Some Will Walk Away!

I remember in Bible College taking a class on the life of Jesus, and there we broke the ministry of Jesus down into three periods. The first was his time of preparation, the second was his time of popularity, and the third was the time of the passion. But as I look at this now, I think we missed something, perhaps we can call it, the times of departing? I don't know, maybe, maybe not. However; what is for sure, is that there were definitely times where those who walked with Jesus, departed from him.  One of these incidents is recorded in the gospel of John chapter 6, where verse 66 tells us that "many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him." There seemed to be these periods during the ministry of Christ on earth, where there was a thinning of the herd. Where things became too difficult and many disciples turned away and no longer followed Jesus. 

  But to hear many modern pastors and preachers, one would think that Jesus was doing a bad job by making things so difficult. Many choose to preach a sort of lowest common denominator Christianity that makes it as easy as possible for people to get into the kingdom and does not really frustrate us or make life any more difficult. I guess in their minds, Jesus could have learned a thing or two from them. Scripture literally tells us that their complaint was that Christ's teachings were too hard, and that they grumbled over His words. So why do we think we can make Christianity sound better than Jesus? Why do we think we are supposed to make it "easy" to get into the kingdom? I believe it’s primarily because we are not looking to the bible when it comes to our evangelism in the first place. In the case of pastors, many of us have looked to the culture for so called “church growth strategies,” rather than just doing what scripture commands. 

  Christianity is never promised to be easy, it starts with repentance, and is not fully realized till after our natural lives are over and we are forever united with our Lord and Savior, Jesus. That in between space is filled with trials, and all the things that are still part of this broken world as we pick up our cross and follow Jesus. Along the way, many will come to the same realization that those disciples came to in John 6. That this is hard, and they too will turn away and stop following Him. When that happens, our response should not be to figure out how to win them back; to begin to think about different ways that the gospel can become more culturally relevant and not so offensive. But instead, our response should be to pray for them and to continue to call them to repentance and faith in Christ, recognizing that if they walked away from Jesus when He walked on earth, they will walk away from Him while He reigns from heaven. 

  I can hear the question now, I can hear the objection now, "but if it’s so hard, why would anyone believe it?" The simple answer is because it's true. However, I'll give another reason to accompany it. The thing is, that our sin really is that bad and the hell that is waiting for us is real and deserved. But God who is rich and mercy, slow to anger, has offered us a way out of our deserved judgment. There's only one way out, and this way out is not necessarily a get out of jail free card. Yes, we escape final judgment, but in the meantime, we are being used by God to share this way out with the rest of the world. At the same time, He is using all of our trials, sufferings, and blessings to shape us into the image of Jesus, and the closer we resemble Him, the more we will invoke the same kind of response from the crowds. We do it because He first did it for us!

 The promise that He is working it all together for our good and His purpose holds true, so don't walk away. Let your eyes remain fixed on Jesus, and expect a difficult life, while being thankful for every moment that isn’t difficult and praising God in both! In the meantime, do not be surprised by those who walk away, and do not think that your pastor isn't doing a good job of being culturally relevant if they are walking away. It could just be that people are leaving because what's being taught is just too much like that which Christ taught, and when that happens, some will indeed walk away!