My Social Responsibility – You Will Die

Greetings Dear Reader,

Jesus made it clear that in order to follow him one must take up the cross.  Whenever the people of Jerusalem saw someone carrying a cross they knew that someone was going to die.  It took very little time for the opposition to the Gospel to become bloody.  Paul witnessed the stoning of Stephen.  James was beheaded by Herod.

The history of those killed because of faith is long and vast.  I cannot address this without being accountable for those of my faith who have done the same and worse.  Anyone who has killed in the name of Christ has abandoned what Christ commanded.  That said we should not expect the same from the enemies of Christ.

Jesus made it clear that we need to lay down our lives.  History is filled with the deaths of those who abandoned all for the sake of a clear gospel.  We need to not only be willing to die physically but we need to die to everything that hinders the Gospel.  Anything that is material or temporal does not matter when viewed in light of Christ’s command for us to follow him.

The men and women of the early church saw that nothing they owned mattered.  They saw possessions as a means to meeting needs.  Resources were tools or reclamation.  Needs of others were the opportunity to show the love of Christ.  Why then do we cling to lives that are un-fulfilling and empty of the love that we are commanded to give away?

I must not value anything over showing the love of Christ to everyone in my path.  This is not accomplished through Bible thumping or loud proclamations.  This is only accomplished through constant death to self.  It is only through death to my desires, possessions, and security that I am free to give to others on a level that lives out the Gospel.  It is an intriguing paradox that I am to abandon my mortal desires so that I may meet the mortal needs of others in order to be able to meet their spiritual needs.  It is not logical but it is true.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."