The Reproach of Christ = Riches

I have a friend who inflicts punishment on me by forwarding emails decrying the state of our nation. A recent email focused on difficulties followers of Christ are experiencing in academic settings, lamenting the discrimination to which they are subjected.

Now I don’t for one moment question whether or not discrimination of this nature is occurring, of course it is. I’ve personally known folks who have come up against a brick wall in academic settings because of their faith in Christ. Nor do I reject the notion that we ought to do what we can to alleviate these things when they do happen; to try to change policies, to try to reason with the unreasonable and those with an anti-Christian bias – after all, these represent opportunities to share Christ.

On the other hand, rejection and discrimination and persecution are what we are called to when Jesus Christ is Lord of our lives – we are called to be identified with Him in rejection, reproach, and death; if not physical death, certainly death to self (sorry Joel Osteen and company…well…not really sorry).

This this leads me to Hebrews 11:26, where we are told that Moses considered, “the reproach of Christ of greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.”

Why is it that the emails referred to above don’t rejoice and glory in the opportunity to suffer for Christ? More importantly, why is it that the Western Church fails to value suffering and rejection for Jesus?

Consider the text of Hebrews, Moses didn’t just reject the riches and luxury of Egypt; Moses considered the reproach of Christ as a treasure, as a great treasure, as greater riches than what Egypt had to offer.

Whatever Christians may lose in this life because of fidelity to Jesus Christ doesn’t compare with what they gain, as Paul writes in Romans Chapter 8, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us.”

Why then do we not emphasize the glory of rejection, the glory of discrimination, the glory of reproach for the sake of Christ? Certainly that is the Biblical emphasis, the Biblical trajectory, the Christocentric perspective in such circumstances. Consider Peter’s words, “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.”

Peter also writes, “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously…”

We might also think about witnessing. Few Christians witness. Why? The common answer is fear of rejection. Yet, I am unaware of any witnessing curriculum that explores, let alone emphasizes, the fact that we are called to share the reproach of Christ and that that reproach is of far greater worth than anything this world has to offer.

Do I consider the reproach of Christ of greater riches than anything this world has to offer? What about you?

Meditation On A Puritan Prayer – August 20, 2010 Part V

May I view all things in the mirror of eternity, waiting for the coming of my Lord, listening for the last trumpet call, hastening unto the new heaven and earth. 

There are no doubt people who are “so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good”, but I have met few of them. I have met many people who struggle to translate their idealism into action or to make their abstract thinking concrete to the general population – a population not disposed to think in the abstract; but I have met few people who are so focused on heaven that they have little impact on earth.

I have heard people branded as being so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good by others who don’t know what they are talking about because they don’t know the people. Often the people in question do their good works so that the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing, and so the one who criticizes is not about to know what is taking place. I am often disgusted when I hear the Pietistic movement criticized as being so heavenly minded that it was/is no earthly good – the people who make that statement, including some popular authors (including as I recall dear C.S. Lewis) don’t know what they are talking about – the European Pietists  were leaders in education and social services, not to mention spiritual renewal. Some of my holiness acquaintances continue to work with the socially disenfranchised in ways that are not designed to draw publicity but which are designed to change lives.

When I hear the Quietist movement branded as being so heavenly minded that it was of no earthly good I again marvel at the slander (not that most people who write or talk about the so-called Quietists really know much about them). Once again, these men and women were often working for political and social reform – often at the highest levels of government and often at great personal risk.

On the other hand, I have seen many who live not in the mirror of eternity but in the mirror of earth, and I know from personal experience that when we live in the mirror of earth that we cannot help those who live on the earth – for the ultimate way to help those who live on the earth is the guide them across the threshold of living in the mirror of eternity. It is as I live as a citizen of heaven that I can best help those who lives as citizens of earth. It is as I draw on the wisdom of heaven that I can serve those who live on earth. It is as I sit in the heavens in Christ Jesus that I can walk out life on earth for the benefit of those around me.

Most (all?) of us take one last look in the mirror before leaving for work or school or for a social appointment. We want to make sure we don’t have spinach in our teeth. Do we look into the mirror of eternity before leaving home each morning? Do we look into the mirror of eternity before work, school, or a social appointment? Do we keep that mirror in our hearts and minds throughout the day?

Often that last look in the mirror at home is to ensure that we will appear presentable to others; do we look in the mirror of eternity before we leave the house to ensure that at the end of the day that we will be able to present that day…not to man…but to God?