January 17, 2008

Consider the Crowd (Part 2)

Apart from the disciples, there was another group of people listening to the words of Jesus during His sermon on the mount (Matthew 5). As we considered yesterday, the disciples were on the inside looking out, but what about the rest of the crowd? They were on the outside looking in. Many people came and listened to the words of Jesus and took them as “good teachings.” Some came out of curiosity or skepticism. But Jesus’ words were not merely good-intentioned ideals, Jesus’ words were a call to repent. Everyone is self-centered by nature; this is the curse of the fall. To approach the words of Christ without being willing to repent of your ways makes it easy to walk away, to become another face in the crowd. For those in the crowd, technically, they could observe without having to actually follow. Remember, following meant that you left it all, and that you placed all your trust and security in Christ (Matt. 4:22).

To follow Christ means to literally, as Jesus himself said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (16:24). These are hard words. “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” (Matt. 16:25-28). These are hard words, but the promises are sure (Matthew 5: 2-11).

My fear is that many of us tend to act as the crowd. We approach Jesus as they did. We can agree with His teaching, and applaud the way He and the disciples lived their lives. But when it comes down to it, we are just observers. If that is the case, then we will surely never know what it means to be blessed; we will never know what it means to be deeply and supremely happy. We would rather carry on with our day-to-day lives, trying to continue the family business, mending our broken nets, while letting the opportunity of a lifetime pass us by.

Jesus calls all of His disciples, “Come follow me, and I will make you…” We should respond immediately. We should respond to our King every day. Do not be a mere observer, be a follower of Christ. Our actions as members of the Kingdom of God should be seen as a visible manifestation of God’s rule in our lives. Who are you following?

Written by Matthew Capps