What do you want to keep?

By Dave Crittenden
Transitional Synod Executive

“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die,” wrote Dietrich Bonhoeffer in The Cost of Discipleship.

I have wrestled with this quote for more than 40 years. I believe it is true with all my heart, but I do not even begin to live it. I really want to keep my life and everything else I have labeled mine since I could first say the word. The majority of the 40 years I thought it was about giving until I realized you can only give your all when you are willing to risk not keeping anything.

How much we want to keep is a question we have to answer for ourselves. The answer involves what you really desire to keep – not what should you keep, not what would look good and not even what would make the most sense.

We almost always want to keep very nearly everything. When the crops are plentiful we want to store the abundance in silos.

Jesus told his disciples to leave their families and jobs to follow him. Most of us would not even entertain the thought. He asks us to be willing to give our lives – “… none of you who are unwilling to give up all of your possessions can be my disciple” (Luke 14:33).

Most of us are like the young man who inquired of Jesus what else was needed to attain treasure in heaven after doing everything the law required. The young man failed because he could not give his possessions away.  In the end we want what we have more than anything else – even more than the promises of Christ.

We are obsessed with having. We are reluctant to give too much of our time, ideas, plans, space or relationships. It is obvious that keeping what we have is a barrier to giving, but it is also a barrier to change.

As long as we want to keep what we have we even have trouble thinking about how things might be different or better. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is looking for a new way to be church. Congregations are looking for what they are called to be in a time when being Christian is countercultural. Presbyteries, Synods and the national expressions of the church are seeking the best way to serve congregations. The conversation needs to be around how much we want to keep.

When we can all honestly say nothing we can begin to see God’s vision for the future.