{"id":43,"date":"2012-09-20T05:00:33","date_gmt":"2012-09-20T05:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/keepingthefaith\/?p=43"},"modified":"2012-08-30T19:05:13","modified_gmt":"2012-08-30T19:05:13","slug":"i-dont-even-know-where-hes-going","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/keepingthefaith\/2012\/09\/i-dont-even-know-where-hes-going.html","title":{"rendered":"“I Don’t Even Know Where He’s Going”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The weightiest lessons of life, spirituality, and faith have been taught to me by my children. I\u2019ve learned more about human nature, unconditional love, trust and patience from the three children who live in my home than all the sacred books and theological studies in the world.\u00a0\u201cA little child shall lead them,\u201d the prophet Isaiah said. And Jesus said, \u201cLet the little children<\/em> <\/strong>come to me, and do not hinder them, for the <\/strong>kingdom<\/em> of God<\/em> belongs to such as these.\u201d My youngest son, Braden, must be a card-carrying member of this kingdom.<\/p>\n

Braden always asks good questions, and typically he asks questions about everything. Just the other day he and I were talking about God and Jesus. He asked me, \u201cWhat is a Christian?\u201d Another good question, no doubt. I tried to shape an answer that a six-year-old could appreciate, so I said, \u201cIt\u2019s just like playing \u2018Follow the Leader.\u2019 A Christian is someone who follows Jesus.\u201d The boy smirked back at me and said, \u201cWell, I\u2019m not going to be a Christian.\u201d Willing to take the bait, I asked, \u201cWhy not?\u201d He answered with profundity: \u201cI\u2019m not going to follow Jesus. I don\u2019t even know where he\u2019s going.\u201d Amen, my son, amen.<\/p>\n

Truth be told, I don\u2019t know where following Jesus will lead us, except to put us into some very tight spots. Consider Jesus\u2019 \u201cSermon on the Mount\u201d in Matthew 5-7. We might think of these chapters as \u201cJesus\u2019 Greatest Hits,\u201d a summary of what it means to be his disciple. These words serve then, as a way \u2013 maybe the best practical way \u2013 to actually follow Jesus. And this following is not easy. In these three short chapters Jesus says things like: \u201cGod blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also\u2026Love your enemies\u2026Pray for those who persecute you\u2026Do to others as you would have them do to you\u2026Don\u2019t store up treasures here on earth…You cannot serve both God and money\u2026Do not judge others.\u201d On and on it goes. To take these words on their own, without the One who spoke them, they quickly become hard and fast rules. As words alone, they lead us to risk the impossible: Keeping an idealistic, unworkable ethic that will only grind the follower of Jesus into the dust; for Jesus leads us in a way that is counter to human nature and how the world operates.<\/p>\n

But if we take these words along with<\/em> Jesus, we quickly discover that in following him he gives us the power to do what he asks and grants forgiveness, encouragement, and grace when we fail. We discover that in living out his words and ways, we are transformed.\u00a0 We become shaped into the image of the One we follow. The word \u201cChristian\u201d is now all too common in our vocabulary, and I can barely stand it. It has come to mean a type of religion, or an adjective to describe music, politics or merchandise. This was not always the case.<\/p>\n

The first record of the word \u201cChristian\u201d being used was in the first century. Outsiders coined the word to describe those who had adopted the words and way of Jesus as their own. It was not always a flattering term, and as all labels do, served as a means of putting people in a box. But these first followers of Jesus, or \u201cthe Way,\u201d as they called it (a much better description), understood something: Jesus cannot be put in a box. He defies all easy explanation. He does not do what is expected. He is full of improbable but grace-filled surprises. And his followers should be so as well.<\/p>\n

Braden is absolutely correct. Sometimes I have no clue where Jesus is going either, but this does not keep me from following him. Where else can I go? Only he has the words that lead to life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The weightiest lessons of life, spirituality, and faith have been taught to me by my children. I\u2019ve learned more about human nature, unconditional love, trust and patience from the three children who live in my home than all the sacred books and theological studies in the world.\u00a0\u201cA little child shall lead them,\u201d the prophet Isaiah…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":441,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,14,17],"tags":[3],"class_list":["post-43","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-following-jesus","category-spiritual-formation","category-the-sermon-on-the-mount","tag-ronnie-mcbrayer"],"yoast_head":"\n"I Don't Even Know Where He's Going" - Keeping The Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/keepingthefaith\/2012\/09\/i-dont-even-know-where-hes-going.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""I Don't Even Know Where He's Going" - Keeping The Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The weightiest lessons of life, spirituality, and faith have been taught to me by my children. I\u2019ve learned more about human nature, unconditional love, trust and patience from the three children who live in my home than all the sacred books and theological studies in the world.\u00a0\u201cA little child shall lead them,\u201d the prophet Isaiah…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/keepingthefaith\/2012\/09\/i-dont-even-know-where-hes-going.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Keeping The Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-09-20T05:00:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-08-30T19:05:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/keepingthefaith\/files\/2012\/08\/way-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ronniemcbrayer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"I Don't Even Know Where He's Going\" - Keeping The Faith","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/keepingthefaith\/2012\/09\/i-dont-even-know-where-hes-going.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"I Don't Even Know Where He's Going\" - Keeping The Faith","og_description":"The weightiest lessons of life, spirituality, and faith have been taught to me by my children. 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