There Is No Inconvenience Too Great For Godliness

We often show what is important to us by what we do. It’s easy to say, “I want to please the Lord more than anything else,” but it’s another thing to act like it. I had a friend tell me the other day that he did not have an internet browser on his phone. He also didn’t have the password to change that setting. He had delegated that off to his wife. We were talking with a younger guy, and he said, “What do you do when you get a link in your text messages? Can you even click on it? Isn’t that annoying?” The response was, “Yes. It’s annoying, but I just can’t see it.” This is one example of a really godly principle that this displays: There is no inconvenience too great for godliness.

We love comfort. We love the path of least resistance. But here’s the question for a Christian: What wouldn’t you do to be godly? Is there anything too hard? Is there any inconvenience too great? When Jesus says to cut off hands and pluck out eyes, He’s not saying it with a wink. He’s communicating something deadly serious. We can’t wear kid gloves when dealing with sin. Sin leads to hell. What would we wish we had done if we were to find ourselves there? Would we wish we had taken less drastic measures? Would we wish for more screen time? Will we care if people thought we were strange? William Gurnall says it well: “Many lose heaven because they are ashamed to go in a fool’s coat thither.”

And we radically pursue godliness not only because of the reality of hell, but also because of the loveliness of God. