By: Brian G. Chilton | February 8, 2021
“What would you do…ooo…ooo for a Klondike bar?” The sing-song question was used by television advertisements to ask what depths a person would go to obtain the chocolaty ice-cream goodness of Klondike ice-cream. For one man, he willingly gave his mother-in-law a foot rub to get his hands on a Klondike bar. The commercial argued that Klondike ice-cream bars were so good that a person would do anything possible to buy one. While Klondike ice-cream bars are really good, the same question must be asked about a person’s level of devotion to Jesus. To what lengths will a person go to follow Jesus?
People flocked to Jesus when they thought that he could or would do something for them. After Jesus fed over 5,000 people with a few loaves of bread and a few fish, people flocked to Jesus from every imaginable place. People loved Jesus…that is…until they heard his messages. When Jesus taught the moral and ethical standards of God’s kingdom as found in the Sermon on the Mount, people drifted away from him. If they were getting a free meal or watching an amazing display of power, they stuck around. They were entertained and fed. Yet Jesus wanted more from them. The crowds diminished when they heard the message of Jesus. At one point, so many people left that Jesus asked his own disciples if they were also going to leave (John 6:66-71). Peter replied that he did not know to whom they would go since only Jesus spoke words of eternal life (John 6:69). What was it about the message of Jesus that was so challenging? In my estimation, I believe Jesus challenged the early crowds much as he does people from every generation. Jesus’s messages challenge people in three ways.
Jesus challenges our devotion.
When Jesus overturned the tables in the temple, he was not trying to cause trouble. Rather, Jesus challenged the people’s devotion. Was a person more faithful to a building, traditional systems, or to God alone? When he met the woman at the well, he challenged her devotion to Samaritan holy places. Jesus held that the true worshipers of God worship him in spirit and in truth, seeing that God is Spirit (John 4:21-24). When asked what was the most important commandment, Jesus pointed to Deuteronomy 6:5, noting that one should worship the Lord with all the heart, mind, soul, and strength (Matt. 22:37-38). Additionally, when people attempted to make him a political ruler, he absconded. Jesus noted that his kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36). Undoubtedly, people will debate about possible interpretations behind Jesus’s words. However, what if he meant what he seems to suggest? What if our focus should be more on God’s kingdom than political parties and the latest conspiracy theories? If Jesus asked you to step away from your political focus, would you? If Jesus asked you to simply trust him, would you? Jesus wisely noted that “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21). Where is our treasure found?
Jesus challenges our ethics.
Jesus challenges a person’s ethical standards at every turn. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells his disciples to love their enemies and to pray for those who harm them (Matt. 6:43-48). Political allegiances and an “us versus them” mentality are unraveling the fabric of society. However, a Christian cannot behave in this manner. The Christian cannot claim a right relationship with God while advocating a racist mindset. Jesus taught the Parable of the Good Samaritan using a Samaritan man as the hero of the story. Considering that he delivered the message to a group of people who loathed the Samaritans, he challenged the racial and ethnic bias of the people.
Jesus was revolutionary in his ethical standards. He accepted the worship and devotion of even a Roman centurion (Matt. 5:8-13). While Samaritans were despised, Romans were hated by the Jewish occupants, Roman centurions especially. Yet Jesus accepted Roman centurions, Syro-Phoenicians, and Samaritans. What does this say about our ethical standards? When Jesus says to love our neighbor as ourselves, the second great commandment, he did not place restrictions on whom we were to love. Jesus said that his disciples were to be known by their love (John 17:21; 1 John 4:7-21). If unbelievers were to sue us on account of our love for Christ merely by the love we express to others, would there be enough evidence to convict us?
Jesus challenges our faith.
Jesus told his disciples to have faith in God. At least five times, Jesus charged the disciples with having little faith. On one occasion, the disciples were caught in a storm that seemed to threaten their survival. After being awakened by the frightened disciples who thought they were most certainly doomed, Jesus peered into their eyes and asked them why they had no faith (Matt. 8:26). Afterward, the disciples were terrified of Jesus’s power as he stilled the storm and the waves. Later, Jesus invites Peter to join him as he walked on water. Peter started off well. But then he began to look at the waves and feel the wind. He made the critical mistake of taking his eyes off Jesus. Jesus picks him back up and asks why he doubted (Matt. 14:31). As God grows us into the image of Christ, he often challenges us in ways that require us to place our total trust in him. While these instances are very uncomfortable, we learn more about God’s sovereign protection than any seminar could teach us. Faith is not grown in times of comfort and pleasure. Faith is like diamonds. It is often developed under times of intense pressure and heat. How can we claim faith if we are never tested? How can we demonstrate our faith if we never endure trials?
Conclusion
In many ways, modern Christianity, especially in the Western world, has grown much in common with the flippant followers of Jesus—those that wanted a meal or to be entertained—and less like the genuine disciples of Christ. I remember speaking with a woman years ago who grew up on a farm. The woman said that her family did not have much, but they had God and each other. While the work was difficult and the situations were anything less than ideal, she said something that I will never forget. She said, “I miss those days.” Why would she miss times where she had little material goods and engaged in hard, laborious work that would make most pass out from exhaustion? She missed those days because of the love and dependence her family had on God and each other.
Granted, I am one of those irritating optimists. Nonetheless, I think that God is working on something great. To develop us into the people we need to be, he must put us through the fires of discipleship. These fires are much like my Bibliology class with Dr. John Morrison. It was difficult and the nights reading and working on papers were long. Yet I learned more in that class than in nearly any other that I have taken. Jesus challenges us in the same way. He does so out of his great love for us. Christian fruit is not grown on the mountaintops of life. Rather, it is grown in the valleys. We must ask ourselves whether we have enough trust and dependence on Jesus to do what he commands. Klondike ice-cream bars taste good to the taste buds. But following Jesus holds eternal rewards that exceed anything that ice-cream could ever afford. While we may sacrifice certain things to get a Klondike bar, the sacrifices made for Christ have far more lasting value.
About the Author
Brian G. Chilton is the founder of BellatorChristi.com, the host of The Bellator Christi Podcast, and the author of the Layman’s Manual on Christian Apologetics. Brian is a Ph.D. Candidate of the Theology and Apologetics program at Liberty University. He received his Master of Divinity in Theology from Liberty University (with high distinction); his Bachelor of Science in Religious Studies and Philosophy from Gardner-Webb University (with honors); and received certification in Christian Apologetics from Biola University. Brian is enrolled in the Ph.D. program in Theology and Apologetics at Liberty University and is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Evangelical Philosophical Society. Brian has served in pastoral ministry for nearly 20 years. He currently serves as a clinical chaplain.
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