We live in a world that is morally and spiritually unhealthy. No
surprise there. The quickest perusal of the daily news will affirm
that.
We live in a world that is morally and spiritually unhealthy. No surprise there. The quickest perusal of the daily news will affirm that.
My question has to do with the people who should be slowing down the deterioration and bringing healing and light to those in need. Where is modern Christianity in this time of deep darkness? For the most part, missing in action.
Why is Christianity having so little impact? Because, as G K Chesterton observed, “Christianity has not so much been tried and found wanting, as it has been found difficult and left untried.” This insightful and rather biting comment underlies a notion prevalent in Christian circles today – the idea that to be a real, honest-to-God Christian is very difficult. I often hear Christians discussing the high cost of discipleship, but here’s my question: if the Christian life is so hard, what did Jesus mean when he said, “Take my yoke upon you … for my yoke is easy and the burden I give you is light” (Matthew 11:29-30).
Jesus taught that Christianity is not hard, that, in fact, it is the way of the non-Christian that’s hard. Indeed, much of the Book of Proverbs is spent making that very point. Yet most Christians find these words of Jesus to be bewildering. The ease and lightness of Christ’s yoke is something we rarely, if ever, experience. We’ve come to look at his words more as an ideal than as practical truth for our day-to-day lives. Many think his words only apply to heaven, not this cold, harsh world. Yet I would suggest to you that Jesus’ promise is not about pie-in-the-sky-by-and-by, but about a life of joy you can experience today.
Let’s spend some time looking at how we can have that kind of life. Let me use an example from my youth to explain how it works: when I was a kid, I loved playing baseball. I had several major league heroes, and I wanted to grow up to play just like them. I watched everything they did … the way they threw the ball, their batting stance, their swing, the way they ran the basepaths … whatever they did, I tried to copy it when I was on the field.
This is nothing new, of course. Kids have been doing it for generations, but let me ask you this: if the only place a kid copies his hero is when he is on the playing field, will he duplicate the success of his hero? Of course not. Even that star player himself could not achieve excellence if all he did was behave a certain way during primetime. He attained his stardom by years of practice and hard work and the oh-so-inglorious routine of monotonously practicing the basics. It is all that training that allows his body to automatically respond when it’s gametime. The success of the athlete during primetime is integrally linked to the overall preparation of his mind and body before he takes the field.
Why belabor this point? Because what we are discussing is true in life just as it is in the realm of sports. It’s true for the teacher, musician, doctor, baker and candlestick maker … a successful performance rests largely upon conditioning and prior preparation.
It’s also true in the spiritual realm. Jesus understood this fact and lived accordingly. But because we tend to focus on the “Jesus Christ Superstar” moments, we often miss this part. Sure Jesus had a lot of primetime moments; he was God! But when you look at how he spent most of his 33 years on earth, a much different picture begins to emerge. Is it possible that part of the reason Jesus spent more than 90 percent of his life in obscurity was to teach us a lesson about how we should approach life? We’ll explore that thought a little more next week.
Henry Harris is lead pastor of Rolling Hills Community Church, 330 Tres Pinos Rd. in Hollister. If you have questions or comments, please visit the church Web site at www.rollinghillsfamily.com, e-mail pa*********@****************ly.com or phone (831) 636-5353.
