Following Jesus: A Beginning (Part 1 of 2)

Following Jesus is beautiful in its simplicity and stunning in its complexity.  Jesus lets loose his call, and we can either answer it and follow, or ignore it and go on down the road our lives were headed before.  This is where the simplicity lies: it is an either/or decision.  There are only two options.  Many people who self identify as Christians attempt to find a middle ground of following Jesus in some of what they do and think, but I think they deceive themselves, for this middle ground does not exist.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer describes three biblical examples of such people in The Cost of Discipleship:

⁵⁷ As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." ⁵⁸ And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."

 ⁵⁹ To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." ⁶⁰ And Jesus said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

 ⁶¹ Yet another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home." ⁶² Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:57-62).

In each of these cases, the men who spoke with Jesus wanted to follow him, but only if it were on their own terms, meaning ultimately, they wanted to follow themselves and receive the benefits of association with Jesus.

Additionally, Bonhoeffer asserts, “only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes.” At first we may be reticent to assent to both of these truths at once (particularly the second), fearing that we add a requirement of works for salvation, but I don’t think it changes the requirements for salvation at all.  We are saved by God’s grace, through our faith in Christ.  Yet, to have faith is an act of obedience in itself, and true faith will certainly continue to produce obedience after the first moment a person declares his faith. 

Typical language trying to reconcile a spiritual life grounded in faith and grace with the impetus for godly lifestyles involves the language of gift and response.  It goes something like this: God has given me salvation through the gift of grace and undeserved love; I have accepted that gift through faith in Jesus; as a result of my faith, I begin to love Jesus and am grateful for all he has done for me; that love I have for Jesus motivates me to express it through obedience to his commands and conformity to his ways.  I have little argument with this way of thinking.  I think it is helpful, even beautiful, and ultimately, biblical.  Where I want to push back a little is that it may not offer much in the way of practical application.

The practical life application I have come to is a product of several weeks’ worth of thinking, particular about the topics of discipleship and monasticism, and they came together through reading the first couple chapters of The Cost of Discipleship.  However, I didn’t really draw it into a coherent thought process until I was trying to discuss the bits and pieces of my thoughts with Aaron Smith.

I’ll share what I came up with in another post, which I will create shortly.

Eternal Death

"Eternal death is in a very real sense the extension and finalization of spiritual death.  If one comes to physical death still spiritually dead, separated from God, that condition becomes permanent." - Millard J. Erickson Christian Theology

 This thought really struck me.  Of course, this has been my basic understanding of what happens when nonChristian people die for a long time, but he presents it in really the perfect way, I think.  I believe completely in the concept of a real Hell, where people suffer forever.  I don't want anyone to go there, nor do I think God really wants anyone to go there (there are scripture references that back me up on this).  On the basis of Erickson's more theological phrasing, it seems to me that the standard youth group explanation of "People choose for themselves where to go; God only sends people to Hell who already want to be there." isn't a bad thought.  The reason I say that is that I don't think we really understand what Heaven or Hell are like.  The Bible is quite vague and uses a lot of what is probably metaphor and symbolism, without really presenting a concrete blueprint for us.  Basically, Hell is the place of spiritual (and eternal) death.  Heaven is the place of spiritual (and eternal--if we include the new earth...) life.  Spiritual life is entirely involved with intimate connection with God, of a relational and worshiping nature.  Spiritual death is entirely involved with separation from God.  Therefore, whatever we want in this life is what we get in the next.  The only difference is that we can change our mind so long as it is before our physical death.  There comes a point when we can no longer change.  There is a deadline.  Just like a person getting a tattoo has a lot of time to think and decide what he wants to get.  He could have decided on a dragon for two years, but then he changed his mind a week before he plans to get it, and instead he gets a tiger.  He has that freedom.  However, once he goes under the needle, there is no turning back.  His decision is made, and it's final.  In the same way, I could reject and re-accept God an infinite number of times in this life.  However, once and die.  I am stuck.  I receive whatever I wanted at the point my days end.  (of course this last part makes it seem like i don't believe in eternal security of salvation, which I do in some ways and in some I don't, but that's a topic for another day.)

I praise God for his sovereignty, and his security, wherein he feels secure in his sovereignty enough not to be threatened by human free will.  He grants us the freedom to decide for ourselves whether or not love him and glorify him.  If we want to love and worship he, we have the opportunity and may continue to do so for eternity.  If we want nothing to do with him, he does not force us, and we can continue in that decision forever, as well.