When I read the Gospels I am often taken by surprise by what Jesus says and does. Rather than offering his followers a life of certainty and ease, he invites them to ‘take up your cross and follow me’. This has become such a familiar phrase that it has lost its power to shock us. What Jesus was saying was ‘pick up the instrument of your own death and follow me to the place of execution.’ Hardly the most appealing invitation!
And yet people flocked to Him. In Jesus they saw life with meaning and purpose, even in the midst of uncertainty and suffering. In Jesus they saw life as it could and should be. And this life was lived out in the midst of pain and grief bringing hope and transformation. This has been the call of the followers of Jesus throughout the centuries and it remains our call today.
For me, being obedient to this call of Jesus to follow Him, even into places of pain and suffering, has meant standing up for the oppressed. This partly stems from my own experience of the brutality of General Idi Amin in Uganda, but also a genuine passion to help those in difficult times at home and overseas. Our common humanity compels us not to pass by on the other side.