The regular crowd shuffles in - and costs us the prize

“I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” (1 Corinthians 9:23–27)

Sometimes I enjoy a good old-fashioned first wave advert - "Product X gets dirt even in those hard to reach corners"... the scandalous gospel certainly does, given time. Not all of us are prepared to wait that long for God however, after our honeymoon with Jesus. We have some weeks, possibly months, in the euphoria of discovering heaven as a Real Place. We live in the Cloud of knowing we have been chosen for salvation. We experience the Creator in recreative ways. And we know we are 'saved'. 


I suspect all of us who have been changed thus by God have wanted to stay in that place - like building a tent on the Mount of Transfirguration. We want to freeze-frame time, where the sweetness of God's love causes us to forget our troubles and even see the repugnant through rose-tinted lenses. But then, those awe-full words... "Go, I am sending you out like lambs amongst wolves" (Luke 10:3). And as we go, we start to comprehend fearfully other passages like “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
(Hebrews 12:11 NIV). Again, this unprosperous exclamation from the lips of those suffering saints, Paul and Barnabas: "Anyone signing up for the kingdom of God must go through plenty of hard times" (Acts 14:22).


And so, for us commoners, the reality of heaven becomes a dream again. A real dream, but a distant one. And that is where the choices begin. That is the Race. To be saved is easy, because God happens upon us in a rush. But to be a diciple of Christ is a daily signing up, all too often devoid of anything but a Client-Deposit. We wait for Him morning by morning; we travel over land and sea to meet with Him in some far-flung Distant conference or antiquity site; we get more significant others to lay hands on us as a holy assurance of still being on 'the Path'. But the Truth is, while God be silent more now than in the way-back-when, He is very much alive and supervising the life in us. The trouble comes when we sigh and grumble because the road is long and the water-points too few. 


A premature post script at this point: anyone who claims to live 24-7 in the glory must be trusted as much as ants trust an aardvark to help supervise their colony. 


Are you worried here that I have drifted into cessationism? Do I still believe in miracles? Well, a genuine one happened to me last Saturday (one of the few I am clear enough to observe, that is). Divine coincidences, healing Hands, grace under fire, the lively Spirit within....oh yes, I believe in Him, and I believe Him. Not perfectly, mind you. But I digress - the point to this article is simply this: DON'T GIVE UP! He who has sworn to come back, is coming, and He will not delay. And His reward is with Him. And said reward is very great. And very permanent. And very glorious. And worthy of every single bit of trouble you and I might still be called to endure. Worthy of every enemy, every slander, every attack, every sacrifice, every cheek turned, every minute in jail. 


Jesus Christ is coming, His advance party is in the world already. AAnd in the headlines. A king whose sandals the current prophets are not worthy to untie is mounting up his wedding warhorse. And this King wants to find his attendants attentive and his servants serving. He wants us to partner with him in his troubles, knowing we will share in the spoils of war very soon. 


But for most of us, a deadly combination of desensitizing routine and uncrucified ambitions of the mind steal us away, ounce by ounce. We who started by the Spirit now try to attain OUR goals the natural way. Sure, we still find some moments to read, and we have perfected the "5 second mental prayer", but the heat is gone and the ashes are all but warm.


The regular crowd has shuffled in. 


Boot them out! Serve notice on such unholy squatters as Frank Lee Bored and Justin Case. Smash apart the shacks in your back garden of Luke Warm and Christian Dodger. Shake off every deceptive thought that the world has got it right and the church might not be the keeper of History's keys. 


Deal decisively with indecision. The gradual gradients; the moderate moderation, the addiction to suddenlies. No weapon formed against you will prosper, o worm Jacob.

“Persisting to the end will be the burr under your saddle – the thorn in your flesh – when the road ahead seems endless and your soul begs an early discharge.  It weighs down every other difficulty of your calling.  We have known many who have joined the army of Christ and like being a soldier for a battle or two, but have soon had enough and ended up deserting.  They impulsively enlist for Christian duties…and are just as easily persuaded to lay it down.  Like the new moon, they shine a little in the first part of the evening, but go down before the night is over" ("The Christian in Full Armour"; W Gurnall).

Nick