Hating Life, part 5

I thought I was done with this series, but something else came to mind as we studied John 13 together last week.

The disciples spent a lot of time with Jesus, and yet, in the final moments together during the Last Supper, a dispute breaks out about who was the greatest. It sounds familiar to me, like a bunch of obnoxious 5th graders. Had they not learned anything? After they had been taught so often and so intimately about the radical upside-down nature of Christ's kingdom, they're still focused on the physical, on being the best, on loving their lives?

(But wait! Be careful when criticizing those poor disciples! We may be much more dignified and subtle and savvy in our debates, but aren't we also too often quietly checking on how we measure up?)

In thinking on this debate amidst their final meeting, I realized much of my thoughts on 'hating life' made it sound like an event, a once and done decision. Decide to hate your life and live that way from there on out.

The disciples and their blunders remind me that, no, you must make the conscious decision and intentional effort to hate your life each and every day.

Christ knew our propensity for hasty commitments that would grow stale quickly, fizzle out, and never be kept. So he adds one important word to his command to pick up one's cross:

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."

It's tough to make a commitment and stick to it for a lifetime. Making a commitment each morning and keeping it for that day is a goal much better suited for our feeble human nature.

And what a glorious wonder that Jesus knew that about us, and he knew it because he somehow experienced it for himself!