The “Last”
No, this won’t be my last blog post (unless I die tomorrow), in case the title threw you off. I’m talking about Christians. We’re the “Last.” It’s a theme that seems to be coming up for me today. So why are Christians last? There are at least 4 reasons…
Reason #1: We’ve given up everything
“Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you” (Mark 10:28
Reason #2: We live a pitiable life to the rest of the world.
“Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection from the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:12-19)
The world says,
“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” 1 Corinthians 15:32
The Christian essentially says,
“Let us not eat and drink, for tomorrow we live!”
Based on the context of the verses, “eating and drinking” doesn’t refer to literal eating and drinking for sustenance, but rather refers to “go on sinning” or giving in to our fleshy desires as if there is no consequence.
Reason #3: We are the refuse of all things. Fools.
”For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we are in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things” (1 Corinthians 4:6-13)
It’s true that not all of us are apostles, but these are common (some more common than others) experiences for all Christians.
Reason #4: Many of us were chosen “underdogs.”
“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth” (1 Corinthians 1:26).
Those verses speak for themselves. In summary, being last means some hardship, selflessness, suffering, persecution, giving up everything, and sometimes death. It is normal as Christians to experience these things and feel the cornucopia of emotions that go along with it, but take heart, Christian! What is on the other side of those verses? Work back from the top…
The other side of Reason #1: “We’ve given up everything.”
(Look at the verses that follow Mark 10:28):
“Jesus said, ‘Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time…and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first” (Mark 10:29-31).
The other side of Reason #2: “We live a pitiable life to the rest of the world.”
“You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound” (Psalm 4:7)
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).
The other side of Reason #3: “We are the refuse of all things. Fools.”
“For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance of death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.
The other side of Reason #4: “Many of us were chosen underdogs…
(Look at the verses that follow 1 Corinthians 1:26)
“But God chose what is foolish to the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
So it’s true that we are last in this life, but we are first in the next. Again, it’s one of those paradoxical truths of Christianity. Jesus is worth being “last,” for. That’s the best thing we get for being last. He’s the ultimate possession. We become “first” because we get him. Jesus became the ultimate “Last,” so that we could become first. Those truths have to resonate with us at all times, and especially during our seasons of life where we really feel like we are dead last.