Combating expectations as young Christians

I teach Luke in college class every Sunday morning, while I was reading through Luke 6 and this passage in particular last night something occurred to me.  It reads

²⁷ “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. ²⁹ If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. ³¹ Do to others as you would have them do to you.

  ³² “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. ³³ And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. ³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. ³⁵ But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. ³⁶ Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

The first thing that stood out to me after reading this passage again is that the reason we are supposed to live this radically is because it separates us from Sinners. Simply saying we are Christians now a days holds no meaning because of all the hypocrisy surrounding it. I read somewhere today that said 76% of Americans identify themselves as some type of Christian. So how do we stand out from the hypocrites then if our words hold no value? How do we identify ourselves as real Christians when everyone is a “Christian?” He explains it here, it’s by our actions and our lifestyle. We are called to live differently from sinners, called to live radically. I mean to literally love your enemies and those who hate you, talk about getting yourself noticed. If Jesus came down simply to tell us how to live and didn’t live it out himself would his words be so powerful? No, the reason Jesus’ life is so remarkable and inspirational to us because he lived out the words he preached, he showed people what it means to live radically. 

The second part that stood out to me was “Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. ³⁶ Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” Basically this passage can summarize God’s relationship with humans. HE loves us despite those who do not love him. He gives to us and expects nothing in return when all we do is take. He blesses us when we curse him.

So why do we need to live like this then, because God lives this way with us! If we are to truly be God like let’s follow his example. Let’s get attention for our radical lives, let’s show the world we are Christians by how we choose to live!