“Those who love their own life will lose it; those who hate their own life in this world will keep it for life eternal. Whoever wants to serve me must follow me, so that my servant will be with me where I am. And my Father will honor anyone who serves me.” — John 12:25-26
You’re not ready. You may have convinced yourself that you are, but you’re not. Like most people have confessed with their mouth that “Jesus is Lord” and proceed to be plunged in water as a profession to deny oneself, you believe that you will imitate Christ. That you, a former unaware and/or unabashed sinner, will proverbially carry your cross through your streets and place of work and not only profess the name of Jesus, but somehow be the B+ reincarnated version of Him through your weak, 27% body fat frame.
You’ve read Ephesians 4:29, so not only do you refrain from curse words, but you gladly rebuke those who curse in front of you. You’ve read Hebrews 13:4, so the most action a date can expect from you is a hard snorting laugh or a loud shriek depending on the movie that you’re seeing. You’ve read 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 so you don’t smoke, rarely drink if ever and wouldn’t even think about taking an aspirin if you didn’t have a severe brain splitting migraine. On top of that, you never miss a Sunday at church, tithe faithfully, serve the body of Christ and you’re known in the community as a model human being.
Yeah, you’re still not ready. At this point you’re probably annoyed at what’s being said because it makes no sense. Of course it doesn’t. What’s being described in the former paragraphs was an individual that was a sure-fire candidate for the celestial dwelling place that all of us aspire to take residence in called heaven. Not only does this individual deserve a room in the Father’s house, but according to conventional Christian thought, they deserve their own compound laced with unfathomable luxury, and maybe for them the lack of marriage in heaven should be an exception. This person is who you want to be like spiritually and is just like Jesus, right?
Not exactly. The aforementioned individual has great Christ-like qualities, but based on what we’re told about the King of Kings in the Word, this person falls short of that glory. That’s because Jesus wasn’t necessarily a nice or polite person but a holy and spiritual person. This isn’t to say that Jesus wasn’t taught good manners by Mary and Joseph; but as someone whose life was a mission and time short, his priority was teaching righteousness and transforming how people lived rather than good etiquette. No verse show’s this better that Matthew 21:12-13 when Jesus is so enraged by the immoral activity transpiring by the merchants at a temple, he is recorded flipping tables and benches over. In the District of Columbia today, such an act in a public forum would be considered. This means that Jesus was capable of committing criminal acts in the name of God, making often meek depictions of Him grossly inaccurate. In fact, Jesus spent much of His time roaming breaking the law with his gang of twelve.
Jesus healed people on the Sabbath, made what could be considered controversial remarks about paying taxes. He questioned and talked back to authority figures and often took a sarcastic tone when doing it. He spoke to people that customarily He shouldn’t have and stepped between situations that a normal individual would deem unwise to intervene in. At the end of his life he was taken into custody, had the equivalent of a trial and received the death penalty. Yet with all this, many, if not all Christians, want to be like Jesus. Yeah, you’re not ready.
When the Messiah stated that if you love your life you will lose it, it wasn’t an empty saying for dramatic effect. Those who truly wish to emulate Jesus in modern times can not only expect to pay exorbitant legal fees, but also face the possibility of living an abbreviated life. Depending on whom you are and where you are in life, this idea may seem noble to you; if you hate your life in this world for Christ, you’re almost guaranteed to keep it eternally with God. When we grow to certain level of spiritual maturity we come to grips that the lives we live are a dash and that just like our Lord, we need to sacrifice them in the name of the Father. Yet, what if you yourself are a father? What if you are a mother whose mission in not only to imitate Christ, but stick around to raise your children the way God has tasked you to do?
If you’re looking to be a radical look no further than the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). You’ve heard it before but when taken into pieces it’s a powerful way to live out one’s faith. Jesus first states that we should make disciples of all nations. Constantly reaching out to people in your community is the bare minimum. Finding ways to go on missionary trips takes this command a step further as you demonstrate faith in action by serving. Can’t afford travel? Take the time to learn another language so that you can discuss God to the array of people around you. The majority of us usually waste three hours a day no matter how busy we are. Let’s use that time as training to terrorize the enemy.
The second aspect of being “rebellious” for Christ comes when Jesus says that we must teach everything that He has commanded. Teaching can only come when you have learned and have a confident grasp on a subject. This involves reading the Bible, taking notes at church, watching spiritual videos and listening to other media that contains sound doctrine. Allowing yourself to become a student of God can open you up to the voice of the Spirit (Psalm 119:33-34) and better prepare you to reach out to the multitudes of people who are only fed the things of the world.
Christian life is one that demands that wisdom be at the core of a believer’s actions. To be arrested due to provocation on your part, placing your family in known danger or killed when it could be prevented is neither righteous nor wise. True rebellion comes from an altering of the mind followed by non-conformity of action; that’s how you light this world on fire.
