Following HIM (Photo by Susanne Schuberth)
“So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.” (Mt 20:16 KJV)
I have been thinking about the terms being “called” and “chosen” for a long time now. Already many years ago, I heard people say that they were called by Jesus
(1) due to the testimony of other people or
(2) because they were listening to a preacher’s sermon or
(3) since they felt God speaking to their own heart
And I have been wondering what the Bible really means by being “called”
(I) as a disciple of Jesus, for example:
“And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.” (Mk 1:17-20 ESV)
(II) or as a disciple with an apostolic ministry:
“And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons.” (Mk 3:13-15 ESV)
In these cases above we see that Jesus called His disciples personally. And He did not change that way of acting. Even today, He draws believers closer and closer until they can hear His voice for real, calling them, “Come, follow me!” Also, the rich young ruler would hear that call at the end of his dialogue with Jesus (Lk 18:22). But his very problem was that he wanted to follow Jesus as he saw fit. He was convinced that he had kept the commandments on his own and thus he thought following Jesus were as “easy” as not stealing, not killing, or not committing adultery, for instance.
What the rich ruler did neglect then was that God sees the covetous heart first, not the deeds springing from the hidden evil. And God saw that the ruler loved riches more than anything. Therefore Jesus confronted him with something the rich man could NOT do on his own. That was the reason why he eventually left Jesus so sad. He could not yet grasp that it is God’s Spirit power ALONE which sets us free to do everything God wants from us, as we saw it regarding those 12 disciples and apostles in the Scriptures quoted above. Jesus called them to Himself, was with them, taught them what they needed to know, and finally would give them the (spiritual) power to preach and to cast out demons.
Or to put it the other way round, “If we experience no real transforming spiritual power, then there was no genuine call by Jesus before.” In fact, even the “bad boys” hear the call and receive the power to do supernatural works, as we can see in Judas Iscariot’s case or there,
“On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Mt 7:22-23 ESV)
I believe that those who are finally chosen – the royal priesthood – are those who reveal themselves to be faithful and obedient toward God. Not that they could ever do so on their own, however, they rely solely on God’s power (Mt 5:3) which changes their hearts as God sees fit. They “know” God and He “knows” them – which is the mystery of divine love that can be revealed in Christ alone (Col 2:2-3).
Sometimes I thought by myself that Jesus’ command “Follow me!” was not a command but a gift of grace since He draws us to Himself with His LOVE. To use an illustration here, I’d compare God’s gracious love with a huge electromagnet irresistibly attracting some tiny iron filings (= us).
BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!
Immediately they stick firmly and they cannot help but loving Him again. I assume you could refer to this “God forced love” as to a special kind of “bondage of the will” – reserved for the beloved but thus also enslaved children of God. He simply transforms our self-will according to His superior will without any intervention of us. All out of His Love and Grace…
When God chooses man, then man will not only get a way better eternal life from Him in the future, but a delightful foretaste of what is to come as well.
Maybe, some of His disciples will be executed for following Jesus as the apostles who had been put to death, but I believe that they were very happy to die for Jesus’ sake. Rejoicing while dying of a ferocious death – as for example Stephen did – was a gracious gift Jesus secured on the cross (Isaiah 53:4). Or as Paul put it,
“My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.” (Phil 1:23)
Dear reader, feel free to weigh in and add your own thoughts so that the Body of Christ may build itself up – in love (Eph 4:16). Every commenter is welcome on my blog, that means, Christians as well as non-Christians. I will try to reply to you as the Lord leads me and I am curious to know what God is speaking through you. The only things I do not like are when someone attacks God and utters blasphemous statements or when others (esp. commenters) are being attacked. Furthermore, I am going to delete comments which flood my blogs without any reference to my articles or poems or to the replies of other commenters on here. Thank you for your understanding!
Jesus said, “And those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment; and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:10-14 RSVA)
You see, the call goes out from the Lord to all so that His wedding hall might be full with “both bad and good.” Grace does that.. God’s grace is poured out on the earth for He is not willing that any man perish in his sins. But just because we have been called doesn’t mean that we have responded to that call with all our hearts. Many respond on a superficial level… they go down for an “alter call” at a crusade because of family pressure or so they, like the town drunk I knew could boast, “I got saved by Billy Graham!” all the while that he had nor fruit in his life that showed any repentance (turning around).
Jesus said, “Not all who say unto me, ‘Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but rather those who DO the will of my Father, they shall enter in.” Many in Christendom have claimed the name of Christ without putting on HIS wedding garment– the robe of HIS righteousness– in all humility and brokeness. In Isaiah we read,
And seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach.”
