Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
- Matthew 28:19-20
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God—even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.
- 1 Corinthians 10:31-33
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
- James 1:2-3
“ ‘What good can it do you to discuss the mystery of God the Trinity in learned terms if you lack humility and so displease that God? Learned arguments do not make a man holy and righteous, whereas a good life makes him dear to God. I would rather feel compunction in my heart than be able to define it. If you knew the whole Bible off by heart and all the expositions of scholars, what good would it do you without the love and grace of God?’ (Imitation 1.1) …
“ ‘Try to be patient in bearing with the failings and weaknesses of other people, whatever they may be. You too have many faults, which others have to endure. lf you cannot make yourself the kind of person that you wish, how can you expect to have someone else to your liking? We want perfection in other people, and yet we do not put right our own failings. It is clear how rarely we apply to our neighbours the same standards as to ourselves.’ (Imitation 1.16)
“ ‘Jesus has in these days many people who love his heavenly kingdom but few who bear his cross. He has many who desire comfort, but few who are ready for trials. He has found many to share his table, but few to share his fast. Everyone longs to rejoice with him, but few are ready to suffer for him. Surely ‘mercenary’ is the right name for people who are always looking for spiritual comforts. Those who are always thinking about their own profit and advantage quite clearly love themselves, not Christ.’ (Imitation 2.11)”
- Tony Lane, A Concise History of Christian Thought
Thomas à Kempis, or Thomas Hemerken born in Kempen near Köln (Cologne), Germany, (1380-1471), was possibly my favorite author of that era. His book, The Imitation of Christ, is one of those books that you could blindly flip through and then point and you have a morsel that is thought-provoking or that tears at your heart. I chose three of the quotes that are quoted in the book on the history of Christian thought. In looking through this history book, rarely are any of these theologians quoted more, with the author focusing on what they accomplished, in other words, the history more than the thought.
But the three quotes are all comparisons. Would you rather be this or that? Only in the third quote does Thomas à Kempis apply some judgmental language.
His first comparison is that he would rather have simple speech and simple thoughts rather than eloquent, thought-provoking speech in regards to such things as the Trinity and not have the truth in his heart. There can easily be scholars of that day that could stir the audience with their beautiful words, but is God residing in their heart? Note that much of any form of higher education in the day was in the preparation for ministry of some kind. While we might look back on those days to see how far astray we have gone with our present higher education, we should realize that some highly educated people were as lost in regards to understanding God as the person who did not even know how to draw an “X” to denote his name. Indeed, the uneducated might know God on a personal level and not know how to spell Jesus.
The second is a quote that I need to read as a mantra several times each day. It is hard to teach, preach, educate, and love people who just do not listen. I am studying the book of Jeremiah with the Sunday school class where I teach, and the idea of “do not listen” is pervasive throughout the book. God tells Jeremiah to not pray for them. God has had enough and judgment is coming, and the people follow through by trying to silence Jeremiah rather than heeding him.
But here, it is close to what Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount. We should worry about our own faults before thinking about the fault in others. There is enough in Scripture that talks about how we should discipline and rebuke others, but we should show mercy and Grace, for we are only where we are because God forgave us.
And then the third quote calls those who hitch a ride on the Heaven-bound bandwagon mercenaries. I have heard the phrase that you should not do the crime if you cannot do the time, but that, in a way, applies to our suffering. James says that we should count it all Joy. I have heard it said many times that someone who never suffers for righteousness’ sake should look in the mirror and wonder what are they doing wrong.
We might not need to go that far, but maybe we should. If enough people know that you are a follower of Christ, someone is going to take advantage of you or attack you for your beliefs. They might give the promotion to the guy who management knows will lie to a customer to get a sale. We can be persecuted in many ways for righteousness’ sake.
Of course, we could go on with more comparisons, but Christianity is not based on comparison. We cannot see ourselves as being more righteous than the person next to us. None of us are good, on our own, but only through Jesus being within us do we have any chance of being good.
And that is said in volumes in the book by Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ. Long before someone figured out a way to sell bracelets with WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) printed on them, there was a man who was a member of the Modern Devotion movement of the late middle ages, and a man influenced by the Brethren of the Common Life, who wrote an entire book on the subject. Instead of making a pithy slogan, he added flesh to the idea that all of us should imitate Jesus Christ, even to the point of suffering.
If you like these Tuesday morning essays about philosophy and other “heavy topics,” but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Tuesday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory.
Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley 
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