“If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26)
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1st John 2:15)
“He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” (John 12:25)
Have you met any who call themselves Christians lately that adhere to these verses, at least openly? Probably not, even if those in their own family detest the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and belittle you for doing so, many still feel an obligation, if not only to attend the holiday gatherings with them, but to at least send them a card on their birthday or at Christmas.
“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” (2nd Cor. 6:14)
This verse and others like it tend to get categorized in specific places, they are employed when they reference the stranger who is a known pursuer of evil deeds, but not to those close relatives, not to those we were born and raised by or raised amongst, not to those we call family members, not to those we love because of having a long-standing relationship with.
I fully understand these words, hope drives us that they will one day heed the call, and so we are torn between those who reside in the darkness and those we now call our new family that live in the light of the risen Lamb of God. In this sense the only, if not the main mission field for those who do so is their mother, father, brother and sister, their close relatives, and they will not accept, even as the years and decades go by, that they will remain in the darkness, they will refuse to come into the light, and the world that those who serve Him are commanded to go out into to search for the lost is abandoned by them in favor of those who will not hear and heed the call of the Lord.
“Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.” (Matt. 7:6)
They refuse to call those they attend family reunions with swine, those they sit at the Christmas table with who do not lift up the name of Him that the holiday is meant to recognize the birth of. And so, they modify their conversations to fit the assembly of unbelievers so as not to offend any present, so they are not ostracized from those they are not to have any part of.
Hard truths, but truths nonetheless.
It is one thing to hate our own lives, as one of the opening verses attests to in this short letter to you, because of the battle of the flesh that serves sin and the mind that serves the Lord Jesus Christ, and the battle of not letting go of those you have loved for so long that, my friends, in all probability will die in their sins. This is part of the cross that you must carry, and for those of you this letter is written to, it may be a burden too heavy for you.
But you must bear it.
“And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:27)
“And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.” (Luke 8:21)
We like to think that our Savior then got up and went outside after He said those words, but unless I am missing something, you must consider this, what if He continued to sit there?
You do not like to think about that scenario, do you? It seems beyond rude, it seems unloving.
Who is your family? Those that serve the Lord Jesus Christ to the loss of all else, or those you were born and raised with who refuse to call Him Lord?
If this letter is for you, I know what it has just done, it has torn you apart, it has caused you to despise me, and perhaps the truths written here. You love those people dearly and you want them in heaven with you. And so, I must place this question before you, if the Almighty does not choose them, will you hold a grudge against Him?
Who is your family?
