A Crisis Of Faith

Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you going to leave, too?” Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You alone have the words that give eternal life.” John 6:67-68

For the twelve disciples, following Jesus had become more and more difficult. There was an escalating price to pay. Following him had become unpopular, and most people had decided that it wasn’t worth it. Then Jesus created a crisis of faith in their hearts when he pointedly asked, “Are you going to leave, too?”

We will all face a crisis of faith sometime. One day I spoke with a young man who was having one of his own.

Jason was a troubled young man who lived with bitterness in his heart toward his abusive father. Jason felt justified in hating his father, and he began rebelling. He started dressing in dark clothes, and he mistreated his mother, even though he desperately wanted her to love him.

“Jason, I think I know what is really wrong,” I told him. “It’s your bitterness toward your dad. You put up this rough exterior, but I think you are just hiding behind all of that.”

Jason’s gaze went to the floor, and for an instant his heart softened. In a flash of vulnerability he admitted that I was right. But then his expression hardened, and he defiantly told me, “I can never forgive him.”

That day Jesus asked Jason the same question he asks each of us: “Are you going to leave, too?” Sadly, Jason walked away from his chance to know Christ at that time in his life. For him, the price of walking with Jesus was forgiving his father, and that was too high a price to pay.

Daily following Jesus means paying a price—the price of faith, the price of perseverance, the price of obedience, the price of forgiveness. Ask yourself, “Am I willing to pay that price?”

Jesus, may I always walk with you, no matter what the price.