the spotlight and the pin-prick: the cost of true pursuit

So I spent some time conversing with this guy...

And then I read this post...

It is in that fuzzy context that I share this with you:

I yearn for more "followers of the way" to be consumed by the single-minded pursuit. I am starting to wonder if the "risk" of modern-day christianity isn't a simple opportunity/cost model…

If you really "sell out" and live for the glory of God above all else, you are going to lose out on a lot of things that enhance worldly quality of life (not simply a material statement, but in general). The cause of Christ is so compelling that it might steal (through re-direction) all sorts of other wondrous paths that we might have been able to search out. What a true "laser focus" really does is limit the options one can see. A spotlight becomes a pin-prick and we begin to squirm. Humans value multiple options to a highly irrational level (research by Dan Ariely presented in his book Predictably Irrational was brilliant on this).

It is as if we are standing at a particular vista and it is a spectacular scene. Still, we sense that there may be more incredible sights around the corner on the unknown path. That would, however, require leaving the one we are currently contented with and risking all of the other options that come with the path we are currently on. A move would change the scope (a possibly the breadth) of our array of future choices.

Therefore, we choose to limit our exposure/commitment to Christ's all-consuming cause, in order to keep a broad swath of options open. Like naughty children, we attempt to attain the line at which we can get away with slovenly life and still be accepted as followers. And the majority of us live there. The opportunity for true "life in Christ" costs us so much of our freedom and independence. We are, especially in the western world, unwilling to give up such things.

So we stand here, a thousand lost souls, seeking to serve both self and the Sovereign.