Sad story
I was watching a television show last night that was fascinating and sad. It was called God or the Girl and is about some young men who are struggling to decide if God wants them to enter the Roman Catholic priesthood, or to choose a normal life. That in itself is sad, as several of the young men are trying to decide between celibacy and serving God. Why is that sad? Because it is following the traditions of men rather than the commands of God (Mark 7:8).
That is not the saddest point in the show, however. At one point, a particular priest comes to one of the young men whom he is mentoring, and says that perhaps God wants him to sacrifice--by carrying his own cross--literally. The young man goes to a home improvement store to purchase materials, and he and his friends build an 80-pound wooden cross for him to carry. But there is a catch: he must carry it 22 miles to a particular church. A portion of the program chronicles this individual's excrutiatingly painful journey, at the end of which he will apparently know what God wants him to do.
Terribly sad... . This fits in with other Roman Catholic programs that, for all practical purposes, seek to twist God's arm, to appease Him in some way to act on a persons behalf. That is something God has opposed all throughout biblical history--God is not at the mercy of human beings.
What stuck me as the saddest part of the situation was the misinterpretation of Scripture. Yes, Jesus declared that all who wanted to follow Him must take up their cross daily and follow Him. But is this what He meant, to make a spectacle of ourselves while literally carrying a cross?
A close look at Luke 14:25-33 shows that Jesus made that statement to demonstrate that one must count the cost of following Him. His purpose was to engage the would-be disciple in the process of thought that would bring the individual to the conclusion that being a disciple means surrendering to Him, even to the point of death, if necessary. The prospective disciple was to view Jesus' statement not in a literal way, but as figure of speech.
By 70 A.D., approximately 30,000 people were crucified in Israel by the Romans. That tells us that a cross would have been an easily understood picture--a picture of death. Thus, Jesus tells those who would follow Him, "Are you ready to give up yourself to be Mine?"
Let's be careful not to do insane, pointless things because of our misinterpretation of Scripture. Take up your cross daily...but do it in the way Jesus intended.
That is not the saddest point in the show, however. At one point, a particular priest comes to one of the young men whom he is mentoring, and says that perhaps God wants him to sacrifice--by carrying his own cross--literally. The young man goes to a home improvement store to purchase materials, and he and his friends build an 80-pound wooden cross for him to carry. But there is a catch: he must carry it 22 miles to a particular church. A portion of the program chronicles this individual's excrutiatingly painful journey, at the end of which he will apparently know what God wants him to do.
Terribly sad... . This fits in with other Roman Catholic programs that, for all practical purposes, seek to twist God's arm, to appease Him in some way to act on a persons behalf. That is something God has opposed all throughout biblical history--God is not at the mercy of human beings.
What stuck me as the saddest part of the situation was the misinterpretation of Scripture. Yes, Jesus declared that all who wanted to follow Him must take up their cross daily and follow Him. But is this what He meant, to make a spectacle of ourselves while literally carrying a cross?
A close look at Luke 14:25-33 shows that Jesus made that statement to demonstrate that one must count the cost of following Him. His purpose was to engage the would-be disciple in the process of thought that would bring the individual to the conclusion that being a disciple means surrendering to Him, even to the point of death, if necessary. The prospective disciple was to view Jesus' statement not in a literal way, but as figure of speech.
By 70 A.D., approximately 30,000 people were crucified in Israel by the Romans. That tells us that a cross would have been an easily understood picture--a picture of death. Thus, Jesus tells those who would follow Him, "Are you ready to give up yourself to be Mine?"
Let's be careful not to do insane, pointless things because of our misinterpretation of Scripture. Take up your cross daily...but do it in the way Jesus intended.
posted by Pastor Jason | 8:22 AM
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