Not long after I moved to the upper Midwest, I was invited to a hog roast. One of my friends held one every year and invited the whole church out to his 'farm' for the day. I had no idea how to get there, so I asked for directions. The problem was I asked the wrong person. Rather than asking the man who was holding the hog roast, I asked another friend. He gave good directions with one exception. He forgot a fork in the road about 8 miles out of town. When I got there I didn't know which way to go, so I just stayed left. I realized I was on the wrong road about 15 miles later, had to go back and take the other road. I almost missed all the pulled pork sandwiches! I hate being lost.
There are all kinds of directions out there today for people to follow. But there is only one right way, and only one person to give the right directions. The one who's home you are going to. I want to talk a little today about being misled. We need to look at who we are following. Who we are a disciple of.
To be a disciple is to walk in the footsteps of your master, your teacher. You walk like he walks, learn to think the way he thinks, learn to live the way he lives. You choose to follow a certain teacher or master because you believe he is true and by learning his ways you will draw near to truth as well.
To be a disciple of Jesus Christ is to follow in his footsteps. To walk as he walked, learn to think the way he thinks, learn to live as he lives. Those who are his disciples, those who call themselves Christian, have chosen to follow him because they believe he is true and that by learning his ways we will draw near to God.
If, however, Jesus said or did anything that was not acceptable to God, or was not true then it would be foolish to follow him. He would be a liar and would actually be leading people away from the truth and away from God.
I spent several years back in the late '80's trying to find out if he was actually true. It took a while, and I asked a lot of questions, read a lot of books, and looked at the lives of many of his disciples only to discover that he is true. It was then I decided to become a disciple myself. (Not always a good disciple, but a disciple none the less.)
One statement made by Jesus causes a lot of problems in our world today. (Actually there are many, but this one really seems to anger people.) In John 4:6 Jesus says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
There it is. Pretty narrow minded, but true none the less. (That's the great thing about truth. It's true whether every one believes it or not!)
If we are truly disciples of Jesus Christ, we believe there is no other way to be at peace with God other than through Jesus Christ and a personal relationship with him. And that is why it surprised me this morning as I was going through my mail and I saw a flier 'cordially inviting' me to a celebration of religious diversity. It is being hosted by two Reverends and a Rabbi.
Two Christians and a Rabbi. Two who supposedly believe that Jesus is the way, and the truth and the life and that no one comes to the Father except through him. The Rabbi supposedly believes Deuteronomy 6:4, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." And yet all three of these men are inviting everyone to celebrate the 'religious diversity' or our community.
I thought celebrations were supposed to be a good thing. I celebrate things like birthdays, anniversaries, paying off my bills, waking up in the morning! But I don't celebrate when someone gives me wrong directions! And yet this is what these two 'Christians' and this 'Rabbi' are celebrating! I can't help but wonder why they celebrate being lost?!?
But this is the way our world is today. We don't like narrow minded. We don't like anyone being right. We want everyone to be happy. And I'm sure these three men want people to be happy too. The only problem is that the only way to true happiness is to follow the one who can lead you home. That's not narrow minded because the path is open to everyone!
Here's what I'm celebrating. I celebrate that through my Lord Jesus Christ I have been reconciled with God! And I cordially invite your to join me in that celebration!
Think about it.
0 comments:
Post a Comment