Jesus is Hard

This is from a former Southeast InterVarsity staffworker who passed away this year. It struck home when I read it today...

---

Excerpt from Lessons, Prayers & Scripture on the Faith Journey by Pete Hammond.

Jesus is Hard

I seek comfort – He invites me to join in his suffering.
I like acceptance and approval – He calls me to be counter-cultural.
I assume my right to safety – He calls me to personal risk.
I desire financial security – He encourages generosity.
I cherish privacy – He invites me into community.
I yearn for personal significance – he made himself “of no reputation.”
I hide for fear of being judged and rejected – He knows me fully and loves me.
I really like my pillow – He had no place to lay his head.
I want to prolong a healthy life – He calls me to die daily.
I hide in macho male bravado – He weeps for others.
I love good regular meals – He feeds others.
I ponder doctrine – He practices love.
I crave success – He wants me to oppose evil at all costs.
I seek out important people – He befriends the despised and rejected.

Jesus is hard to enjoy,
But what I find deep within me is much worse.

“Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus,
Who though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God as something to be explited,
but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness, and being found in human form,
he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.”
(Paul to the Philippians in Philippians 2:5-9)

Lord, help me make choices in my journey that lead
to becoming like Jesus;
by breaking the hold of sin and evil within me,
resisting my appetite for comfort, popularity and worldly success,
so I can find real joy in Jesus!