"The entry fee is nothing but the annual subscription is everything."
May that quotation serve to remind us as we journey into this third millennium that we are not to take our ongoing journey of faith lightly. God’s word clearly spells out some very definite guidelines as to how we are to live and behave as holy people and the values we are to cherish as servants of our Lord. The last thing we need is a mediocre Christianity which in the end only produces a lukewarm Laodicean church all over again.
The entry fee for a whole new way of living is of course to be found in a heartfelt response to our Lord’s basic call to a life of sacrificial discipleship. It finds expression in those familiar but challenging words "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me" (Mat. 16,24).
May we always see that the call of Jesus is a personal call to each one of us. It is a call to follow him, to serve him, to be wholeheartedly committed to him in a radical form of costly discipleship, whatever that may cost each one of us in personal terms. That is far more than simply talking about an intellectual agreement about Jesus or having a nodding acquaintance with his history. No, the biblical understanding of faith in Christ, the true entry fee, is all about surrendering to Christ, depending on him, embracing him and choosing him. And through all of that, receiving the gift of eternal life which begins in the here and now. It was St. Paul who said so well: "If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation, the old has passed away" (2 Cor. 5,17).
And what is the point about the annual subscription? To get into that, listen if you will, to Jesus’ words from John’s gospel: "You did not choose me, I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, fruit that will last" (Jn. 15,16). Indeed, the whole idea of our life in Christ, once we’ve dealt with the entry fee, is that his life will flow out through us. Without question our Lord wants to produce in all of us the very fruits of his spiritual presence. Indeed, we should become more loving, forgiving, caring, joyful, kind, patient, gentle and growing in self-control.
This new transformed life in Christ takes time and is, in my opinion, a lifelong conversion. Inner changes sometimes are slow because there are blocks in our lives that God has to deal with before we can become an open channel of his loving and healing presence. We all need to examine our lives from time to time and ask ourselves what may be blocking the flow of God’s love and mercy to a hurting world. Could it be some sense of pride, narcissistic self-love or addiction, some blocks of personal resentment, some roots of selfishness or unforgiveness? All of that is between each one of us and the Lord and has to be turned over to Jesus if we are truly to love God with everything we’ve got and our neighbour as ourselves.
Saint Paul bids us in one of his letters to examine our lives and poses the question; "Are you living the life of faith? Put yourselves to the test" (2 Cor. 13,5).
In light of Paul’s bidding ask yourself: "What benchmarks am I establishing in measuring my spiritual growth? Some of the areas you may want to consider in measuring the depth of your own personal commitment of Jesus Christ are as follows:
- Have I personally surrendered every area of my life to the transforming power and presence of Jesus or are there some closed doors?
- Do I have an awareness of being forgiven, of Jesus’ love for me, of an inner assurance of eternal life?
- Am I aware of spiritual warfare in my daily walk and the need to call upon the Holy Spirit in renouncing the world, the flesh and the devil?
- Am I involved in a weekly parish fellowship, growing in my faith journey along with other brothers and sisters in Christ?
- Am I giving generously and sacrificially from a heart of thankfulness in the area of financial stewardship?
- Am I being proactive in sharing my faith with others in both word and example?
- Is there a growing compassion in my heart to reach out to the refugee, the prisoner, the homeless, the hungry and the broken-hearted?
It is clearly evident that the Bible reminds us that a tree is known by the fruit it produces. May we all take time in the early part of this new millennium to prayerfully examine our daily walk with Jesus. Let us recognize with thanksgiving those areas where we are growing as disciples and ask God to heal and help us in those areas where we sense that we are falling short.
May God’s agenda for your life and ministry and mine become our agenda as Jesus becomes central to our total life and ministry in this year 2000 and beyond. Let us take the "annual subscription" seriously.
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