Dared to Move

Clearly the Switchfoot hype I experienced last week still has'nt died down. I was listening to their most successful hit "Dare You to Move" and I found a familiar passage in the Bible that has striking clear parrallels to the song. The Story is found in the Gospel of Matthew (19:16-30) about the Rich Young Man.

"Now a man came up to Jesus and asked "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
"Why do you ask me about what is good?"
"Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandents."
"Which ones?" the man inquired.
Jesus replied, "Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honour your father and mother, and love your neighbour as yourself."
"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"
"If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possesions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me." When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. Matt 19:16-22

Three things occured to me in this story:

1) You can only serve one Master (v21-24)
When Jesus addresed the young man in verse 21, "sell your possesions.." he challenged the young man's heart. The young man claimed, he kept the observable commandments but Jesus did not ask him what he did( whether he was obedient to his parents or if he stole) but rather where his heart lay. "If you observe the commandents as you claim and want to inherit eternal life, then give up your possesions and follow me." When the young man heard this, "he went away sad," his heart was in debt to his material possesions as opposed to his need to find eternal life (See Mark 10:17,22a).

2) The young man was "Dared to Move" (v20,21)
Jesus did not ask, he told the young man, "sell your possesions and give to the poor, and your will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me." This was the only challenge Jesus laid down for the young man. Look beyond the life what you already aquired, leave it all behind and "then follow me." According to the Gospel of Luke 18:20 we are told that the Rich ruler knew the commandments. The challenge scared the young man because it defied his logic of "what good thing he must do to get eternal life."(v16). There is "no good thing" we could ever do to get us into heaven. We cannot save ourselves. Verse 21, is the most critcal verse when looking at the passage. We have one question. We are all given the same one answer. The key is how do we respond to Jesus? Is it the mehighway or follow Jesus's way ?The Gospel of Mark adds that Jesus looked at the young man and loved him. "One thing you lack, he said.Go , sell everything you have..." (Mark 10:21)

3) There is Hope (v29)
Jesus gives us a promise of eternal life. "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life." If want to inherit eternal life, the hope I can offer you is that love Jesus exclusively as your Lord and Savior and not inclusively. You can only serve one master.

When Jon Foreman was interviewed about the album a Beautiful Letdown he said, "Alot of times, often songs are iniatially written for myself even, Dare You to Move, you know that is for my own soul.To get up in the morning and to seek out what matters. Change is a risk espically in our own soiceity. Its a risk to put yourself right on the edge. That's what it takes."

-Lloyd