Are You Ready To Eat Rattlesnake?

Don (my travel companion) and I recently got back from a trip to Hugoton, KS. We visited its First Christian Church and were invited to take part in a Wild Game Feed on Saturday evening -- a men only event (comparable to a baby shower?). Besides the food being excellent, I was asked to give a presentation on Leadership. In this case I addressed the Leadership Dilemma we have in the church, or should I say our Lack of Leadership Dilemma?

Anyway, back to the food -- wild game, possible road kill, etc. -- for a second. I ate, for the first time in my life, two items that were on the menu (which included many different varieties of wild game: elk, deer, salmon, walleye, various stews, etc.). The two new items for my palate were rattlesnake, and something known as "sheep fries" by those in the wild game feed venue. The rattlesnake did not taste like chicken (a common association of taste, made to anything that you have never eaten at a wild game feed) but more of a bland non-distinctive tasting item. The sheep fries were excellent! I can’t describe the taste other than they were excellent. Sheep fries (the nice generic name for this dish), which are actually . . . okay, don’t read the rest of this unless you want to be grossed out . . . this is a man’s thing -- sheep testicles were quite tasty. To eat such things, one has to be a bit radical.

Speaking of radical….
Matthew 4:19-20 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed Him.” Jesus calls and without praying, without seeking advice or counsel, without checking their calendars for upcoming fishing competitions, the disciples were radical and just followed Jesus. Radical discipleship, how would you define it? And once you defined it, would you qualify? And along with this radical obedience came a radical adjustment of their attitudes toward reaching out and sharing the Good News with the people they came into contact with. Evangelism was at the heart of the call, which would be radical in a lot of churches and disciples that we run into in our travels. Radical discipleship is further exemplified by the Master himself.

As I continue my reading in Matthew I find out as you would that Jesus did not hesitate to become “unclean” in performing miracles. Jesus does this on numerous occasions (just to mention the few I touched on in Matthew 7), the leper, and going to the home of a Roman centurion. Then you have to personalize the question, do I hesitate to become “unclean” when doing ministry, or when being a radical disciple? What does becoming “unclean” look like in practical terms? Becoming unclean in Jesus’ days were doing things that where culturally prohibited for the Jews. You would be looked down upon, scorned, and rejected. I don't think I have ever done anything that would lead me to become "unclean" within my cultural context how about you?
 

What would be some examples of personal actions we would perform that would be “unclean” within our personal cultural context? A Christ follower, giving his whole pay check to a homeless person in need? A Christ follower, giving a kidney away to save a complete stranger, who was gay? A Christ follower, selling his house that is worth $250,000 and moving into a house that cost $100,000 and giving the profits to God’s Kingdom? A Christ follower, praying for and loving His enemies? A Christ follower who would…. It just dawned on me that to become “unclean” in Jesus day would mean that we would break the law, the Jewish law.

Does that mean for us to become “unclean”

 in our culture we would break the law of the United States?

 How can we overcome acedia and become more radical disciples of Jesus Christ? I don’t think that eating rattlesnake or sheep fries would be against the law, but are you ready to try some?