Who me? Lazy?

Walking the walk

I was reading recently a story on a political blog that touched on some Christian topic and came across a post in the comments section accusing Christians of taking the “lazy way.”  I thought, “Dude, really? Sure you wouldn’t like to rethink that?” 

    Having now walked both the Worlds path and attempted Christ’s, I can assure that commenter that even attempting to live up to Christ’s standards is no lazy endeavor – intellectually or otherwise.
     This is a standard that considers lust and hatred to carry the same weight as adultery and murder. It calls for self-denial at every turn. It also calls for an almost super-human degree of forgiveness toward our enemies. When Christ instructed “take up your cross, and follow me” he was speaking metaphorically, but he was speaking very much in earnest. He fully expects us to give every drop of ourselves.

     Sure, you can find those Christians who aren’t even trying to live it. They abound, and are thrust forward as exemplars of the whole of the church every time a non-believer wants an argument. But those we’re speaking of here are those genuinely striving to live up to Christ’s nearly impossible expectations.  

      Want an easy path? Well that is the one offered by the world.  That cushy, downhill path will allow you to indulge yourself to the limit of your resources and speed you merrily and obliviously towards destruction.  Lust, greed, and hate all come easy to the human condition. Its self-restraint, generosity, and love that we have to work at. Sound lazy to you?