"This is war, and there is no neutral ground. If you're not on my side, you're the enemy; if you're not helping, you're making things worse."
I admit it. I am a professional procrastinator. That is, more often than not, when presented with two equally sensible and/or logical choices, I have a strong tendency to do nothing rather than make a decision that could turn out to be wrong. It's humorous, really. For example, my email inbox is currently littered with hundreds of messages - most of them of no lasting value - only because I'm never sure whether to delete them (whereas they'd be gone forever), file them (but then I'd have to decide under which category)... or just let them sit there and take up tons of space in my inbox. Sadly, it's usually the latter option by default. Anyway, as a result, it takes me forever to find a message when I have to hunt for something specific. True, my system (or non-system) eats up precious memory on my hard drive... but on the positive side, I'm sure to have practically every message I've ever received in the past six months... even the stupid ones that promise to bless me if I forward it to 10 contacts! Hmmmm, not sure that's really worth celebrating though... Besides, I'd never be able to choose which 10 to forward it to!!
Anyway, it seems to me that Jesus makes it pretty clear to his disciples that he doesn't want them to procrastinate about whether or not to follow him. In fact, when they do ponder it for very long, he usually leaves them in the dust (e.g., Matthew 8:22). So to me, this passage in Matthew 12 indicates that Jesus is definitely not interested in wishy-washy disciples... there's a spiritual war going on, and there's no time for us to sit around and decide whether or not we're willing to risk getting shot. Jesus' words challenge us: either you're in... or you're out - you decide, but don't sit around and make lame excuses. Just decide to give God everything you've got (i.e., heart, soul, mind, strength) - or at least have the guts to tell him to pound sand. Hmmm... I honestly believe atheists will have a better experience standing before Him on judgment day than indecisive believers who couldn't quite put their so-called faith into reasonably discernible kingdom action. In Revelation 3, the Risen Jesus makes a troubling statement to the "luke-warm" (halfway, partially sold-out, almost-loyal) Christians from Laodicea - that they were utterly sickening to Him, making Him want to puke because of their limp and stagnant devotion to God.
It's war, Baby... and in this battle, there is no Switzerland. In God's army, if you're not actively and passionately marching in step with His Spirit... engaging the enemy with Him (and submitting yourself fully to His authority), then frankly, you're wearing the wrong uniform. It may not seem entirely fair, or humane, or comfortable, but nevertheless, it's true. He demands all of us, all of the time - at least, according to this passage, right?
Okay.. okay. But really, what does it mean to fight in His army? How are we supposed to march in step with His Spirit? How do mere men (and women) engage the enemy of God without losing our soul? What does it mean to follow Christ with all of who we are? It's not by works that we're saved, right...? So then why all the active verbs to describe such a passive-sounding thing as living by faith? How do we know if Christ sees us as hot, or cold, or lukewarm? And why is He so bloody demanding of His followers anyway?
Legitimate questions soldier. Got any answers?
I struggle with the question on how christ sees me. My heart is "ALL IN" but sometimes my thoughts and actions don't show it. I know that I am not alone in this. I think most people struggle in their walk with christ. Satin is most definately at work fighting against us. I just hope that in the end I can say that I fought the good fight and that I was a "SOLDIER FOR CHRIST"!!
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