When is it time to cut the rope?

Hollywood does a great job of dramatizing apocalyptic events these days. Special effects have come so far in just the last ten years or so that it makes things seem pretty realistic. Case-in-point: have you ever seen The Day After Tomorrow, with Dennis Quaid? In the movie, global warming eventually causes the ice age (because, science!). Quaid's character, a climatologist for NORAD, winds up going to New York to rescue his son from the impending doom of rapidly plunging temperatures.

In one scene, while headed north, he and his band of daring rescue workers are walking over a shopping mall with a glass roof. They did not know this as the mall was covered by snow and ice. One of them falls through the roof and is dangling by a rope, attached to the other two men, above the food court far below. It becomes apparent that the other two are not going to be able to haul the man and his sled and equipment back up, and they are in danger of being dragged down with the man. So he reaches up with his knife and cuts the rope, falling to his death but saving the other two.

I'm not sure this scene illustrates the point I'm about to make perfectly, but it's the best I could think of at the moment. Imagine yourself holding a heavy bag that is dangling over a deep precipice. In your mind, there's stuff in that bag that's very important to you. But is the stuff so important that you're willing to go down with it? It's apparent that if you don't either cut the rope or let go, you're doom is sealed. Can you cut the rope?

It's easy to say, "Yeah, nothing's that important!" But consider the Sanhedrin in John 11:45-54. Every evidence that could be given was given to them that Jesus was Messiah, the Son of God. Freedom could be found in Him alone, but here was a bunch of important people who simply could not cut the rope of their background, religious expectations, and prejudice. Here's what author Ellen White says about it in The Desire of Ages...

“Under the impression of the Holy spirit, the priests and rulers could not banish the conviction that they were fighting against God.” (page 539)

And yet, "He who walked upon the heaving billows, and by a word silenced their angry roaring, who cast out devils that in departing acknowledged Him to be the Son of God, who broke the slumbers of the dead, who held thousands entranced by His words of wisdom, was unable to reach the hearts of those who were blinded by prejudice and hatred, and who stubbornly rejected the light.” (page 541)

There comes a point in time where it seems you either cut the rope or go down with the weight. That weight could be any number of things: personal ideas and opinions, family background, religious or cultural expectations, jobs, relationships, activities... Really, just about anything that keeps us from accepting Jesus fully: His light, His life... Jesus ALL.

That's harder stuff to swallow than it appears at first glance. I'm part of a church that I've loved most of my life. It's a church that has a history of embracing God's Word and truth as it is seen in Jesus. It is now 150 years old (the last three days being its anniversary, founded as an official denomination in1863). The message and movement of Adventism is unique and, I feel, God-breathed and ordained. But we aren't the first people to have experienced something like this.

Consider the Jews themselves. Fathered by one man who was given a huge promise. Anointed, if you will, to bless all nations. God's very own people with a very unique and spectacular message. Yet led by people who were, well, people, there was quite a bit of evil that snuck into their history. When it came time to cut the rope, with the Son of God in their very midst, they (at least as a nation/religion/movement) couldn't do it, and the weight of their expectations and history dragged them over the edge--away from Jesus.

Don't ever get so enamored with a movement of people that you can't cut the rope. Why? Because, people are, well, people, and evil and deception will sneak into the ranks (and the "ranks" throughout history tend to be very confident with themselves and their interpretations of right, wrong, Scripture, God's leading, etc.). What's in the bag simply isn't that important, and you simply can't stuff Jesus Himself in the bag--He's too big for that.

I'm glad He's too big for that. That way it's possible to keep my eyes on Him and not on what's behind me. That way I can let go if the bag if necessary and cling to and depend on Jesus.

If it's not "Jesus. ALL."--all things understood in Jesus, all things collapsing without Jesus--let go of the bag. There's nothing in there worth getting dragged over the edge for. Not a relationship, not a church, not a job, and not a history.

Jesus. ALL.