How far are you willing to go to find God?

You have heard that it was said, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY"; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.
Matthew 5:27-30 NASB

You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility towards God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the scripture speaks to no purpose: "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us"? James 4:4-5 NASB

Jesus shows the seriousness of not just the external act of adultery, but the internal desire that leads to adultery. God sees both of these as worthy of hell, of eternal separation from Him, and all the torment that this separation entails. A man (and by implication a woman), as far as Jesus is concerned, should be willing to go to whatever lenghts necessary to separate and disassociate from not only sin, but causes of sin. True, Jesus used hyperbole to make points, but I believe that He means what He says. If our right eye or hand literally made us sin, and if gouging an eye or cutting off a hand would literally remove causes of sin, then we should literally do what Jesus said. The point is that sin is serious and avoiding it should be done, no matter how painful or inconvenient.

James, the brother of Jesus, calls those who desire friendship with this ungodly world "adulteresses." Many times in the scripture God speaks of Himself as a husband and His people as His bride or wife. Idolatry is considered spiritual adultery, unfaithfulness to God, a lack of pure devotion and dedication, the kind expected between wives and husbands. Again the seriousness of this is expressed. There is no in between, one is either God's friend or God's enemy, a friend of the world or an enemy of the world. The world in this passage could be compared to an adulteror, and God's people to an adulteress.

Surely if in human marriages Christ expects men and women to do whatever is necessary to be faithul to each other, internally and externally, then the same applies to our Heavenly Husband.

Lately I reflect on how no one taught me this. I learned to believe in Jesus and have a guarantee of heaven. But I did not learn devotion, the kind of devotion that is expected between even non-christian wives and husbands; even between "boyfriends and girlfriends." Shows like Jerry Springer, Maury Povich, Cheaters, and other "reality" shows assume that faithfulness is possible; so do the countless "you cheated on me" songs. Yet I was taught that perfect faithfulness to God and my wife was not possible, that Christian's are not "sinless, we just sin less;" not "perfect, just forgiven." But what husband or wife can remain married to a partner that says from day one, at the altar, "I don't have to commit adultery, but I'm going to commit adultery. After all, nobody's perfect?" A marriage cannot exist in a state of perpetual adultery, unfaithfulness. Neither can a relationship with God exist in this state.

But how far are we willing to go?

How far am I willing to go to be faithful to my God and my wife?

Am I willing to refuse to watch certain shows or look at certain magazines? Am I willing to avoid certain places and people? Am I willing to forsake all others until death?

Am I willing to experience rejection, suffering, and literal death for Christ and for the sake of His message?

This is normal marriage and normal discipleship. From the beginning a husband and wife should understand the seriousness of their vows. And from the beginning a disciple of Jesus should understand that one, according to Jesus, CANNOT be His disciple if he or she does not deny him or herself, accept rejection, suffering, and literal death (the cross) and follow Jesus, no matter what the consequences of following Him may be.

How far are you willing to go?