(Isaiah 4:1 RSVA)
You see these seven women are representative of the seven churches in Revelation. This is what has become of the church in its fallen state. These seven women have become the harlot church of today and she say to Jesus, “We are rich, increased with goods and have need of nothing,” while the keep Him at bay outside their locked doors (see Rev. ch. 3). They prefer their own righteousness, their own coverings… they wear their own garments to the wedding of the Lamb. The also prefer their own bread to the Bread of Life who is Christ! But oh, how they love to use HIS name to cover the shame of their nakedness.
Yes, many are called but FEW are the chosen who head His loving call to be HIS surrendered Bride.
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I agree with what you responded with here. Yet, as your brother, I would like us to be very cautious with thinking…..
“Many respond on a superficial level… they go down for an “alter call” at a crusade because of family pressure or so they, like the town drunk I knew could boast, “I got saved by Billy Graham!” all the while that he had nor fruit in his life that showed any repentance (turning around).”
Not that I would disagree with that observance….but I would pray that this all to often occurrence would be a conviction against our own hearts and spirit. Because the truth is….we as a church have failed to live up to our responsibilities after that individual responds to an altar call. Can we be really honest here a moment? Most of the time when this happens in a church (an altar call)….it is not the respondents sincerity that lacks…..its the sincerity of us…..our love for the lost…..our even caring beyond that particular church service for that one that responded. Oh I know….sometimes there is some gratuitous clapping and shaking of hands afterwards….but this just doesn’t cut it.
We need to become devoted them. That is a big word….that is a big responsibility. But that is our responsibility. We love them and this love is revealed through our immediate devotion towards them. Now…..let’s take one step back from this responsibility and ask ourselves one very important question. Are we equipped to respond according to God’s plan when we have a new convert in our church? I can say now….it isn’t something defined in a “program”.
We know that Jesus’ twelve Apostles, and many of his other followers, had been with him in the crucible of ministry. They knew what it meant to minister to the needs of people despite their own weariness, hunger and discomfort. They had seen what it meant to serve and not be served. And they had seen Christ die, so his words instructing them to “love as I have loved you” rang loudly in their ears. Do we hear that same truth in our own ears?
Now please notice something…..this type of love was not something they would confuse with sentimentality or emotional feelings. No…..this love went well beyond that. It was a love the flowed from a sense of deep and profound devotion and manifested itself as obedience, duty and honor. Jesus’ followers knew they were to love one another, and it would be evidenced by their devotion to each other. We need that devotion to each other my friend. This is the genuine evidence of our love for one another. It is not superficial and it is not polite small talk passed around on Sunday morning or if we happen to bump into each other at the mall.
If we ourselves can get to this place….then we will be a church equipped for ministering to new converts…..by truthful example….and sincere love. Many are called…and few are chosen. Perhaps more of the called would make it if we began living up to our role within the Body of Christ. The Pastor shared the Gospel…..someone responded and walked up for the altar call…..now the ball is in our court church members……let’s do this.
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Thank you both for commenting, Michael and Duane. Much appreciated! 🙂
Love,
Susanne
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Duane, I agree with all you have written here. I don’t think that we are far apart in our observations at all. In fact I believe we are seeing two aspects of the same problem. The mechanics of an altar call is something that is not found in the New Testament. It is an invention of man trying to do what was organic and natural in the early church. Conversion to Christ came by a personal touch by the Holy Spirit of God and men filled with His love for the lost, more often than not, spoke to these dear new believers on an individual basis and not an assembly line, one size fits all, sales pitch as we see today in that dead institutionalized form that has taken the place of the FAMILY OF GOD, of which you speak. God places the (spiritual) orphans in families.
Jesus introduced God as “our Father” and Himself as the Son and then said, “…and you are ALL brethren.” We are ALL family and as such we should think of ourselves as members one of another IN the Son who is our Head. Institutionalism does not do this, nor does it even understand the difference! You and Susanne are both part of my family and I wouldn’t change a thing.
Thanks to you both for loving me as your brother.
Michael
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Michael, that’s beautiful. I feel the love of the Father in what you have said. We all want to be a part of a loving family, don’t we.
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Deborah, I am glad you could feel Him in what I wrote. That is important to me. Years ago I prayed to the Lord to make me like His Son… That I would only speak the Fathers words and do His works… The price was high in that He had to strip me of all I had and was once dear to me, but He seems to be answering that prayer in the hearts of people like you, dear sister.
Love you IN the Son,
Michael
http://www.awildernessvoice.com
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Michael, I have the same hope. 🙂 Love to you brother.
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