The Cost to Follow

I shuddered in horror as I watched my eighteen month year old son being pounded across the back extremely hard by a healthcare provider in Colombia, South America. I could not speak the language and had no understandable explanation for this kind of treatment. I had a very sick child; I was in a foreign country; I was helpless. James and I stood there with tears in our eyes as Matthew screamed and screamed. We were unable to hold him, to comfort him, and to protect him. God had called us to Colombia for a short-term mission's trip. And I'll be honest, it was one of the hardest things I have ever done. However, it was also three of the most rewarding months of my life. You see, God had given us a cross to bare by leaving behind our safe little life, and putting our family at risk, even Matthew. On that horrific day in July 2015, as I entrusted my child in the hands of a stranger in whom I could not communicate, my cross seemed quite heavy.

God never implies in His Word that the cross we are called to bare will be easy. He doesn't owe us a life of comfort. In fact, He doesn't own us anything, but we owe Him everything. In Matthew chapter six, Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

It's not easy to approach a stranger, open your Bible, and explain that he is a sinner in need of a Savior. It's not easy to pack your bags and drag your family to a country where the name of Jesus Christ is banned from the lips of the people. It's not easy to stay in a marriage where there is no love present. It's not easy to take a stand for righteousness when your job is at stake. The weight of those crosses are hard to bare.

I can't tell you how many crosses I have left by the wayside because they were just too hard to bare. I think of those who needed to hear about the HOPE I have in Jesus, but I was too scared to act upon the voice inside of me prompting me to go. I can't tell you how many prayer times I have pushed aside because it was just easier to grab my phone and read my Bible app instead. I would hate to know the many times I have chosen to inflate my human ego by performing Christian service, instead of taking the harder insignificant roads.

I have seen an alarming shift in Christian culture. The initiatives to follow current trends in the world, to make Christian service and outreach as easy as possible, and to operate churches as places of business is killing the Christian impact on our world. The church has lost its voice because it is too concerned about making everyone happy and comfortable. That very idea is contrary to Scripture. Can you imagine the disciples responding to Jesus' command "Come follow Me," with questions about how their decision will affect their 401K? No. They left everything, and it cost them their lives. The road to follow Jesus is a road of self-denial. It's the harder road. However, Christian society has tried to answer God's call and stay within comfortable parameters. This mindset is not working, and it will never work. Christ's call to follow comes with a cost.

Amy Carmichael's book, "If," is a short read, but it contains so many thoughts that left me convicted. She said, "If I refuse to be a corn of wheat that falls into the ground and dies ("is separated from all in which it lived before"), then I know nothing of Calvary love." If we, as Christians, could embrace this mentality, I believe the world would be upturned for Jesus Christ. Is being "a corn of wheat that falls into the ground and dies" easy? Absolutely not. Neither was Christ's cross.