A MAN MUST LIVE

In the early days of the church, many Christians carved and gilded graven images for the pagans. They didn’t worship the idols themselves; they thought the practice foolish and sinful. But whenever they were questioned about the ungodliness of their occupation, they probably shrugged their shoulders and blandly replied, “Well, after all a man must live.”

The Roman Empire was in the driver’s seat and without fear of much dissention, required everyone to put a pinch of incense on the altar and vow holy allegiance to Caesar. Therefore, many Christians laid down their incense, made their vow, and then, I’m sure, excused themselves by explaining, “I don’t really worship Caesar, but a man’s got to live.”

It is reasonable to surmise that some of the ushers in the Coliseum, if there were any ushers then, were closet Christians and while their fellow believers provided lunch for the lions they most likely simply excused their conduct with the words, “Well, a man must live, must he not?”

And into the fray comes Jesus’ words, “Which of you desiring to build a tower, doth not first sit down and count the cost?”

And often the response is, “Count the cost? Not if it requires I change my attitudes or actions.”

It always has been and always will be a challenge between what we say and what we do, where we lead or allow ourselves to be led. And does it make a difference? By way of example: What would have been the impact on the world if Jesus had sneaked away from Jerusalem under the cover of darkness rather than end up carrying a cross to Golgotha? What if many of our Founding Fathers had not shown up to sign the Declaration of Independence and instead had sent notes that read, “Sorry, but I’ve not been feeling very well.” “Sorry I am just too terribly busy” “Some other time maybe, just not right now.”?

It’s called taking a stand for who we are and what we say we believe.

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