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One way

14th July 2009 by Trevor Nicol

Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited. 'Come, for everything is now ready.' But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.' Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.' Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.'" - Luke 14:16-20

I once heard an ex-football professional explaining how he became a Christian; "For twenty-five years I had God in my life," he explained, "and football was his name!" He went on to explain that in every sense before he came to Christ, football was his functional god. By this I mean that football operated as his god in the power that it exerted over him; in the way that it shaped how he viewed himself - his identity was completely determined by his football, and in the decisions he made - it drove his life himself -and governed how he treated his family. Eventually he realised that it was football that was preventing him bceoming a Christian; "I was just scared that if I gave my life to God, I'd become a worse football player".

Jesus tells this parable to show that the reason people reject the kingdom of God is always because they are ruled by a functional god that they don't want to give up. Today our context might be different to when Jesus told this parable in Luke 14, but fundamentally, in two thousand years human nature hasn't changed at all.

To make the point, Jesus gives us three functional gods that are pretty common to life: possessions - 'I have just brought a field', work -'I have just bought five yoke of oxen', and relationships - 'I just got married'. Now just think of the reasons that you had for not becoming a Christian or that you may still have. Don't they normally fit into these categories of possessions, work or relationships?

"I've got a nice flat and car thanks, so I don't see why I need Christianity" some people say. Others, "Work's going really well for me at the moment, but it's busy and I don't think I've got time to look into Christianity". Or, "I'm just not sure what my boyfriend/girlfriend would say, he/she thinks that organised religion is stupid".

They're pretty common reasons aren't they? But do you see what's really going on here? We're choosing the things that God has lovingly created over the creator. We're preferring the gifts to the giver. It's madness when we really think about it, after all, don't you think that the God who made these great things is more wonderful and attractive than the things themselves? Sure, coming into the kingdom of God means giving up your functional god for the real and living God, but can you afford not to, when clinging to your functional god means forfeiting your place in the kingdom?

- Trevor Nicol