So I was sitting at Mass today when this thought popped into my head. Christians must seem insane to nonbelievers. And rightfully so. Let’s examine this a bit. We believe in a God who, we can’t see, nor will we ever see until the end of time. As if that’s not “ludicrous” enough, we claim this God sent His only Son to Earth, who was somehow miraculously born to a virgin teenager, to die for our sins. That Son, we’ll call Him Jesus, multiplied fish, walked on water, turned water to wine, gave sight to the blind, and performed many other astonishing miracles in His short time on Earth. After being crucified and left for dead in a tomb for 3 days, Jesus somehow rose from the dead! I’m starting to see where nonbelievers may think a trip to the hospital is in order for us…
As I sat there at Mass, staring intently at the cross, I couldn’t help but praise God. Praise God that He wrote my name upon His hand (Isaiah 49:16) and that His word is written in my heart (Jeremiah 31:33). Praise God that He’s destined me to know Him from the day He’s created me (Ephesians 1:5). It doesn’t have to be logical, for God created logic and is far beyond it. It doesn’t have to make any sense at all-it’s simply the Truth. He’s already made it clear to me (Ephesians 1:9). Praise God! I know that on this day I am happier than ever to be a believer in Christ. I am happier than ever that my insane, ludicrous, and even confusing faith is REAL. I’m happy to be here, standing in this Truth and I am ready to go forth and spread it.
“…but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope…” – 1 Peter 3:15
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God for the salvation
of everyone who believes…” – Romans 1:16
So there’s this event that happened some 2000 years ago. This guy, Jesus was talking to his posse of 11 when He told them, “Go…and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). They probably looked at each other, paired off, figuring same rules as last time. I mean, before Jesus had told them to “take nothing for the journey except a staff-no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra tunic” (Mark 6:8-9) so it was probably a fair guess that this time would be the same. They probably rochambeau-ed it up to see who would be the odd man out. I mean, they were everyday people like you and me. Jesus didn’t come for the “saints” of the time; He came for the sinners. They probably complained as they went about their travels; they probably sweated from the scorching sun. These men were not superhuman-thank God! Wouldn’t that be something to live up to?! These first missionaries were just ordinary people, every day, boring people who fell in love with a fella named Jesus. How beautiful.
So where does that leave us? I mean, if
Jesus didn’t meet everybody on Earth, surely His disciples didn’t either, right? How then did Jesus expect them to reach
all the nations? I’ve already established they weren’t superhuman. How can they accomplish this crazy huge task ahead of them? Oh that’s right, we’re here. You see, there’s really no difference between
this group of people
and this group.
We’re all called to the same thing–“to make disciples of all nations.”
What then separates us from Jesus’ disciples (besides the obvious of getting to chill with the man Himself)? Oh I get it, we’re taking tents! And backpacks with clothes! That means we have one-up on the disciples, right? Mmm not necessarily. The disciples were being called to live a life of reckless abandonment, of total devotion, of the utmost faith. If they didn’t have faith, for a lack of better words, they were screwed. Faith was all they had to get them from one day to the next. I mean, sure they were relying on the generosity of mankind as well but really, do you think that’s what got them through? Somehow I choose to believe it was God providing for them through those individuals.
You see, the disciples of Jesus’ day lived their lives in a way that required they have faith. When I read Crazy Love by Francis Chan, I was challenged. I was challenged by the question, “What are you doing right now that requires faith?“ What challenged me most about this question was that my answer would probably have to be “next to nothing,” and I’m not okay with that. I am guilty of living a comfortable life, a life where really, when it comes down to it, I don’t need to have faith. Francis Chan talks about how this question challenged him as well. It made him realize that he
probably wouldn’t be living very differently if I didn’t believe in God; my life was neither ordered nor affected by my faith like I had assumed it was. Furthermore, when I looked around, I realized I was surrounded by people who lived the same way I did.
If you take away the religiosity-the going to Mass, listening to Christian music, etc.-my life would probably not be much different. It’s sad that the last thing I’ve done that required faith really was probably post a
controversial blog. What would it take for me to start living out that reckless abandonment, that total devotion, that utmost faith demonstrated by Jesus’ disciples? What would it take for me to boldly profess that I will not give into temptation to live comfortably while out on the Race-that I will fully rely on my God? What will my backpack have in it as I consider all this? Will I
trust the Lord will provide? Will I allow myself to be put in a situation where I absolutely, 100%
need God? What will that take?
“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:19-20
