To paraphrase a familiar introduction....My name is Special Dog....(though it was once Graceless)....and I am a pilgrim. I wasn't always a pilgrim....for I lived in Vanity Fair....but the day came many years ago....maybe a couple of decades....this after over thirty years of living in the City of Destruction....the day came when I saw that you cannot stay in Vanity Fair if you ever hope to reach the Celestial City. I'm of course using John Bunyan allegory here from his monumentally wonderful book Pilgrim's Progress.
We need to examine the age that we live in....and compare it to other ages....in order to see how far we have fallen....for otherwise we can swim in the polluted waters forever....without ever knowing the extent of the pollution. Our habits eventually adjust to what is all around us....for it is all we know or have ever known.So for the Christian....the day is either going to come or it isn't. We either in effect go into denial....or we pack up and leave Vanity Fair....trusting in God to guide us safely over territory where the Christian is despised. As for the family....we either say as did Joshua...."And if it be evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell, But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." To phrase that as we would understand it today....If you think that these 'born again' Christians are way too fanatical....the Bible this....and Jesus that....and....life, life, eternal life....then ignore them. Go ahead and spend your time on the things that everyone else does....but as for me....even if I’m the only one….I’m not goin' there.
There is more than one way to look at this. The cost of discipleship would be another. After so many years....I do not see how one can...."Come out of her"....as both Jeremiah 51:45 and Revelation 18:4 commands and warn us....and not experience the rejection....at bare minimum....from the world around us....but you must know this in advance also....even Christians will make it hard for you....for even being around you unsettles them.....for you are either too fanatical for them....your words of devotion are too syrupy....or your beliefs and practices will sting them. The Lord's Day is one example.....for they've got it good right now....put a couple of hours into the church on Sunday morning....and run home to watch NFL games the rest of the day. You are thus a threat to them.....and they do not like it.
Friends....brothers and sisters in Christ....if the trials are not there....if you are not looked down upon by the crowd...there is something wrong! Now it is easy to ignore my words here....or anyone else's words that might place this difficult challenge right before you....but if you are having a tough time ignoring it....you might want to meditate upon the words of Jesus to Peter....and Peter's response....in not that dissimilar of a situation. Jesus asked Peter....after many disciples turned back...."Do you want to go away as well?" I need to repeat this here....most will have no problem ignoring this....but some....maybe only a few....won't....and if you are part of that few....will you respond to Jesus as did Peter...."Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."
I'll leave you with these words from Bunyan...."What God says is best, is best, though all the men in the world are against it." And this the last stanza of a song within Pilgrim’s Progress which reads:
Hobgoblin, nor foul fiend,
Can daunt his spirit;
He knows, he at the end
Shall life inherit.
Then fancies fly away,
He'll fear not what men say,
He'll labour night and day
To be a pilgrim.
