Weeping and gnashing of teeth….

     On more than one occasion in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus warns us that there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth”.  He says it several times, often rather unexpectedly, near the close of various encounters as if it’s something undergirding the whole of His witness, something important we should always keep in the back of our minds.  Obviously, discipleship is not cheap; a casual immersion into the Kingdom of Heaven is not what Jesus intends.  For reasons for which Jesus repeatedly warns the Pharisees and the Sadducees, God simply cannot ignore those who hear the Good News and do not respond to it.  If it doesn’t change us, if it doesn’t move us to act mercifully, in short, if it falls on deaf ears and is rejected, well, then the result will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth”.  Period.

     This is not comforting, I don’t like it; it makes me uncomfortable.  What if I’m one of those who, despite my best intentions, simply doesn’t make that final disciple cut and I find myself in a place where the “gnashing of teeth” is an eternal past-time.  Not good.  According to Mark Buchanan, this is a problem in today’s church.  Maybe it’s a problem at Asbury?  Mr. Buchanan, writing in his new book, “Your Church is Too Safe”, says “at some point we stopped calling Christians disciples and started calling them believers.”  Interesting point, don’t you think?  Here’s a paraphrase of what Buchanan writes: A disciple is someone who follows/imitates Jesus Christ.  He or she loses his or her life to find it.  He or she steeps themselves in the language and culture of Jesus Christ, until His Word and His World reshapes ours, redefines ours, and changes us from the inside out (we sing about this….”a thousand times I’ve failed…”).  Jesus changes how we see, think, dream and live. 

     Not so, with mere believers.  Believers can hold certain beliefs, but how deep down these beliefs actually go can depend on the weather, (…I won’t attend if I can’t park close to the door…), the political environment (…what is that “Conference” of ours doing now?...), or their current mood.  Believers can get defensive, sometimes bristlingly so, about their beliefs.  But in their most honest moments (like on their deathbeds) they might wonder why those beliefs made such a scant difference.  I don’t want to end up wondering that, not on my deathbed.  I want to know my faith made a difference, not to me, but to the greater mission of the coming Kingdom of Heaven.  I want to be used, somehow, by God in a way that glorifies Him, alone.  I don’t want to be just a believer, I want to be a disciple. No weeping and gnashing of teeth for me…

Jeff