Choices. It seems our culture is obsessed with them. Paper or plastic? Interstate or back roads? DVD or Blu Ray? In Matthew's gospel, ch 7:13-29 Jesus introduces us to a foundational choice, one that I would venture to say speaks to the heart of Christianity itself. Note that Jesus is using a dualistic approach here: two trees, two gates, two foundations. Yes, our society is obsessed with having a multitude of choices, but true, Christ-following faith is no Baskin Robbins. There are no "31 Flavors" of Religion that we can pick from that can get us on God's good side ( see my earlier posts on relativism if you want to delve deeper into this aspect). God has come fully in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Christ is not one spiritual guide among many religious gurus. In fact, Paul writes that He is "the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created...He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy" (cf. Colossians 1:15-18 NIV).
Too often we overcomplicate the choice that is all too simple. This really can be boiled down to asking a single, honest question: "What is going to be my Authority today?"
In other words, Christ, or Culture? The Word, or the World? Self, or Sacrifice? We're either being a shaper of society or we are being shaped by that same society. We have to remember, dear friends--we are called to be the light in this dark world! We are commanded to be this radiant energy that points the way to Christ! Darkness is nothingness. Darkness is the absence of Light. If anyone is living outside of Christ then they are living inside darkness! What are you and I going to do about it?...
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