Christian Realism
the cost of Chrsitianity
Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 1
Charles B. Loftin, past Vice President of San Antonio College of Chiropractors, once claimed that “had ex-Kaiser Wilhelm received chiropractic adjustments for whatever abnormal conditions from which he was suffering, the World War would have been averted.” And I suppose if Saddam Hussein had better dental care the Gulf War wouldn’t have happened.
We humans, when we are trying to sell someone on the value of something, exaggerate the positive and minimize the negative. Jesus took a different approach. He was a realist. The blessings and benefits of following Christ can’t be overstated. Forgiveness, adoption, reconciliation, eternal life, transformation, and resurrection to name a few. But Jesus spoke of crosses as well as crowns, buffeting as well as blessing, trials as well as triumphs. He was brutally honest about the cost of Christianity.
His intention was not to discourage us from following him. But he did discourage the kind of following that naively believed the Way was a garden of lilies. He discouraged people from chasing mythical pots of gold at the end of ever-evaporating rainbows. Jesus called people to follow him, not for what they might get out of him, but because of who he is. He said as much when, after feeding the 5,000, he said, “you seek me…because you at the loaves and were filled. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life.”
The Christian life is satisfying, enduring, and transforming. It is also demanding and difficult. Those who know Jesus know this. But a healthy dose of reality every once in a while doesn’t hurt.