Here’s a short video putting Jesus’ command that we give up all for Christ into a thought-provoking perspective.
As the speaker, Jefferson Bethke points out, we’re already in the habit of giving our all to other demands in life. Why not give up all for Christ?
“Jefferson Bethke gives a speech about Jesus”
This is certainly one of the most controversial statements Jesus ever made. I can’t believe he meant it to be taken as an order for all of us to unload everything, leave wife/husband and children (better yet–not marry at all) dress in sackcloth, go live in a cave and eat insects. Paul wrote that we have all been given different gifts. In Retrospection Mary Baker Eddy wrote we must all fill our own niche in time and eternity. And I believe that whatever our particular gift, whatever our niche may be, we can bring Christian Science to it and each in our small way help to make a better world.
I think of “leave all for Christ,” in mental terms–in terms of leaving all sin, evil thinking, selfishness, greed, hatred, lust, etc. behind for the Mind of Love.
Wow..What a way to stir thought!! Could Jesus be saying that we should follow his Christlyness ? It is most important to know and practice our at one ment with God? In turn from his example we gain our eternal God reflected image and likeness?
Thanks Evan for posting this. He nicely uncovers the error of human entanglements and points to the beauty of the unselfish life that Jesus’ Christly love demands.
I woke up this morning thinking this very thing — If I am to follow Jesus and obey his command to heal, I have to give up any corporeal sense of myself or others as problem makers or problem solvers, as people hauling around corporeal identities and relationships in a corporeal environment, — give it up for the truth Christ revealed, that there is no corporeality in existence at all: “God is Spirit and he who worships Him must worship in in Spirit and in truth” — the truth of infinite spiritual reality, the abundance of life, health and progress here and now. “In Him (Spirit) we live and move and have our being,” as St. Paul said.
Mary Baker Eddy wrote of this giving up all for Christ and the benefits of acknowledging everyone’s spiritual identity : “I earnestly advise all Christian Scientists to remove from their observation or study the personal sense of any one, and not to dwell in thought upon their own or others’ corporeality, either as good or evil.. . . . He advances most in divine Science who meditates most on infinite spiritual substance and intelligence.” (Miscellaneous Writings, page 308). And even more powerfully, on page 175 of the same book:
“Self-renunciation of all that constitutes a so-called material man, and the acknowledgment and achievement of his spiritual identity as the child of God, is Science that opens the very flood-gates of heaven; whence good flows into every avenue of being, cleansing mortals of
all uncleanness, destroying all suffering, and demonstrating the true image and likeness. There is no other way under heaven whereby we can be saved, and man be clothed with might, majesty, and immortality.”
WOW!
I am sorry that the idea of giving up all things about the life that is seen and felt should be given up is meant by this blog. IT ISN’T! Mentally understand that the things that you love and see and feel are symbolic of the truth spiritually that is not seen. We just haven’t reached that platow yet.
Now that is a powerful presentation. I had to share this one.
That was great! Thanks! I’ve been praying about that myself, even this morning – letting go of material attachments. One thought is, material attachments – including compulsions, addictions, and lesser ones – are all ways of trying to fill an empty feeling inside with things (or food, alcohol, drugs, thrill-seeking, etc.). Turning to God instead replaces that feeling with God’s love in a healthy, constructive way – and it’s free!
after listening to yesterday’s webinar on prayer that heals, and posting a question about what role human conscious plays in spiritual healing,….Evan answered yielding to the spiritual facts of being. I woke today contemplating that is such a great thing for me – my job is to yield constantly (give up Everything) to God…. I think this is what the young man is talking about
I agree with Tobias. If I was holding a stack of counterfeit dollar bills and someone said “Give up those counterfeit bills and I’ll give you real dollars!” I wouldn’t hesitate for a second in trading the counterfeit for the real. So it’s interesting how people (me included sometimes) focus so much on giving up the worthless when they should focus on all they will GET with Christ. In other words, I don’t think leaving all for Christ means you have to be clothed in rags, but rather you will get clothes even more magnificent than you have today. Nor that you have to leave your family, but instead will get an even broader concept of family that reflects love to you much more than we experience with a limited human concept of family.
