The Good Citizen

Continued...

When we read the Gospels the messy reality of Jesus Christ showing up in a person’s world and disturbing the status quo is as abundantly clear as a nose is on our face. Fishermen and tax collectors, murderers and the religious elite; none were able to escape the truth when Jesus showed up. He called people to totally abandon their lives to follow Him and He didn’t even let them have the option for sentimental goodbyes. He told a man who just wanted to go bury his dad before he left to follow Jesus, "Let the dead bury the dead, come follow Me." He told a crowd of people that in order to follow Him they would have to hate their own families and their own lives compared to their love for Him. He saw many people abandon their call to follow Him, go away from Him; from the truth.

Jesus, the Christ, never called His disciples to simply live a better life in this world. Instead He warned them upfront that to follow Him it would mean blessings yes, but persecutions also. He told His disciples that to follow Him meant a death to this world which hates Him. He told His disciples that they’d have to leave everything behind when it came to Him. He told His disciples that a kingdom divided cannot stand. He told His disciples that He is the vine, and they are the branches, and without Him they can do NOTHING, but abiding in Him and Him in them, they will bear fruit. He showed His disciples that it would cost them everything to follow Him; reputation, careers, personal pleasures. He told His disciples not to work for treasure on earth which would rust and decompose, but to work for treasure in heaven. He told His disciples not to plan on getting rich kicking back and retiring, but instead to live by the Spirit of God, having only today and giving it all up to Him.

Perhaps it’s for convenience sake, perhaps it’s for greed, perhaps it’s for confusion, perhaps it’s something we will never understand, but if we think Jesus is this super happy, incredibly nice person who never gets angry, who avoids telling the truth, who always makes friends, and He’s like that so that we can prosper in this life and this world, we ought not to be deceived any longer. Jesus had crowds turn on Him to stone Him, surround Him and push Him to the edge of a cliff, abandon Him, curse Him, accuse Him, even His own mother said He had lost His mind.

You might think, “Well that’s because He is God, but that’s not what our lives should look like.” We only need to trust God’s word to see that simply isn’t true. We only need to look in the Bible to see how the lives of Jesus’ disciples continued on in persecutions after the resurrection and His ascension. Stephen was stoned to death on the streets. Paul was beaten, imprisoned, hated, scorned by those who he was serving, and Paul, like Jesus, was accused of having lost his mind. Peter’s life wasn’t career focused, comfort living, planning on retirement. His life, like the rest of Jesus’ disciples, carried on carrying their crosses and being forgotten, hated, and murdered by the world around them.

So here we are in the year 2014, how does this relate to us? Well let’s take this scenario for one. You’re a Jesus follower, you go to work every day, you try to be on time, you watch your breaks so as not to take more time than you should, you follow the company policies regarding customer relations etc, you happily attend mandatory meetings, love the folks around you, and you overlook those things the boss demands of you which are not entirely fair because Jesus calls you to do so. You don’t fight for your rights, you don’t make a stink and try to get noticed, you’re not interested in the company gossip, because Jesus in you is opposed to those things. This obvious salt and light you carry begins to make you threatening at times to those around you who are striving much harder than you to win a game you’re simply not wanting to play.

Then one day the boss sends out an email with a demand which isn’t a work related demand, but instead a spiritual one. The email says that he’s implementing a new policy of tolerance in your workplace where he is going to have every employee sign their name. This policy says that each person agrees that being gay isn’t a lifestyle choice but simply a person’s being who they really are, and that being gay is the same as being straight. The policy goes on to state that the signee agrees that gay marriage is the same as heterosexual marriage, and that the antiquated notion that there are two genders will not be accepted in your office; if that’s your opinion you must keep it to yourself. 
 
Your life flashes before your eyes as your conscience testifies of the outrage of this spiritual oppression. But you begin to debate your conscience as you think about how you just bought a new house and leased a new car. You realize you still haven’t even paid off all your student loans yet from going to university and how much you need your job. You remember back in high school when the teachers were telling you about gay people and their justifiable pride and how you sat silent. You remember how your parents and your church friends all told you that we just need to love people and pray for them. You remember how much your parents expected you to succeed and how when you asked Jesus into your heart you were told your life would be better. You look at the examples of Christians around you who’ve had so much success in the same world, the same careers as you, and wonder why they’ve done so well.

You sign. Your wife, your kids, your house, your god, will all be happier this way.

Is it obedient to nod your head yes to the authorities around you when your conscience says no? Is it obedient to go to your workplace, your school, your business, and have a secret agenda, and for your own reasons fail to speak when it is required? Is it obedient to witness deception being taught and not fight for the truth? Is it obedient to watch those who are perishing being swept up into a world culture and lie while we remain silent? Is it obedient to tell your boss yes, but walk away with no in your heart?

And what is our motivation for being silent in this world which hates Jesus? Is it our 65” TV’s? Is it our lust for stuff? And just who are we being obedient to?

In the scenario above, wouldn’t it be truly obedient to lovingly tell the boss the gospel, to reveal Jesus Christ, and to say I’m sorry I cannot agree to this policy? It might well cost you your job. It might well be that the people at the office start to gossip relentlessly behind your back. It might well cost you your marriage when you come home and tell your wife and family that you’ve got no work again.

Luke 12: 1-12 says,

Under these circumstances, after so many thousands of people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon the housetops.

I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

 “And I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God; but he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him. When they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Jesus said, “When they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities.” Notice He didn’t say if they bring you, but when they bring you. This isn’t a matter of context; this is a matter of truth. We can try to intellectualize and dismiss Jesus’ words as not being relevant to us today, but the Spirit of truth confesses otherwise.

Friends, my life, your life, it might begin to look like a joke to everyone around us, but don’t lose heart. Every single ounce of suffering that we encounter in this world for loving Jesus first will result in blessings untold as God is glorified and our treasure accumulates in heaven. Make no mistake, we are living in a time of persecution right now. We only need to listen to our consciences and act when those terrifying times require our obedience. We only need to stop trying to create a different gospel and start living the real one to see the reality of the world today. Jesus died for the sin of the world. He is risen for our justification. We will never substitute for Him. We can only testify to Him and trust Him as we suffer the consequences of doing so. And as we do, we will discover the joy that true freedom in Christ delivers! We will see lives TRANSFORMED by the Holy Spirit when we begin to set Him free!

Someday we will see those in heaven who we never, ever, suspected would be there. That’s the best retirement plan ever!

God bless you and thanks for reading! :)