Admiring the truth, instead of following it.

I've been preaching through the book of Isaiah for the past couple of months. One of the overwhelming themes that I am seeing there is that the path to following Jesus is a path of suffering. I don't really know why it surprises me so much, epecially in light of scriptures like Phil. 1:29 ("For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him,”) and I Peter 2:21 (“To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.”). Philippians 2:5-11 makes it clear that Christ's pathway to exaltation was though his descent to an obedient servant's death.

It's just that thinking like this brings to the surface some pretty sticky questions. The main one being, "If following Jesus is all about suffering then why do we suffer so little in North America as opposed to other places in the world?" Then there's always, "Should we go out of our ways to look for suffering, becoming some kind of spiritual masochists?"

I'm not really sure, and I'm beginning to think that those questions are just rabbit trails instead of paths to the truth. What seems more important to me is the willingness to allow following Jesus to consume all of our energy and focus. It's a call to live our lives with the singular purpose of building His kingdom, even if it means sacrifice and difficulty.

We've become a culture that is in love with the idea of Jesus. That's incredibly dangerous. This was brought home to me once again through another moving quote via Bruderhof, this time from Kierkegaard...

"If you have any knowledge at all of human nature, you know that those who only admire the truth will, when danger appears, become traitors. The admirer is infatuated with the false security of greatness; but if there is any inconvenience or trouble, he pulls back. Admiring the truth, instead of following it, is just as dubious a fire as the fire of erotic love, which at the turn of the hand can be changed into exactly the opposite, to hate, jealousy, and revenge. Christ, however, never asked for admirers, worshippers, or adherents. He consistently spoke of 'followers' and 'disciples.'"

Kierkegaard also wrote

"O Lord Jesus Christ,...Thou wast the way and the truth—
and it was followers only Thou didst demand.
Arouse us therefore if we have dozed away into this delusion,
save us from the error of wishing to admire Thee
instead of being willing to follow Thee and to resemble Thee."

Will we resemble and follow a Christ who surrenders to the Father's will even if it leads to suffering and sacrifice?