18. When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake.19. Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20. Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” 21. Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”22. But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Chuck Colson told the story in his book, The Body, of watching a Christian TV station while in a motel room. A very well-dressed man in a lovely TV studio espoused the theology, that as Children of God we were princes and princes of the King. God wants to show His glory to the world by showing off His people who receive their Father’s blessing and peace. God wants no one to suffer or be deprived Just ask; Ask and you will receive in abundance.
The church of today finds itself with a consumer mentality so pervasive in our culture. Most Americans are free to choose which church they will join or attend. Ask most people what they look for in church and the first response is fellowship. Some want good sermons, a good music program, and great youth activities. It is common conversation among many pastors of the visitors who flit about from church to church in search of what suits their taste at the moment. Colson calls this the McChurch mentality. Have it your way. A consumer mentality pressures churches to respond to what people want, not to what God is calling us to be. I'm not talking about praise choruses or traditional hymns, or whether we sing with the organ (What is that?) or guitars and drums (not a bad idea). I'm talking about the proper focus and place of Jesus. Churches do have differing styles. There are several ways to worship, but when does style get in the way of being a follower of Jesus?
We've been talking about that on this mini series on the Kingdom of God, recognizing that God is in charge of our lives. As citizens, we are in spiritual conflict with the one who will continually tempt us to look to ourselves instead of the power and glory of Christ. Satan will cause us to focus on well sounding words, but false teaching. We get the concept of servanthood and being served mixed up. Jesus is our example when He teaches, we have come to serve not to be served. Indeed, we are called to serve Jesus Christ. I want to look at His job description and benefit package in Matthew 8 in a realistic manner.
If you truly follow Jesus, it will not always be easy. Be prepared to suffer.
