Acts 17:1-5
Many of us are more committed to staying comfortable and our faith is more about remaining comfortable than it is about commitment. We attend church regularly…unless we have something else to do. If we even mention our faith to others, we only do so with other believers and, even with fellow believers, we are careful to not get excited when we talk about our faith or our relationship with Christ because, as I’ve said before, we don’t want to be classified as one of “those” Christians.
In Mark 8:34-35, Jesus told people to take up their crosses and lose their lives if they wanted to follow him but do we? Many people take up the cross but they use it to beat others about the head and shoulders. That’s the same thing the Jewish leaders in Thessalonica did. They don’t give up their own self to follow Jesus, they try to force their own self – their thoughts and beliefs – on others. As I’ve said before, some are far more interested in clinging to their own brand of Christianity then they are about clinging to Christ.