Me First!

In the Gospels, Jesus saved his harshest criticism for the religious leaders of his day whose hypocrisy  frustrated Jesus to no end! These leaders claimed to be defenders of God's temple and yet sacrificed little out of their own pockets to support it, relying instead on the generosity of others to provide for its well being. Of course, even Jesus' own followers were not immune from self interest. As Jesus turns his face toward the cross, Peter challenges Jesus' understanding of his mission. "Lord, this must never happen to you!" Jesus' uncharacteristic reply? "You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." (Matthew 16:22-23) This statement launches Jesus into a discussion of the cost of discipleship, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." vs. 24 What this tells me is each of us needs to learn to vote against self-interest and seek God's Kingdom first. When we fiercely defend the status quo at the expense of Jesus' mission to reach the unchurched for Jesus Christ, we become a stumbling block to what Jesus is trying to accomplish through his church. Like Peter, we need to guard ourselves against the temptation to paint "human" concerns as Kingdom issues. For this, Jesus had one response, "Get behind me..."