Are you following Jesus or just “playing church”?

This past Saturday, I went up to Simi Valley to meet up with some friends and visit Cornerstone Simi on Sunday, where Francis Chan is the teaching pastor. He didn’t speak this weekend, but the message given really penetrated my heart about the cost of following Jesus in an American-dream driven culture that I wrestle with every day. The message was centered on Luke 9:57-62, and three specific things Jesus addresses that poke many holes in this American Dream, if that’s what you’re wanting to chase after. The comforts of a home, family, and financial security could become major stumbling blocks to a clear call to FOLLOW JESUS alone. Message Link:
http://cornerstonesimi.com/sermons/video/2007-12-02_Chuck_Bomar_No_Such_Thing_as_a.mov

Are you chasing after these things at the cost of following Jesus to places and people that need to be invited to the Great Banquet (Luke 14:15-24)?

In this chapter, Jesus talks about a master who commanded his servant to invite people to this Wedding Feast, but what could Jesus be saying to us about the Wedding Feast today? Are we taking action or simply sitting around in our Christian bubbles and church buildings without going to “the street and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame”…and “the highways and hedges to compel people to come in” so that God’s House may be filled.

I’m done getting frustrated with and criticizing church leaders and pastors for not having an urgency to call people in the Church to live this way, to embody how Jesus lived and what he taught his disciples to do. While I do realize that God is working uniquely in churches and individual lives in his own timing, each of us can read for ourselves and see the clear command in the Scriptures to make disciples of all nations. We are each going to be held accountable for what we know the Bible says to do, to be doers of the word and not just hearers.

I need people like you to spur me on in this call because I can get so easily distracted by the things of this world. But, I hope I can say emphatically that I’m done “playing church”. We are called to so much more, to set captives free, to do what Jesus did and more (John 14:12)! It’s the greatest adventure to be lived - following Jesus.

Jesus’ comment in Luke 14:26-27 reads, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even life itself—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”

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May Jesus be our treasure alone.

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