Discipling the Undsiciplined no. 28

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). Being in right relationship with God and others through loving them is a narrow gate that means valuing other people more than our things and our self. The road of mammon is rather wide and easy. It’s all around us. And it is filled with folks that are living in desperation, depression, and death.

Life is being right with God which means being right with other people. The world tends to see this in a condescending way. Folks use terms like being “used” and “mistreated”. Folks have given up on love and doing right by others because of the hurt they have experienced only to experience more heart by saying no to love. Life is going to be filled with pain regardless of whether I love my neighbor or not. There is a real pain when someone comes to me with their problems and wants me to pray for them. There is a real pain of seeing folks struggling with life and the problems of this world. There is a real pain I experience when I see so much injustice and violence in the world. Being in a right relationship with God doesn’t excuse me from feeling pain. And I think lamenting those problems in our lives and in the world are important truths to share with folks. Being faithful is not all rainbows and sparkles; being faithful means opening myself up to feeling. 

It is a disservice to the state of this world to act like its problems do not affect us. As Christians, the injustice and unrighteousness of this world should bother us to work for justice and righteousness rather than create more injustice and unrighteousness. BUT too often the road of mammon and power and violence is much easier than doing right by God and my neighbor. It is much easier for things to not be my problem. It is much easier for things to be passed along. It is much easier to build walls and shut folks out. It is much easier to not love my neighbor. That road is easier and wider. BUT that road is filled with pain too. 

God called me to be faithful. And that is going to mean doing some difficult things like loving people that hurt me. That is going to mean hurting for people that I love. And that is going to mean empathy for all those other image bearers of God out there suffering from injustice and unrighteousness. It is going to mean supporting helping those people and not discarding them. I think we need to take a look at how hard the road is we travel because the road to life is difficult and some of us have it way too easy and are way too comfortable on the path to death.

Grace and Shalom to your home. 

#DisciplingTheUndisciplined #ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #SeekFirstTheKingdom #ServeOneAnotherInLove #NotMyWayYHWH