Jesus didn’t always explain everything in great detail. If someone I trust tells me something, and I know it’s for my benefit, I just trust it. I’m fine with the possibility someone might be wrong, particularly when I weigh they might be right and my life would be better if I did what they suggest. Remember, though, I’m a lawyer. I deal with sneaky people for a living, so I’m no pushover. I’ve learned to sharpen my intuition about why someone offers me input. I’ve found one of the best filters you can use to trust someone is when there’s nothing for them to gain from their advice.
Here’s what I mean. Many people have angles attached to their relationships. They will say or do one thing and you learn later they were actually angling for something else in return.
What I like about Jesus is that He didn’t try to recruit people or use spin. Neither He nor His disciples ever said they were going on a mission trip, because they weren’t. He just invited everyone and said they could follow Him. He didn’t use big words or Christian code to cue people that He was in the club or that He wanted to protect His reputation. Or talk about all of the things He was going to do or the number of people He was going to have “pray the prayer” to accept Him. He didn’t present God’s plan like a prospectus promising a return on investment.
He just asked people to join the adventure. It’s almost like Jesus came to say, among other things, that a relationship with Him isn’t supposed to make complete sense or provide security. Faith isn’t an equation or a formula or a business deal that gets you what you want. In short, there’s nothing on the other side of the equals sign, just Jesus.
And that’s the memo.
By Bob Goff from Love Does
