There is Always an Invitation

There is almost always an invitation in what we are doing, to death or to life. It is woven into the story of life playing out around us. Think of it as if we are on a steadily moving river, we are constantly moving in one direction or the other, towards God or away, towards life or away. In Mark Chapter 8 we see Jesus teaching His disciples that He is going to die on the cross, something that does not sit well with Peter. The famous New Testament story (Peter’s rebuke) highlights that we are either inviting others to life, as Jesus was, or that we are inviting others to death, as Peter was. If Peter had gotten his way we would all be without a savior, something that was lost on Peter who was more concerned about his own agenda than the salvation of others.

I think we invite others to death when we are concerned about living out our own agenda. This goes for marriage, community, family, friendships or our relationship with God. We can’t love others well if our motivation is self serving. Jesus showed us that Love is never something we invest in order to get a return which is what Peter was thinking. But to give Peter some slack, our view of what is life or death is upside down, twisted from depravity.

I am friends with a man whose dad made his family watch pornography with him on a weekly basis, it started when my friend was 6. The whole point? The dad had an enormous need inside of him for others to be at his side, that everyone’s world must revolve around him or he didn’t feel loved or connected. Eventually his children began to become independent children, playing on their own, discovering friendships and other things that naturally lead them away from an attachment to their parents. This didn’t sit well with the dad, much like Jesus’ announcement of his impending death on the cross didn’t sit well with Peter. The dad found something that all of the children would be mesmerized by each and every night, pornography. But what this lead to was decades of destruction in my friends life...or death.

I can tell you for a fact if we are only looking for our gain, we will invite others to give themselves for us. This was never intended. As you look to live from deeper places inside of your heart you will need to be aware of the places you are inviting others to be. Is it for your gain? Is it for His gain? Peter would have made a pretty good argument as to why he believed Jesus shouldn’t die on the cross, but he was colossally wrong. Understand that Peter’s view was upside down, for Jesus to “live” was actually death for centuries to come. Jesus knew that true life was to die on the cross for others.

To end, I hope that you see that we are always asked to be more like Christ and that includes dying for others (figuratively or literally), but this is where you will find Him (life). I say this to clients all the time, move towards what feels like death and you will find life...