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By Greg Carey<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n So we face the chasm between Jesus\u2019 call to discipleship and our own lives as part-time volunteers for the gospel.\u00a0 Few Christians abandon everything for the gospel\u2019s sake.\u00a0 Most of us simply fit our Christianity into the open spots on our calendars.\u00a0 But in this passage Jesus links the life of discipleship with his own path.<\/p>\n This spring Mark and Katharyn Richt sold their second home<\/a>, a lakefront property valued at just below two million dollars.\u00a0 Best known as head football coach at the University of Georgia, Mark Richt has earned \u2013 if you can call it that \u2013 over twenty five million dollars since taking that position in 2001.\u00a0 He also openly professes his Christian faith and engages in a variety of ministries.<\/p>\n \n <\/br> \n Some of us might not be all that impressed by the Richts\u2019 sacrifice.\u00a0 What does it mean to sacrifice two million dollars on an income of more than three million dollars per year?\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll make that sacrifice,\u201d the cynic might say.\u00a0 For my part, I am impressed.\u00a0 Katharyn and Mark Richt clearly understand that the gospel not only blesses our souls, it also calls us to service that will enrich our lives and bring forth our resources.\u00a0 Following Dietrich Bonhoeffer, my denomination\u2019s contemporary statement of faith confesses \u201cthe cost and joy of discipleship.\u201d\u00a0 The Richts are not just giving money.\u00a0 This summer they\u2019ve joined World Vision in a trip to Honduras devoted to the construction of water wells.\u00a0 I fully trust the Richts are experiencing joy in their service.<\/p>\n Matthew 16:21-28 moves from a focus upon Jesus and his vocation to his demands for disciples.\u00a0 Jesus has just congratulated Peter for his recognition that Jesus is \u201cthe Messiah, the Son of the living God.\u201d\u00a0 Moreover, Jesus\u2019 language has intimated authority and privilege:\u00a0 Peter the Rock provides the church\u2019s foundation, he receives the keys to the realm of heaven, and his earthly authority carries heavenly significance.\u00a0 But now Jesus begins a process of reinterpreting what being the Messiah really means \u2013 and what following that Messiah entails for the disciples.\u00a0 If Peter cannot bear the revelation of Jesus\u2019 coming suffering (16:22), how will he respond when the focus shifts to disciples whose fate mimics that of Jesus?<\/p>\n <\/br><\/p>\n Some readers hardly need to hear this news.\u00a0 Moment by moment, many of us are constantly mindful that we fall far short of Jesus\u2019 standard.\u00a0 By contrast, our culture needs the reminder.\u00a0 The prosperity gospel holds greater sway than many of us want to admit.\u00a0 According to a 2006 Time <\/em>magazine poll<\/a>, 17 percent of Americans claim allegiance to the movement, while 61 percent agree that God wants us to be prosperous.\u00a0 Maybe our preaching doesn\u2019t draw folks who think that way.\u00a0 Then again, we find all sorts of surprising attitudes in our congregations, don\u2019t we?<\/p>\n Whatever the threat posed by the prosperity gospel, a more insidious assumption definitely lurks among us, that God wants us to be happy.\u00a0 Countless praise choruses celebrate how much Jesus loves us, how much we love Jesus, and how great God is.\u00a0 Self-help books pack the inventories of Christian bookstores.\u00a0 This happiness assumption has sunk so deeply into our collective psyche that even the words of Jesus can hardly challenge it.\u00a0 Are we even capable of hearing that God might call us to radical sacrifice, even to danger?\u00a0 Can Jesus\u2019 words get past our ears?<\/p>\n It does no good for preachers to rehearse Jesus\u2019 extreme demands while congregations sit in well-cushioned and air-conditioned sanctuaries.\u00a0 Preachers must level with our congregations.\u00a0 Precious few of us lay everything on the line for the gospel, but neither can we ignore its call.<\/p>\n <\/br><\/p>\n In 1961 a group of Nashville students resolved to reinforce the Freedom Rides.\u00a0 Two previous busloads of Freedom Riders had already encountered firebombing and severe beatings, and the Nashville students determined that the movement, having commenced, should not be allowed to fail.\u00a0 No one could deny that these students experienced joy during their trials \u2013 the notorious Bull Connor complained, \u201cI just couldn\u2019t stand their singing\u201d \u2013 but these students were fully mindful for the potential cost as well. \u00a0\u00a0The night before their departure, they had signed their last will and testaments.\u00a0 Singing hymns after signing one\u2019s will\u2026 the cost and joy of discipleship.<\/p>\n So what about Mark and Katharyn Richt?\u00a0 Perhaps we can\u2019t credit them with suffering for the gospel.\u00a0 But we can heed their testimony.\u00a0 As Mark Richt put it, \u201cyou know what, I don\u2019t want to pour money into a home like that when I can use it for better things, for eternal things.\u201d\u00a0 Jesus asked, \u201cFor what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/br><\/p>\n <\/br><\/p>\n Learn more about the ON Scripture Editorial Board Click here<\/a> <\/p>\n Learn more about ON Scripture Click here<\/a><\/p>\n Like ON Scripture Click here<\/a><\/p>\n Follow ON Scripture Click here <\/a><\/p>\n ON Scripture is made possible by a generous grant from the <\/strong>Lilly Endowment<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n
\nMatthew 16:21-28<\/a>\u00a0confronts us with the gap between Jesus\u2019 gruesome fate and our own modest discipleship.\u00a0 Jesus\u2019 verbs say it all.\u00a0 Deny<\/em> the self, take up<\/em> the cross, follow<\/em> Christ.\u00a0 Moreover, only in losing <\/em>one\u2019s life \u2013 the primary meaning of apollymi<\/em> is to destroy \u2013 one may save it.\u00a0 And Jesus apparently means it.\u00a0 Judgment he says, involves \u201crepaying\u201d people according to what they have done.\u00a0 At this moment we are hearing Matthew\u2019s distinctive voice:\u00a0 salvation comes not to those who call Jesus \u201cLord,\u201d but to those who do what he says (7:21-29).\u00a0 The Great Commission involves teaching people \u201cto obey everything that I have commanded you\u201d (28:20).\u00a0 It\u2019s a matter of life and death.\u00a0 Disciples are to walk Jesus\u2019 grim path.<\/p>\n
\nThe Richts sold this property so that they could give to anti-poverty work.\u00a0 Mark Richt attributed the decision to the dynamic book \u201cThe Hole in Our Gospel\u201d by Richard Stearns, the president of World Vision.\u00a0\u00a0 Named the \u201cChristian Book of the Year\u201d for 2010, this resource introduces readers to the harsh reality of global and local poverty, pressing the question of how Christians should respond to human suffering in the light of the gospel.\u00a0 If you\u2019re interested, a fully resourced curriculum<\/a> (DVDs, daily exercises, study guides and the like) supports the book for congregational and small group use.<\/p>\n
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