The Bible, The Word, The Seed – Part 3

Concluding (I think) our reflections on the seed sown among thorns, Luke’s distinctive contribution to the parable is the following:

“The see which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity”, Luke 8:14 (emphasis added).

There is nothing inherently wrong or sinful about having pleasure in life; there is something warped when pleasure is the driving force and purpose of life. We cannot seek God and seek pleasure simultaneously any more than we can seek God and seek anything else simultaneously. One reason that we cannot serve God and money is that, as Jesus says, “No man can serve two masters”. Pleasure for pleasure’s sake leads to an opium den in which our lives are passed-away and wasted in a dream-like state of being; unresponsive to surrounding realities, particularly eternal realities.

In the West the raison d'être is pleasure; pleasure derived from money, from power, from fame, from adventure, from sex, from possessions – we are intoxicated by pleasure, we are seduced by pleasure, numbed by pleasure, blinded by pleasure, and made morally and spiritually bankrupt in our pursuit of pleasure. Pleasure, in its myriad forms, is our drug of choice.

Jesus does not say, “If anyone comes after me let him pursue his pleasure of choice,” but rather, “If anyone comes after me let him take up his cross and follow me”. Keep in mind that a cross was a form of execution, not a form of narcissistic self-fulfillment and gratification.

In Paul’s second letter to Timothy he writes, “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant…conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power…”  2 Timothy 3:1-5 (emphasis added).

It is difficult to live in a society that worships pleasure; it is more difficult to live in the context of a professing church that tends to place personal comfort and pleasure above the Christ of the Cross and the Cross of Christ. Giving no offense is not only the recurring theme of the world, it has become the recurring theme of much of the church; not only do we not witness to others because we don’t want the risk of offending, we shy away from the Cross as the way of life in our preaching and teaching because we dare not offend congregations lest they stop attending and giving. Our vision of the Cross is obscured by misty shrouds of pleasure, we may be able to find our pews in church but we can’t seem to locate the Cross. We either sing The Old Rugged Cross sentimentally or we don’t sing it at all; and while what is termed “praise and worship music” has its place, the Cross has little place in it. It is more important that we leave church gatherings feeling good than as broken bread and poured out wine for others; we often come to church seeking to have lives of pleasure validated rather than seeking to have our lives transformed into the image of the crucified Jesus. (Consider Paul’s statement to the Corinthians that he determined to know nothing when he was with them but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.)

What is it that typically displaces reading of the Word of God, meditating on the Word, and obedience to the Word? It is love of money, worry, desires for other things, and pleasure – we rationalize away our lack of love for God and His revelation through the Bible. We put other things, including ourselves, before God and His Word.

Today, as I prepare to begin another day on this planet, another day that God has given me, am I taking up my cross to follow Jesus? Am I preparing my heart in His Word to seek the Cross in all I do and say? Whatever this day holds, will I look to the Cross of Christ as my North Star?