Quitting

Tons of people in the church will, and are, quitting the big "c" Church as they find out what it really requires.

It is human nature to want to love "Jesus." Which means to be saved. There are many personal ideas of who Jesus is and what He is about. These are being sifted right now.

Loving your version of Jesus isn't the point...and isn't that costly. It is loving what the Jesus in the Bible loves that is offensive. You have to count the cost. That's the point.

Luke 14:25 Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them,

26“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.

27“And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

28“For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—

29“lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,

30“saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’

31“Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?

32“Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.

33“So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

1 John 3:13 Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you.

14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.

15Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

16By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

It's not about you or me, my agenda, my dreams, your dreams, my space, your space. It's about leadership.

Jesus will not take second place. You can't have your idea of Him and Him at the same time. He is bigger than your or my idea, because He is infinite and we are finite.

Dying to self leadership, and hence, selfishness, is the point. Even that takes His leadership! If I count the cost, die to myself and the love of people over Jesus, I will find I truly love Jesus, truly love others, and truly find life.

It's the way we were made. That's what Jesus bought: the right to be king again....starting in my heart. That takes a death of my selfish will in order to let Him rule.

Loving your version of Jesus results in division and denomination. Loving the Jesus of the Bible results in unity, because it requires I keep changing to be more like Him. It's geometric: the closer I get to the real Jesus, and the closer you get to the real Jesus, the closer I get to you without compromising any of who He is. The fact that the church is so divided is proof we barely know Him. Let's embrace that, learn some humility, and let Him lead us closer to Him...but I can't fool myself...if I am really doing that, I'll eventually find myself closer to you if you are doing the same.

There is no other gospel.