Can't We All Just Get Along?

By Greg Laurie, Op-ed contributor Thursday, September 22, 2005

Then He said to another, "Follow Me." —Luke 9:59

In Luke 9 we read that when Jesus called a certain man to follow Him, He received an interesting response. "Lord, let me first go and bury my father," the man said (v. 59).

Jesus responded, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God" (v. 60). Our first reaction might be, "What a heartless statement that was! This guy's father is lying dead out in the street somewhere." Of course, that wasn't the case at all. The phrase, "Let me bury my father," was often used in that culture to speak of waiting until your parents eventually died. This man was saying, in other words, "Let me wait until my parents are gone. I can't do this right now."

Jesus was saying, "Follow Me," but this man was saying, "I don't want to right now." Why? Maybe he thought if he told his parents he was going to follow Jesus as his Messiah, they wouldn't like it. There might be conflict. There might be friction. So he may have been saying, in reality, "Lord, I don't want conflict. I don't want hardship. I don't want friction. I will follow You at another time, when it's more convenient."

If we decide to be true disciples of Jesus, it will cause conflict in some of our relationships. If you say to your parents, husband or wife, or some of your friends, "I am going to follow Christ," they won't always applaud your decision. They may disagree with you.

Here is what it comes down to: Either you will have harmony with God and friction with people, or you will have harmony with people and friction with God. But you can't have it both ways.

Used with Permission