Can one be a Christian without being a disciple? The dilemma of how to truly follow Jesus seems to be a controversial subject. Many of the people who knew and saw Jesus in the flesh during his lifetime on earth, were offended by his teachings and his lifestyle.
In Matthew 21-23 Jesus confronts the religious leaders and Pharisees of his day. Jesus tells them, "For John the Baptist came and showed you the right way to live, but you didn't believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes' did. And even when you saw this (the repentance of tax collectors and prostitutes) you refused to believe him and repent of your sins." -Matt. 21:32
Jesus was our example: His life and the life of John the Baptist are the examples of how to live. The religious leaders did not recognize the authority of God working in the life of John the Baptist, nor did they recognize the authority in which Jesus lived. But they thought they were godly. Jesus quoted them, when he was explaining that their forefathers killed the prophets, but the religious leaders said, "If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would never have joined them in killing the prophets." And then they had Jesus beaten and crucified.
Why is it, that we love to look good and look religious? We love to wear crosses around our necks and attend church regularly and give generously. But are we willing to truly follow the ways of Jesus? Are we willing to forgive, unforgivable people? Are we willing to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength? And think of overs as better than ourselves? That kinds of love sounds obsessive. Are we willing to get obsessed? And pursue the Kingdom at all costs? Jesus said, "If anyone wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it." He said this right after confronting Peter when Peter said that Jesus shouldn't talk about his death. Peter said, "Heaven forbid, Lord," Peter said. "This will never happen to you!" Jesus said to Peter, "get away from me Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God's"
Peter using his human, earthly reasoning was called out for thinking like Satan. Satan is against God's plans, we must give up our lives, our human perspective and defer to God's ways. Only this way can we truly live into what is means to be truly human following after Jesus example and living by faith.
We have to allow ourselves to be totally examined from the inside out. Jesus said to the religious leaders, "You are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law--justice, mercy, and faith." Matt. 23:23
What? The religious leaders of his day were ignoring faith??? They probably did everything they do because of faith. Or so they thought, they were not having faith in God's kindness and generosity and mercy. Their faith seemed to be in doing all the stuff the right way. Working hard, looking right from the outside. Jesus called them "Whitewashed tombs--beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people's bones and all sorts of impurity."
We can work and work for God's kingdom and still have no faith. Faith is the ingredient to miraculous living. Faith is the requirement to entering the Kingdom and living by Kingdom standards. When you live a life of prayer and faith, it will connect with you in a nourishing and fulfilling way, even if it doesn't look very impressive from the outside.
I want this for my life, so I will get very vulnerable in this blog as I journey towards testing and approving a life lived by faith. I hope as you read my experiences, you too can learn what it looks like to live by faith.