As Christians, we're called to to "pick up our own cross" as a witness to who and whose we are. As Christians, we called to live to the beat of a different drum because Jesus Christ is our Lord,,, but most of us don't have the courage to go that far. Throughout the ages there has been a huge gap between the values that Jesus lived and died by... and the values his followers have chosen to embrace. Jesus said that the meek shall inherit the world, but few are those who seek to be meek. Jesus said that the last shall be first, but this does;t even make sense in our time. Jesus said that we will find life by yoking ourselves to him, but being "yoked" is the last thing we want to be. For centuries now Christians have been tempted to keep their faith to themselves as they publicly embrace the very same values that their neighbors embrace. By and large Jesus' followers choose an easier and softer way because the don't want to "stand out." After Jesus had given a speech about his upcoming death, he and his disciples walked back home. One would thing that their conversation would center around service and sacrifice, but as it turns out, some of his followers were arguing about which one of them would "be first" in the kingdom. Jesus told them that, in the kingdom of God, the leaders would be servants and they couldn't conceive of such a thing because they had embraced the values of their world. We do the same, of course, and to the extent that we don't live AS IF Jesus is our Lord, our witness to others is compromised.
Jesus marched to a different drum beat. He defined success in a different way than others did; he measured achievement in a different way too; and he valued things like grace, forgivenss, mercy, and sacrifice much more highly than others did, In a word or two, Jesus' core values were at odds with the world's and he was crucified for not fitting in. His story is a powerful story in itself. It's violent, heroic, poignant, and victorious... but the challenging part of his story is this: he wants us to share in it. He insists that we also carry a cross and follow him along the narrow path. He expects us to embrace and live out the same values that he lived by, and that's a BIG hill for most of us!
With that in mind, let's reflect on the core values that define us. How many of the following values describe your own core values as you live out each day? Integrity... service... grace... forgiving others... humility... wealth... friendships... authenticity... power... justice... love... family... freedom... wisdom... pleasure... balance... gratitude ... compassion... humor... kindness... generosity... security... tolerance... perseverance... discipline... glorifying God in every way you can... or something else? Can you identify your top ten core values? Can you trim your list to five? What would you die for? What do you live for? Are there things that you would never do? Are there there things that you must do because they are part of who you are? If someone writes an honest obit about us some day, what three or four behavioral traits would stand out? Our we living as if Jesus is Lord or are we living as if we belong to the world?
In Jesus' time, his "world" valued things like power, control, faithfulness to one's tribe, obedience (rebels were not treated well), religious observance, rank, and family. Today, we have many of the same values, but ours are much more self-indulgent and self-centered. Today, in addition to pampering the "omnipotent baby" called "me," we embrace values like: money (at least enough to secure our future), freedom (to do our own thing), having a voice (via Facebook, twitter, or at McDonald's on Sunday mornings), choice (we insist on having choices), power (if might is no longer right, it's still valued), and instant gratification (I pull the coffee pot out before it's done brewing). We still recognize honesty, faithfulness, and self-control as good things... but we hardly insist on them... and values like mercy, justice, forgiving, gratitude, service, and sacrifice are not high most peoples' list. To embrace the things that Jesus valued is hard to do and to actually live as if they are our own core values is even harder. The Biblical record is clear. The values that Jesus called his followers to live by were challenging and some of the things that we said are downright startling.
He called us to love him more than anything else in our world; 2) he said that we would be forgiven to the extent that we forgive others; 3) even though we insist that faith is a private matter, Jesus called us to let our lights shine and to make disciples of all nations; 4) in a time when we have trouble even talking with people who don't agree with us, Jesus said that we should love our enemies... and do good to those who hate us; 5) in a age when wealth was seen as a sign of God's pleasure, Jesus said that it's easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich person to get into heaven. 6) Don't worry, he said. Don't give any thought to tomorrow for God's eye is on the sparrow. 7) Don't judge, he said. Focus more on the log in your own eye and less on the speck in you s eye. 8 ) He said that those Christians who do not feed him when they see him hungry or clothe him when he appears before them naked will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven, even if they call him "Lord." 9) Instead of elbowing our way to the front of the line, Jesus said that whoever wants to be first must be slave of all...because the kingdom of God is an upside down place which rests on love and service. It is a place where, if there were such things as performance reviews, they would include categories like love, grace, forgiving and helping others, and showing mercy. The Kingdom of God is a place where whispered prayers are louder than boisterous speeches, where banquet rooms are filled with the poor and poor in spirit, where those who sat on the dais are men and women who don't even know which fork to use first. The kingdom of God is a place where children count, where people live with childlike trust, where there is no black or white, no male or female, no straight or gay, or anyone who is too old or too young to matter. In the kingdom of God, we won't have to wonder who is in charge... because they will be the ones washing other peoples' feet!
The core values that Christ has called us to live out... are at odds with the values and behaviors that are applauded in the world. Christ knew this... which is why he forewarned us that, if we live AS IF we belong to him, people will roll their eyes, talk about us at their parties (which we won't be invited to) and persecute us if we're too vocal about our allegiance to Christ. Maybe this is why most Christians keep their faith to themselves, but to live AS IF we believe in him. If we welcome people who others won't and called on people who others don't; if we give more that seems prudent and take a little leap of faith in that way; if we forgive someone, knowing that we will have to forgive him or her again; if we mention our faith in public and invite another person to "come and experience" the joy that we've found in Christ; if we find greater meaning in serving than in being served; if we live in such a way that people watch their language and keep their prejudiced thoughts to themselves when we're around; if we find that we have undergone a rearrangement of our values at the deepest level, so that we no longer find our identity in how much we have or how many people we control... we should leap for joy because we are on the right path. It's important that we live AS IF we believe because, as Billy Graham said, "We are the Bibles the world is reading, we are the church the world is needing, and we are the sermons that world is heeding." We may be the only Christian some of the people we meet may ever know. Amen!
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