[Jn_GameCap, 2009, JAVanDevender]
Ezekiel 33:30-32 " As for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking about you beside the walls and in the doors of the houses; and they speak to one another, everyone saying to his brother, 'Please come and hear what the word is that comes from the LORD.' 31 "So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain. 32 "Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them.
G. K. Chesterton famously remarked "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried." - Chapter 5, What's Wrong With The World, 1910.
There's a wealth of truth in that statement.
One of the most difficult things in the world is to accomplish a fundamental change in life direction. Whether it is at the macro / social level or the micro / individual level, people are fundamentally conservative. However they presently think and live, whatever their general "native" outlook on life, formed over the progress of their life, so they general continue to think. Small increments of change over time may bring about significant transformation, but large shifts in immediate outlook is resisted by every fiber of their being.
Thus, when confronted with the radical demands of Scripture there are those who, honestly, look at it and say... "That's not for me." These remain lost and are enemies of Christ but at least they are honest enough to admit it. Then there are those others... who, like the 'rich, young ruler', are attracted by the beauty and justice intrinsic to the Kingdom of God and the perfection of its King, come running to inquire of Him what they must do to be saved. But upon hearing His demands... upon hearing how totally comprehensive is the fundamental alteration in their thinking, their lifestyle, their values, their allegiance, their morals, their priorities, etc. etc., they go away "sorrowing" or, like a moth to the flame, they keep flitting in and out of the Word.... intrigued, attracted and wistful... but never actually committing.
Often those in this latter category will, with some degree of self-deception, take to themselves the name of Christian and make an outward show of compliance. But, like Aninias and Sapphira, when fundamental issues are at stake the claims of Christ do not prove to be the object of their most sincere desire.
During the Passion week we celebrate the truly radical nature of the Kingdom of God. This is when we remember how it required the suffering of its King for the purification of its people. This is when we remember that the Via Delorosa is not only the path that He walked, but it is the path on which we must take up our cross and follow Him. This when we remember that He gave up His life so that He may gain it... and that such is our task also. This is when we remember that the life of joy and blessedness is when we find our joy in Him... in His work... in His people... and not in material or sensual comforts. It is a Kingdom of transcendence... of works whose value is measured in eternity and whose reward is intimate fellowship with the God of all creation... and not pecuniary wages.
At every point... Chesterton was right... it is not that we try it and find that it doesn't 'work'... it does... it has... it will continue to succeed ... It is rather that we inquire into its nature, we discover just how astonishingly different it is... and we simply cannot bring ourselves to embrace it.
That is how hard it is for fallen man to discover the only life that can satisfy the deepest longings of his heart. That is why our Christ came to die... so that our sinful hearts can be changed... and our desires can be transformed... and we can enter into the life He has brought.
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