Jesus Went Against the Current

What Did Jesus Do?

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace...whoever does not
take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it,
and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Matthew 10.34, 38-39

It is a good thing Jesus is not a college football recruiter. I don't believe his “pitch” would inspire many moms and dads to send their sons to play for him. Let's face, at times Jesus is just so—contrary. Going with the flow is definitely not in Christ's “playbook.” Fulfilling the calling to be the salt and light of the world is about arresting and redirecting the currents at work in the world, not merely merging with the stream and heading where everyone else is headed. Jesus went against the current, and so should we. We are called to be the most radical non-conformists on the earth (Romans 12.1-2)

Now, this is not to say we can be salt and light if we try to ignore what Fritz Kling calls “global currents” or trends. We definitely must be in the world. But we must also vigilantly guard against becoming of the world. The high priestly prayer of Jesus is all about his Church remaining in the world, being sent into the world in the power of the Holy Spirit, while being protected from the world by the Father (See John 17).

Christians can hardly make a difference where a difference is definitely needed if we totally disengage from the world and the lives of people. If we don't start where the people are, wade out into the current, as it were, how can we ever reach them? But only a fool would wade out into an unknown current, for currents can be deadly. We need to know the currents, study them, understand them, so we can operate in them, while not being swept away by them.

And, lest we deny the sovereignty and power of God, we must understand that the Holy Spirit is always present in the world, moving and establishing currents that manifest the will of God. Where currents, or “waters” mix, we must not refuse to enter, but rather head out into the stream in the power of the Holy Spirit. Cross bearing requires intentionally and persistently entering yet resisting the powerful, sometimes quite irresistible and seductive currents of the world, and struggling to arrest, change, or redirect them. It is a hard and dangerous calling, but it is the way of discipleship, and it is the Church's vocation.

What worldly currents are flowing around us in our neighborhoods, our schools, our offices, even our homes? Have we studied them so that we can effectively enter in and make a difference, oppose the flow, and change it? That's what Jesus did.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4