Difficult and Left Untried

Meditations for Ragamuffins

September 7, 2023

Difficult and Left Untried

“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

Matthew 25:40 

Christians differ widely on how they interpret the doctrine of atonement, which is the theological theory of who gets saved and how. It can be helpful to spend time processing through the various theories of atonement, but in the end the only thing that really matters is whether the atonement theory you subscribe to makes you one with Christ. (At-one-ment) This thought is incorporated in the liturgy for Holy Communion when we pray, “Make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world.”

Our mission as the followers of Jesus is to actually become co-laborers with Christ to fulfill the prayer he taught us: “Thy Kingdom Come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” The brutality and oppression in the world can be overwhelming. It is so easy to become desensitized to human suffering. Can we really have an abiding hope to build for a world where the lion will lay down with the lamb, and where there is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female, because we are all one in Christ Jesus? (Galatians 3:28)

Jesus models at-one-ment for us when the King replies to the people, “when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!” In the parable, the King fully identified himself with his people. So also, the followers of Jesus, who are in Christ, fully identify with Jesus’ people. One with Christ, one with each other and one with all the world.

My Takeaway: It sounds so simple, but it can be so frightening, which is why so many Christians hold Jesus at arm’s length where it is impossible to identify with his people. It’s all about control. Full surrender to Jesus takes us completely out of control of our lives. Perhaps this is why G. K. Chesterton noted, "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried."

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2023 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.