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alive, Christian, Christianity, Cross, death, ego, Eternal life (Christianity), Failure, God, gospel, Happy, help, Jesus, Jesus Christ, lifestyle, love, Meaning of Life, Message, past, Popular, promise, resurrection, Salvation, success, Unpopular, victory, world
I love reading blogs and recently I happened to visit a fellow blogger who had visited mine. The blog was happy blog and the message was popular. People said how much they loved him for his happy face and for his new found bold change in life. The change – he cut all his family ties and relationships, quit his job in search of meaning for life. He apparently now know the secret for a happy life and he loves to smile. His meaning – forget about self and give up the circumstances that make you happy…. a sage kind of living. Good that he is happy. But does this give meaning to life? I mean cutting all family ties, breaking all relationships and then giving up any motivation to excel in the field of interest… However, this message is very popular and people love him for his daring life. He has also created a video, (which I am yet to watch) and people are all crazy about him. He had at least 800 to 900 likes for his posts. I am sure that is popular.
Now lets talk about the unpopular message, yeah, you guessed it, the message of the Cross. As much as it sad to see how unpopular this message is, we were forewarned of this unpopularity by Christ himself.
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. – Matthew 7:13-14
I did reflect on the reason for its unpopularity. Upon thought I came up with the following 5 points, but I am sure there are more.
1. People like successful and graceful things. To a lot of them the cross is a symbol of shameful death and failure. However, they know only half the truth. The cross must have remained a symbol of failure if Christ had died once for all. He rose again from death, cheating the grave. Now that is more heroic than any superhero. He lives despite the cruel death He died. So the cross is no longer a symbol of shame but a symbol of love, hope and sacrifice.
2. The gospel doesn’t paint a rosy picture. I would say if a Christian tell you will have a trouble free life if you followed Jesus, then run a 100 miles away from him. Jesus doesn’t promise to give you a trouble free life but to give strength and courage to overcome the trouble. I am a personal testament to that and I can boldly say that I have been in terrible situations and through it all, He never left my side even once. Does that mean Jesus is powerless every time something bad happens. No, we live in a fallen world and the struggles in this world are inevitable. But when we trust in God, the struggles that are harmful end up becoming pruning tools that prune us and make us better. Now that is better than a rosy, ‘all is well’, fairytale message… isn’t it?
3. It hurts the ego and the gospel just makes people uncomfortable. The root of the gospel lies in the fact that we are imperfect and fallen people and we need a Saviour to save us. However, in this time of dependence on self alone has lead to a point where the ego of most people hurt. I happened to meet a person who said he wouldn’t trust anyone other than himself. He wouldn’t get onto a roller-coaster because he said he doesn’t trust the technician and he said as far as achieving eternal life is concerned (if there was one), he wouldn’t trust anyone but his own good deeds. How pitiful! This again is due to partial understanding of the truth. Accepting Jesus as the saviour isn’t a sign of weakness but a sign of extreme courage. It takes a lot of courage to completely trust someone. The good point is that Jesus never betrays anyone’s trust. He comes out faithful all the time.
4. Accepting Christ means changing the now comfortable lifestyle. This is one of the most important reasons why the gospel message is unpopular. If only a person could continue in the current lifestyle and call themselves a follower of Christ, it would make the message a whole lot popular! Although the grace of God covers every sinner and makes him right with God, following Christ comes at a price… you will not be able to continue your current lifestyle. If someone continued in the current lifestyle, then they weren’t saved in the first place and hence they aren’t really followers of Christ. Does that mean all Christians are perfect. No, they aren’t and we know that for a truth. A Christian is one who is saved by grace and lives everyday to overcome sin. He must continually tend towards Christ like life, leaving behind sin. That means a whole lot of people who wouldn’t want to change their lifestyle get offended by the message of Christ. This again is a partial understand of Christ’s message. When you truly dedicate your life to Him, you crave to become more like Him. You wilfully lay aside your past lifestyle, not out of compulsion as other self disciplines may require. That is the work of grace.
5. Accepting Christ as the ONLY way to salvation and as the ONLY real meaning of life offends a lot of people, including many Christians. Like it or not, that is the truth and I know that means a lot of people are going to run away from Jesus. Whether people get offended or not, truth remains truth and no one, including myself, can change it.. The sacrificial death of Christ on behalf of every sinner in the world was necessary for reconciliation between man and God. Jesus not only died but also rose again from death, in physical bodily form, defeating death, thereby guaranteeing victory from death for all who accept Him. Yes, that is the eternal life we are talking about, a complete victory over death just as Jesus was victorious. If there wasn’t a resurrection, there would be no use of Jesus Christ. Resurrection is what differentiates Jesus from other self proclaimed god-men and religious teachers. He is the only way to reconcile with God and only one who was victorious over death. We may do a lot of self discipline and self help methods for a happy life but when it comes to become victorious over death itself and having an eternal life, we mortal men need help! What better help than God Himself?
Though the message is unpopular, it is real. It doesn’t promise you a life free of trouble but promises an Ever-present Help in times of trouble. It doesn’t promise you fame and popularity but you can be rest assured you will win the ultimate victory, both now and after this life.