The Cost of Discipleship. Really?

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I spent a few days this week traveling to and from our office in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Although I was able to fly down myself in a good looking Diamond DA40, I had to settle for an old American MD-80 for the flight home. Although I was stuck in the tail end of the plane, only a few feet from two outrageously loud JT8D engines, I was able to have some interesting conversation with the 50+ woman sitting next to me. I know I shouldn’t make judgments solely on appearances. However, largely due to her attire, jewelry, and choice of reading, I quickly assumed that we would have little, if anything, in common. During the flight we chatted about food, healthcare, acupuncture, massage, Judge Sotomayor, and eventually life’s more spiritual matters. When I inquired about her destination, she proudly proclaimed that she was on her way to meditate in Sonoma, AZ. Since her “enlightenment” a few years ago, she has traveled all over the world seeking spiritual guidance through meditation. At this point in the conversation, the woman across the aisle spoke up, proclaiming that she was a practicing Buddhist. Although I would have loved to continue my conversation with her, and perhaps share a little about my own spiritual journey, I was only able to watch as these two women quickly became friends, chatting back and forth for the remainder of the flight.

This experience was both sad and very revealing. (Did I mention that I was on a flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Dallas, TX?) These two woman were both in their late 50’s or early 60’s, and apart from their “religion”, they were about as “normal” as it gets. Thinking about it at the time, I couldn’t help but wonder what it was specifically that had attracted them to this form of spiritualism in the first place. Unfortunately, I’ll never know. What I do know is that during the conversation, one of the women made a comment about how inspired she was after spending time watching the Buddhist monks in Thailand. In her words, she was impressed by their devotion and their strong, unwavering faith in their beliefs. Thinking about it now, the question that I can’t help but ask today is: what is it about Christianity, or more appropriately, the followers of Christ in this country, that didn’t attract these two spiritually thirsty women to the Living water in the first place?

This whole month our church focus is "On Mission—God’s role for each of us." This morning, the message was simple and taken from three relatively familiar, yet challenging, scriptures:

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it."” Matthew 16:24-25

“In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has, cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:33

“Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 7:20-21

The message to me is clear:
1. As Christians, God requires us to walk as Christ walked and live as Christ lived.
2. The life of an authentic Christ-follower should be recognizable.

The harsh reality is that we are living in an age where there is little expected of the average American believer and little, if any, contrast between the life of a Christian and the life of a non-Christian. Just look at us: We enjoy the same kinds of entertainment, we spend our money on the same things and with the same unbridled enthusiasm. We have the same expectations (or lack of expectation) of our kids, the same family values and dynamics. We walk the same broad line of political correctness and avoid spiritual confrontation at all costs. Finally, we share the same basic goals and pursue the same self-fulfillment in what the world has to offer. Unfortunately, I believe that this list could go on and on, but I hope that I have made my point effectively: Cultural Christianity, defined by lives with little, if any visible fruit, is not authentic Christianity. It is the biggest enemy of our effectiveness in a world full of people starving for spiritual truth, looking for something genuine.

I wonder... would the story of the two women on the plane be any different if they had had a past experience with Christ through an authentic Christ-follower. Perhaps?