Nuance 29

I have already mentioned that the Christian life is not an easy career choice. In fact, it is downright hard and difficult, and if done right, can even lead to one's death by martyrdom, though that isn't always inevitable, and martyrdom must never be sought as an end in itself. So, my Gentle Reader, my hedonist Gentle Reader, my consumerist, selfish and narcissistic Gentle Reader. Why even bother? Why trouble ourselves to go out of our way to choose such a difficult and challenging faith that is going to require such sacrifice, discipline, change and personal transformation? Simple. The Spirit and love of God compel us. I did not choose to become a Christian. Which is to say, I did not do research, sit through powerpoint presentations nor did I read and study spreadsheets nor consult with dear Uncle Google. In fact, none of those things even existed some forty-eight years ago when at the foot of the Cross I knelt. I wasn't even thinking of becoming a Christian, and I have already written exhaustively on other pages of this blog about my experience of conversion. It was all about timing. And much to the chagrin of one regular reader of this blog, my Christian faith cannot be simply explained away as a kind of perverse adolescent rebellion against my hedonistic and morally bankrupt parents. Otherwise, why would I continue, given the high cost of discipleship, especially now, almost fifty years later, now that both Mom and Dad have long ago gone to their eternal reward, whatever that might happen to be for them. I am still a Christian. I still take my faith and discipleship very seriously. It is still hard work being a Christian, and it is more than worth it. Why? God's presence. The sense of his love. The way my life has fallen into an indelible organic order, which I can only owe to being faithful to Christ. Even our detractors will admit that Christians generally have their lives very together and very well-ordered. So, then, why bother living as a Christian when it is going to be so difficult and challenging? Well, why have children? They're difficult, messy, demanding, always needing something, and your whole life will be absorbed into raising your progeny for at least the next twenty years, and then what do you have left for yourself and your empty nest? Perhaps love plays a critical role in wanting and having and raising kids? Perhaps love plays a critical role in living as a Christian. Otherwise, why even bother? Except, when you have children, raise them right, and other things fall into place, then you are contributing to the general wellbeing of humanity, by adding your wonderful progeny to the world. Christians, responding to the call and love of God, by accepting the discipline, hardship and the much change and many changes in their lives, also contribute to the general wellbeing, by making real the love that feeds and sustains us all. This isn't to leave out other faiths, by the way, but I am writing here about Christians. I trust there will be Muslim and Jewish bloggers out there as well to write about their respective faiths.