Another example…I have family members that have left Christian Science and now use medical means for dealing with bodily problems. Presumably they left CS because of a failure (i.e. delay) to heal something and therefore they felt CS was lacking in some way. But I notice that they experience the same issues using the medical approach. These same family members have issues that have not been healed medically, even though they have been subjected to painful medical procedures and have experienced the negative side effects that sometimes comes with taking medicine. But do they ever consider that medical means are lacking? No!
This practice of viewing the lesser as the greater is perhaps why Mrs. Eddy used the term “Animal MAGNETISM” to describe this phenomenon. There seems to be a magnetic attraction that tricks us into thinking the animal (i.e. the idea we are material and subject to material laws) is better than the spiritual. It is only as we are alert to this trickery and think deeply about our choices that we can make good decisions and accept the truth (the greater) instead of the being tricked into thinking the lesser (i.e. the material) is better than the true spiritual idea.
You made some very good points Brian. Thanks for sharing.
very interesting. I think where the confusion was for me was that I didn’t understand that Jesus was asking me ,for my own salvation, to give up the material world, quit identifying with it. I thought he was asking me to give up all the material comforts and the people I loved,etc. That sounded like lack to me. What he was telling me I must do was to give up looking at life from a material aspect. That the divine ideas of supply, comfort, abundance, love, assurance , joy, long life,health etc. were never touched but had to be perceived from a spiritual perspective. To identify myself as a spiritual being. Looking for freedom, love, assurance, abundance through a material lens would never work. He gave me the Truth to set me free and in order to experience that freedom I needed to give up the material perspective, the lie, the shadow.
Thank you, everyone, for your helpful comments.
I went to Concord Express to look up the word “demands”: (lots of refs!)Here’s one that I found comforting as well as rousing:
“Every day makes its demands upon us for higher proofs rather than professions of Christian power. These proofs consist solely in the destruction of sin, sickness, and death by the power of Spirit, as Jesus destroyed them. This is an element of progress, and progress is the law of God, whose law demands of us only what we can certainly fulfill.
In the midst of imperfection, perfection is seen and acknowledged only by degrees. The ages must slowly work up to perfection. How long it must be before we arrive at the demonstration of scientific being, no man knoweth, — not even “the Son but the Father;” but the false claim of error continues its delusions until the goal of goodness is assiduously earned and won.
“Already the shadow of His right hand rests upon the hour. Ye who can discern the face of the sky, — the sign material, — how much more should ye discern the sign mental, and compass the destruction of sin and sickness by overcoming the thoughts which produce them, and by understanding the spiritual idea which corrects and destroys them. To reveal this truth was our Master’s mission to all mankind, including the hearts which rejected him.”
Science and Health: 233:1-24
Step by step, in joy or struggle, we are being led by divine Love to a full understanding of
what truly is. And we will “get” to where we already “are!”
:<))
Thanks so much, Evan, for this! And Thank you to Jefferson Bethke for having the Courage to put this in words and on video! I believe what Jefferson is talking about is True. The Christian Life is about giving up the human ego, step by step, until we have reached our always present Oneness with God. And the Christian Science religion is no different. We just seem to put more emphasis on Healing through Spiritual means, but actually Spiritual Healing is the way Jesus showed us how to give up our material, carnal beliefs for the Truth. I was just talking with a C.S. Practitioner about how I was carrying around physical, mental and emotional “scars” from childhood and that I truly wanted to let them go! It’s a deep and very personal walk with God! “Let us sing of Easter gladness……Love has rolled the stone away…..”!!!! Happy Easter to All! xoxo
Thank you Evan, for sharing this. Thanks to Diane for comments that were particularly thought-provoking, very helpful, this morning.
Thinking of yielding or “giving up” matter and error as “upload” in the computer sense makes it seem sensible and easy and even fun. I get back a corrected version of Life that I can begin to use right away. Animal magnetism is trying to tell us how hard this is, all the time. I do it anyway, knowing that edits can be made many times to hone and perfect the document of my life. Back in the days before computers, I had to retype my grad school statement 9 times to correct errors because it wasn’t apparent to me yet that doing it on the computer would make it so much easier. What a useful metaphor that has been!
Thanks, Evan