Effort

Years ago, when I first started studying for the ministry, I had an old preacher as a mentor. He was a well meaning man. But, he was one of the old school country preachers with little formal education. In fact he was quite suspicious of other ministers that had earned degrees and had attended seminary. I remember one time as I was waiting for a service to begin I pulled out one of my books and started studying. The book had a Greek passage of scripture on one page and some notes and commentary beneath it. I was sitting on the back row and as I was reading, I felt the presence of someone behind me. It was him. I said “hello” and that was the end of it….. until he started his sermon. He started off preaching about how we needed to depend on the Holy Spirit and not on our own understanding. He went on about that for a while, building up a good head of steam and then (as my grandmother would say) he “lit the rag”! He lambasted study and education with every thing he had. When it was over he was sweating and red faced and I was pale and humiliated. He knew that I was soon leaving to attend college and was doing his best to discourage me from going. I never really understood his distaste for going to school. But, I suspect it was because it was difficult for him or he didn’t want to apply the effort or maybe, it was him not wanting to have to compete against more educated ministers. I don’t know.

Effort is a strange thing. It would seem that it would take the same amount of effort to watch a movie on Netflix or a lecture on the Torah. But, that isn’t the case. Studying, exercising, work, eating a healthy diet, keeping your house clean, all these things are like swimming upstream for all of us sometimes. I suppose as living beings our bodies and minds are programmed to conserve energy and effort, to help us survive. We tend to only expend effort on things that offer instant gratification like eating, resting, scrolling through social media, sex, drugs, or video games. This is where self discipline can make the difference between a life lived long and well and a short life of misery, poverty or even incarceration.

So, one of life lessons is that effort and discipline are vitally important. But, many people believe their Christian salvation is the exception to this rule. They believe that they only have to believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus and they are automatically and eternally saved. Here is where they get that idea.

Ephesians 2:8 

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;

Romans 10:9-10

9.That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10.For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

At the expense of over simplifying this, I believe Paul of Tarsus, is the author of this idea.

Why is Christianity so popular?

Christianity has the most adherents of any religion on earth. 31.1 percent of the world’s population 2.4 billion people identify as christian. One of the reasons christianity has become the dominant religion is because as it is taught by the Paulinists it is easy. There are variations by certain christian groups but, essentially one only has to (possibly) ask forgiveness, confess they believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus and (possibly) be baptized. After that the requirements dwindle down to almost nothing. Paul softened the requirements for salvation and has made it comfortable and effortless. 

Let me contrast Pauls effortless christianity with that of Yeshua using Yeshua’s own words.

Matthew 7:13-14

13.“Enter in by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter in by it. 14.How narrow is the gate and the way is restricted that leads to life! There are few who find it.

Luke 13:23-24

23.Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?”

And He said to them, 24.“Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

The Greek word translated “strive” is agonizomai, from which we get the English word agonize. The implication here is that in order to enter the narrow gate one must do so by great effort. 

Matthew 7:21

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven”. 

Matthew 7:24-27

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall”.

Matthew 19:17

“If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments”.

John 14:15

“If you love Me, keep My commandments”.

John 14:21

“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him”.

John 15:10

“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love”.

Luke 9:23

“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me”.

The Parable of the Sower

Luke 8:4-15

4 While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from one town after another, he spoke to them in a parable: 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled on, and the wild birds devoured it. 6 Other seed fell on rock, and when it came up, it withered because it had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among the thorns, and they grew up with it and choked it. 8 But other seed fell on good soil and grew, and it produced a hundred times as much grain.” As he said this, he called out, “The one who has ears to hear had better listen!”

9 Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He said, “You have been given the opportunity to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that although they see they may not see, and although they hear they may not understand.

11 “Now the parable means this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those along the path are the ones who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in a time of testing fall away. 14 As for the seed that fell among thorns, these are the ones who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the worries and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. 15 But as for the seed that landed on good soil, these are the ones who, after hearing the word, cling to it with an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with steadfast endurance.

The Choice

I will not belabor the point. There are two opposing views on salvation. Some people try to reconcile them and I do not believe they are reconcilable. One says salvation is nearly effortless, the other that it is difficult and is something that has to be strived for. One requires obedience and dedication. The other does not. 

Matthew 6:24 Yeshua said.

“No one can serve two masters”.

Joshua said “Choose this day whom you will serve”. I believe that it is wise to choose the way Yeshua commanded. It is the narrow way that requires effort.