Conflict is not the same thing as confusion

It’s in Scripture because he wants us to know it's important to him

Luke 12.29-34

Do not worry what you will eat or what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, and yet God feeds them. Consider the lilies: they neither toil nor spin; yet Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. If God so clothes the grass of the field, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith!

Do not keep striving for what you are to eat and drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

When I was young I attended a church that believed Christians could lose their salvation. During a Sunday School lesson on Romans 9 the teacher was having a difficult time explaining election. Struggling with questions from the class about how our church’s doctrine squared with Scripture, she finally had to admit she didn’t know. I recall feeling sorry for her. I was certain someone knew: probably professors at the universities. She was the pastor’s wife, so in my youthful naïveté I assumed she was the second most knowledgeable person in the church, which meant this was certainly a very deep subject if even she didn’t know!

I remember her closing remark was that our church normally skipped Romans 9 in the Sunday School plan, and she was sorry she attempted to explain it. We all nodded. Things like this were better left to the scholars: one of those mysteries that only the most educated understand, like the Trinity.

Of course the only true response to a problem like this is to change your doctrine. There are many completely legitimate interpretations and explanations for the difficult parts of Scripture, and we can truly say that sometimes it’s just impossible to know. But, when Scripture so pointedly says our understanding is wrong, we cannot simply dismiss it by saying that the subject is too deep for us. If it can’t be understood fine; but when it is understood and we just don’t want to accept it, then that is a very different matter.

So... what is so impossible to understand about these words of Christ? When Jesus says that “none of you can be my disciple if you do not give up everything” is there anything in here that requires a doctorate in languages to understand?

The typical explanation is that Jesus’ disciples were a special group of people who were called to a very difficult way of life because of the urgency of the times. It was different then, so the demands were different.

It is also pointed out that the word “disciple” fades from Scripture after Jesus’ death. It occurs only a few times in Acts, and never after that, the point being that discipleship was something that was necessary while Jesus was here but after his work on earth was finished disciples were replaced by apostles and pastors and teachers, because then the primary work of the Church was to establish churches.

And so the explanation is that the term “disciple” designates a person who followed Jesus during his early ministry. Many of the obligations are certainly still placed upon believers today, but the early work of Christ is finished and, along with that, the role of discipleship with its strict demands.

Maybe so.

Or possibly discipleship disappeared because Christ was no longer here to insist that people live as he lived. Paul accepted it in its fullness. He didn’t call himself a disciple, but he accepted all of its demands. He could not have been the Paul of Scripture if her had not. There was no way to do the work he did living any other way.

The only possible response we can make to the argument that discipleship is no longer expected of the church is that we have no way of telling what could have happened if Paul’s mantle had been picked up. It was not the way things should have happened. It was inevitable, but it was not right.

Discipleship might have been obsoleted because of Christ’s ascension, but it also might have been dropped because no one was willing to accept its obligations now that Christ was no longer here to demand it of us. We know what happened when one man did. Our New Testament would have been very short without Paul!

My hunch is this: We’re content. And afraid. And want what we want. We worry too much about our comfort, we spend our days working for ourselves rather than God, we really don’t believe God will take care of us, we have no concept of heaven, and we want things a lot more than we want Jesus.

Nothing was obsoleted when Jesus died. His words are still just as sharp and clear as they were then. The only reason we say they don’t apply is that we don’t want to do it.

The answer is not difficult. Jesus said it, it’s in the Bible because he wanted us to know he said it, and it’s in the Bible because he expected us to do it.

Confusion is not the same thing as conflict. There’s a lot of conflict here, but there’s no confusion. We know what he said, we know who he said it to. We don’t want it to be there, so we invent confusion so it will disappear. Confusion makes it easier to live with.