In western society there's a form of Christianity that has no basis in fact.
People take some verses of Scripture and ignore other ones entirely. It's sometimes called “cherry picking”.
Take, for example, Chapter 11 of Hebrews. It starts one way and then takes a dramatic turn—as indicated in our verses for today. The early verses focus on the stories of glorious conquests in the name of the Lord, but then we come to this phrase “and others”.
We then read a series of stories about those who led horrific lives and were living in caves or prisons, were stoned to death, were subjected to floggings, and who had nothing but animal skins for clothing, and more.
How does this description compare to the TV preacher who tells us that God wants us to be happy, healthy, successful, with lots of money in the bank, and so on? Would those preachers tell the “and others” how to get released from prison, or get new wardrobes, or how to avoid being flogged and stoned to death and so on?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (the great German theologian of the 20th century) once said, "Jesus tells us to come unto Him and die". Ironically, that's exactly what happened to that saintly man of God.
Hitler had him imprisoned because he dared to publicly oppose the Third Reich. After many months of being imprisoned he was executed, dying for his faith.
Today you may be living in the first part of Hebrews 11. If so, you need to avoid being a Scrooge and instead be like some of histories wealthy believers (who gave away as much as 90% of their annual income) to support needy people around the world. Don't be spiritually ruined by your material prosperity .
If you're more like the “and others”, you can take heart, because the One you serve had only the clothes on His back and had no place to “lay” His head. Also your lowly estate has not yet caused you torture or imprisonment.
Today is your kind of Christianity the sanitized or laundered version? Or is it the biblical one?
Can you regard earthly possessions as dung (the way Paul did)? Are your treasures being laid up in the bank or heaven?
“More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them mere rubbish, so that I may gain Christ…” Philippians 3:8 (NASB)
