Starving for What's Real

Art creds

Matthew 13:44-46 (NIV)
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

The "Kingdom of God" being near to humans was the easiest way for Matthew and Mark to summarize what Jesus went around saying to everyone (check out Mark chapter 1 verse 15 and Matthew Chapter 3 verse 2/ Chapter 4 verse 17).

This thing that Jesus said was now available to people, he describes (as quoted above in Matthew 13) as something worth selling everything else for, if seen properly.

If I had been honest about my understanding of Christianity for most of my life - fear was what drove my religion as opposed to having seen something I wanted to give everything away to get.

I am convinced more than ever, that I am very far from alone in that in Canadian Christian Culture today.

I am convinced more than ever, that a lot of Christians still need to hear good news.

I am also convinced that we are experiencing the same thing the Corinthian Church did that Paul wrote about in his second letter to them in the Bible. Check out Chapter 6 to see Paul pleading with them about something, named in verse 12:

"You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections."

In other words, what was holding them back from experiencing more of this Kingdom available to them through Jesus was what they desired. Not because it was impossible for them.

They actually didn't want to go look in the field at this pearl that was apparently so good. That might mean they would need to sell what they already had, which wasn't something they were sure about doing yet.

Hence a lot of us not really believing this Christian message is really "good news" today. Hence fake smiles and hollow messages of hope.

You can imagine this isn't really an issue for people who don't have much. Nothing bidding for their affection, their desire, their attention. At news that there is something available to them that is so amazing it's worth selling everything for, they're all over that. Check out Matthew 19:24

In a culture and time where there's a lot of things that seem like they will be worth living for, worth hanging on to even if the Kingdom of God is one field over in the waiting - we've got a warning to be heeded.

The warning isn't that God hates you and wants to kill you - it's that you may not really want to hear anything from Him. You may feel you're just fine without a new life in the Kingdom.

We may find ourselves like a lot of people in Jesus' time who just weren't interested, that's all.

I'm convinced that the best "testimony" a Christian can live today is to just get real about whether they believe the Jesus they know is amazing. Is the Kingdom you know and understand really worth selling everything for? Faking it isn't worth it, even if you feel silly about "not being there" because you've gone to church for decades or something.

The truth is you don't need to try very hard to sell something that's real, and amazing. If you're sincerely in love with the Jesus you know - if you're sincerely thankful and believe you were once dead and separate from God and now you've been reconciled - people see it.

I think the "narrow road" of the Christian in our culture today is to unrelentingly fix our eyes on that peal in the field. To never give up until we really see it. Grace is not opposed to effort - it's opposed to earning. Creds to Dallas Willard for that quote

If we are actually diligent about allowing God and His Kingdom their rightful place in our heart (affection, desire) - we may find we just found the most joyful and fulfilling life a human could live, and at the same time, shine among a society that is absolutely starving for something real.