No Turning Back!

In these times of political unrest and upheaval, and apparently irrevocable change, my thoughts turn to a piece I wrote under this heading many years ago.  I had just replaced the van that I used for my work.  I had covered over 141,000 miles in the old one, a Renault, and in that time I’d got to know its foibles, reluctances and shortcomings very well.  At the time I was writing, I was getting used to its replacement, the first of a sequence of Vauxhalls that I would drive for the next ten years. 

Whenever you change from one vehicle to another, you notice the differences between the two and I found myself thinking, ‘I used to have room there for such and such,’ or, ‘this is awkward; it wasn’t so much trouble before.’  But I soon realised that there were reasons for things working the way they did, and benefits that accompanied those apparent ‘quirks’.  I found that, to get the best out of the new van, I had to follow the intentions of the manufacturers, and do things their way ... revising my own habits as necessary.

St. Paul found that the people of Corinth had much the same problem regarding this new religion he had foisted upon them.  Corinth was a busy commercial hub in the ancient world; a major seaport and trade centre, it was the most important place in Achaia.  Like any cosmopolitan city,  it had become the focus of a variety of cultures and a wide mix of beliefs and moral attitudes.  The new converts to Christianity were trying to combine their new faith with all the ways of life and pagan rituals they’d been used to.

Paul addressed some of these matters in a letter to them, pointing out that, although they had been ‘washed … sanctified … justified’ (II Cor.6:11), in many ways their behaviour was no different from what it had been before.  In other words, they hadn’t learned the rules of the new management; they were still trying to work the old system, or in the terms that I was thinking then, still trying to use the old van.

Forgive me for making a reference here to my own background in a farming community.  From time to time notices would appear in the local paper about a forthcoming ‘Drawing Match’.  Competitors would try to plough (or draw) a furrow across the field as nearly straight as possible, and winners might expect to deviate by only millimetres over a distance of several hundred metres!  This recollection illustrates a very telling comment that Jesus made when it came to following the ‘Way’, as the early church was known.

Someone had undertaken boldly to follow Him wherever he might go.  Jesus’ response to him hinted at some of the difficulties this might entail.  He invited others to follow Him, who offered family excuses for hesitation or delay.  He told them “No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62).  His hearers would understand the importance of looking forward when ploughing; they could also relate such an attitude to the need to keep focussed on the way ahead if they were going to change the course of their lives.

We would do well to follow the same principle: if we adopt the ‘Jesus label’ for ourselves, we must apply it to every part of our lives, not contrive some adaptation to accommodate some of the more tasty elements of a past life.