lurking suspicion that Jesus lulled them into a trance or did some kind of hypnosis to make them follow along (okay, not really, but you know what I mean!). We wonder at this immediate, simple trust. And we look to the man they trusted and think, wow, he must really be someone special.
If there was no question of heaven or hell involved, would you follow Jesus?
Deep thoughts for a morning walk, huh? I'll let you mull it over too... but let me advise you... it's best to throw in a little coffee with that musing for good measure :-)
very thought-provoking! What an interesting thought! I think that if you asked most people who have chosen to follow Jesus, especially those coming from a life where they lived for themselves and didn't find true satisfaction in life, you would see people who would choose Jesus, regardless of a ticket to Heaven. Jesus gives purpose and meaning to life, and without Him, people live unfulfilling lives.
ReplyDeleteBut, they don't find out how fulfilling He is until they start living for Him. Maybe Heaven is the lure, but once we start living for Christ we see what the true benefits are.
LOVE THIS POST, BROOKE. So happy you're reading The Irresistible Revolution, now! That book is like my FAVORITE.
ReplyDeleteAnd my mom also brought up the question the other day... are we living that even if we didn't have a heaven or hell, would we still follow Jesus? Would his love and affection draw us in?
Thanks for this today, Brooke!