Are You Willing? 2

John 15:18-19

Teachers should really treat all their students the same. As a teacher you should not have favorites, but when I taught there were certainly some students I liked more than others. What I had to avoid, however, was acting on that favoritism.

If I were to show that I liked one student over another it would cause problems. Other students would be jealous or envious and I would ultimately be doing a disservice to the ones I liked.

In John’s account of the Last Supper Jesus has a great deal to tell his disciples. He is very blunt about what they might expect. How might the world view the followers of Jesus? What are the reasons behind this?

It would be so much easier for Christ’s followers if they could just go back to the lives they were living before they met Jesus. If they became like everyone else – living as fishermen, tax collectors, businessmen – then they would fit in just fine with the rest of society. They would be unremarkable people, easily overlooked, and easily brought in to be part of the crowd.

But they have encountered Jesus. They have learned from him and followed him. Their lives would never be the same again. Their lives would never be ordinary.

Instead they would go on to become great leaders in this new movement, this new awareness of God and His mercy. They would be wonderful examples of righteous believers. And that would cause problems.

Jesus knew that these people who would begin living a more holy life would be resented by others around them. And the same may be true of us.

When we live out the love of God, when we behave as Christians, we can garner some resentment from others. By being holy examples of loving, grace-filled people we can make others feel less than good enough. We can be outside what is considered normal, and that can cause resentment.

What we need to remember is that we are called to this holy life, even if it will cause troubles. We are called to this holiness in spite of its challenges. We must remember that we are not alone. Jesus is with us to give us strength.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How can you live “out of the world?”