Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Today's Passage: Luke 20

I've had something on my mind lately. And it hasn't been a pleasant thing to have on my mind because I know that I've dropped the ball on doing it. I know I'm supposed to do it and even commanded to do it, but it's difficult to actually do. You see, you have to put yourself aside to do it...put aside what others might think. You must be truly exemplifying Romans 12 and offering yourself as a living sacrifice. And you have to be on the lookout for opportunities to do it...and of course you have to actually go through with it once the opportunity does arise. That thing is evangelism, sharing my faith. On Wednesday nights in Rooted, the adults have been going through a study called RELAY about how to share your faith in a relational way. God is doing some amazing things through this study. Thinking through this and hearing how God is working has caused me to reflect on my own obedience in this area...and the reflection isn't very flattering.

What I've realized about myself is that my attitude toward sharing my faith is not eternally-focused. That's what struck me about this passage in Luke 20--verses 27-40 continue the quizzical nature of the Pharisees' and Sadducees' interaction with Jesus, but the focus is turned to the resurrection and what happens when this life is over. The Sadducees denied the afterlife and the idea that rewards and punishments exist beyond the grave. They were ridiculing the notion of the resurrection by asking Jesus this question, but his answer closed their mouths. This has served as a wonderful reminder that eternity is a real thing. Like I said, I've been thinking about this a lot lately and I've realized that one of the reasons that I hesitate to share my faith is that I don't always treat eternity as if it is real. If I did, and I'm trying to, I would desire that a friend come to know Jesus...not because I don't like the way he lives his life, but because I hate the way he will spend eternity.