Did anyone ever say that following Christ is something of happiness? Consider the phrase “those who followed him were afraid”.
Of course they were afraid. They were not stupid. Jesus was walking to his death, and he was predicting this. These people knew they were not going to Ferguson, where the cops will be videoed shooting and there will be protests, but to Jerusalem, where the temple guards could not kill, but Pilate’s legions can and would kill, torture and destroy.
For the powers of this world have never liked truth: and truth was about to visit. And the disciples (who did not understand, yet) were the disciples of truth. They were not called to be praised or popular, but to be a a confessing church, to the point that they, too, would face scorn, spitting, and a short rope.
And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.” And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:32-45 ESV)
We are not promised a nice life, a good life. Instead we are hated: we are despised. We are the stormcrow, we mention death and hell: we are told to be silent, lest we mention salvation, instead of pretty lies of universal salvation and increasing spirituality.
And ambition is human, but an error. For our leaders will the first to be dragged in front of the court and asked to swear allegiance to the idols of this age.
For though they had a good right to be offended at the ambition of those disciples, yet when it was put down they ought to have been satisfied. But our Lord intended to seize on this occasion for laying open a disease which was lurking within them; for there was not one of them who would willingly yield to others, but every one secretly cherished within himself the expectation of the primacy; in consequence of which, they envy and dispute with one another, and yet in all there reigns wicked ambition. And if this fault was found to be natural to uneducated men of ordinary rank, and if it broke out on a slight occasion, and almost without any occasion at all, how much more ought we to be on our guard, when there is abundance of fuel to feed a concealed flame? We see then how ambition springs up in any man who has great power and honors, and sends out its flames far and wide, unless the spirit of modesty, coming from heaven, extinguish the pride which has a firm hold of the nature of man.
We are not to listen to our pride, our sense that we should be pretty, and follow the pretty lies: never be mature, as if this world is all there is, and our time on this planet is eternal. It is not: we age, we fade, and our legacy is seen in the lives we have influenced, not the toys we had along the way.
So mistrust the honours of this world. Hold the elite in suspicion, if not fear: know the cost of what you say, and here I have the old man as an example, for he helps organize a group that is beyond polite conversation to help men and women who have same sex attraction live godly and celibate lives. (Yes, Exodus NZ exists, and did not swallow the liberal poison that killed the US organization). He is aware he could end up in jail because of leading this: to the fear of my mother.
But it is more important that people are offered salvation that we remain free. I pray that my nation will repent, but that is looking less likely by the week.
When we lead (and at times I have to speak publicly) it should not be out of ambition but because there is no one else. The longer I am around, the better a small patch of land in an obscure part of this small country looks. But the number of witnesses is falling: so please pray not just for me (and thanks to those who do) but for all those who have the greater burden of leading our churches. And pray for all who try to give a faithful witness by blogging or public proclamation. That we may remain faithful, and remain able to speak.
For this blog could be seen by those without humour as causing harm to the faith deficient. As if the gospel is now harmful digital communication.
