There is something terrifyingly absolute about the Christian life. On the one hand Christ is profoundly gentle, merciful, bearing with our weakness, forgiving iniquity and sin… but on the other hand, those within the bounds of his grace are but few and strangely single minded about who they are.
I think of the rich young ruler of Matthew 19. He did so many things that were pleasing to God, yet still he was not one of Christ’s own.
I think of the letters to the seven churches in Revelation. Every church bar one has its weaknesses and is rebuked for them, but only two of the seven are threatened with being abandoned by God. And they’re not the ones full of struggling recommitting sinners, and they’re not the ones with doctrinal flaws, they’re the ones whose love has grown cold, who have sought some mid-ground between the world and their Lord.
As John says: do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity towards God?
Christ does not ask much of us… yet he asks all of us. He does not ask us to be perfect, or to be able to change the world single-handedly, but he does ask for our whole heart, our whole love. How comprehensive is Paul’s assessment of the Christian life in 1Corinthians 6: You are not your own, you were bought at a price…
“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die…”
Not what we can give, but ourselves, is Christ’s call upon our lives. Are we willing to give that most precious of treasures?
dh
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