“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.” Matthew 10:34
Scripture Reading: Matthew 10
One of my very good friends also has a blog at http://mattritchie.wordpress.com/. He is a great friend, a committed Christian, and extremely intelligent. When you are ready for a mental workout, I suggest you give it a look-see.
He recently wrote an article that garnered a great deal of attention. He had more than 3000 views in a three day period. Why? I think the topic really spoke to the heart of what it means to be a Christian. Read it for yourself and see. Feel free to add your comments to this post and I’ll make sure he sees them.
A little background on Matt and his fam. Matt is married to his lovely wife Sheila. They have 4 wonderful children and the 4 kiddos are home-schooled. Matt is a lawyer who works in the insurance industry. He is uber-intelligent and had he chosen to live life outside of his understanding of his calling as a Christian, he would be extremely successful according to the world’s standards. He travels the narrow path between providing for his family and spending time with his family and serving God. Enjoy the mental calistenics.
Jesus Messed Up My Life by Matt Ritchie
I’m with Shane Claiborne. Forget all the stories about how Jesus made life better – by solving a debt problem or helping someone overcome some relatively mild vice. Truth is, Jesus is totally messing up my life.
If I had gotten my way 15+ years ago, I would be a wealthy, big-city litigator right now, wiling away the years in an expensive office building during the weeks and at every Cowboys game on the weekends. I’d have a big house worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. I’d go to a nice, clean-cut church where I’d check in every Sunday morning and otherwise do all of the things that good Christians do to make sure they can punch their ticket into heaven. And I’d listen to conservative talk radio, just to remind myself that there is no need to change the order of things: everyone is making their own choices and getting just what they deserve.
Life would be good.
But the more I read the gospels; the more I try to understand what Jesus was really all about, the more he has the audacity to come into my life and totally screw it up. He makes me think about every dollar I spend – who is benefitting from it and how? He makes me reflect on the kind of car I drive and how it affects God’s creation. He challenges me to make my children into risk-taking disciples, instead of neat, middle-class carbon copies of myself. He asks me to go places where I am uncomfortable, and to invite people into my house when I’d much rather have a quiet night alone. He intrudes on my free time and tells me to invest it the things that matter to him. He tells me that the politics that seemingly support my interests aren’t necessarily the ones that support his.
Far from being a cosmic Mr. Fix-it, Jesus is taking every priority and ambition that I ever held and – without so much as asking – turning it over like he did the tables in the temple.
But the truth is – having come to know the Jesus who messes with me at every turn – I would never go back to the old one. For all his annoying qualities, this is the Jesus that feels authentic to me. I feel like I finally am coming to know him for who he is. And in spite of all of the discomfort and downright inconvenience that he causes, I’m coming to see that the things that he is about are the things that really matter in this world.
Memorization (Day 3): “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” — Philippians 4:13
Challenge: Write a note of thanks for someone who has “messed things up” for you and you are truly thankful for it.
Prayer: Jesus, thanks for messing up my life. – Amen
