Part of the problem in the Church is that we begin, understandably, seeking salvation in Christ for selfish reasons and reasons of self-preservation, but we never move on from this selfward looking. Once we believe we are safe from hell-fire, we become little different from the rest of the world in our selfward view. Our supposed salvation, much less the actual words of the One who saved us, make no lasting or practical impact on our outlook or worldview except for the occasional conviction or fuzzy feelings. But this selfward looking is not the path taught by Jesus Christ, and not the salvation offered by Him.
With virtually every breath He took, He taught us to abandon ourselves, renounce anything we were clinging to, forgive everyone who has wronged us, and love everyone be it God, stranger, brother, or the enemy who is cruel to us. The salvation which He offers would have us stop working for our own benefit and happiness and work only for the benefit, happiness, and salvation through Jesus Christ for others, all others.
I've come to understand that my own pursuit towards professional ministry, a good and honorable employment, has been for almost entirely selfish reasons. The desire for stability, the desire for reputation, the desire to fit in and find a home; none of these things are bad or even wrong, but they are selfish and selfish action is not born of Christ, and not what our salvation in Him is all about.
We are to have His mind toward others, we are to love one another as He loved us, we are to keep the same mind of loving kindness and compassion that caused God the Son to incarnate in human flesh because He so loved the world. This is what it means to be His disciple, developing this mind of Christ that so loved the world, that sought to save everyone, that exhausted Himself healing and teaching for the compassion He had and that spoke truth to power out of love for even those plotting to kill Him. We must be intentional about developing this and asking Christ with whom we are joined to be so through us. We must cooperate with Him, and let go of our selfish desires whether they are benign or malign. It is Jesus Christ this world must see, hear, and experience, and not us. What is your faith worth if it does nothing to move you to pursue the finish line for the award of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus? Is it even faith in Jesus Christ at all?
Consider Jesus Himself.
As I've been translating through Mark, the thing which has stood out is that everything He did was to deny Himself and benefit others. He lived His whole life in submission to the Father, doing and saying nothing from Himself, but only what the Father did and said through Him. Having deep compassion for the crowds, He stayed and healed and taught well into the evening even as He sent His disciples onwards away from the crowds for their own good. Having deep compassion, He not only exorcised the Geresene demoniac, but also granted the Legion's request. His warnings to people He performed extraordinary healings on to not make Him known we're because of the negative effects the crowds would have on the towns and villages He entered, and He wouldn't be able get help to those who needed it. He loved Judas Iscariot right up to the moment he left to betray Him, and rebuked the pharisees in a desperately compassionate plea for them to turn away from what they were doing. All of this was of course before He was crucified, becoming the one sacrifice to take away the sins of the world, and then resurrecting in an immortal body with the promise that all joined to Him will do likewise. To be His disciple is to actively pursue doing likewise and counting everything else as crap and loss. It is such a simple concept that we miss it completely because our brains are hardwired for self interest and self preservation, and this is reinforced by society and culture, especially in the US.
Thinking it through, everything Jesus taught in terms of practice had to do with actively having compassion and loving kindness for the other person, and putting their best interests first. Everything from non judgment, to turning the other cheek, to giving to whoever begs from you and not asking for repayment. The implication here with all of it is that we are concerned only for the welfare of the other person and take no thought for our own, leaving that in God's hands, as he taught. The path of Jesus Christ is the path of Bodhichitta or agape, and there is no place for self interest in it except insofar as it benefits others.
To be a disciple of Jesus Christ is to love all other sentient beings. It is literally that straight forward. No amount of doctrine or dogma, no amount of religious prayers or practice qualifies anyone to be a disciple of Jesus Christ if they do not understand, accept, and strive to practice this basic concept. You cannot be a disciple of Christ if you act and speak in your own self interest, and if you are not consciously moving towards acting and speaking for the benefit of others. Mistakes and learning to do this is one thing, outright refusal and self justification is another. We are called to be disciples and make disciples, and this means denying ourselves and loving all others and teaching others to do the same. This means remaining in Him, submitting to His life within us, and teaching others to do the same. To follow Jesus Christ is just that, to actually follow Jesus Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment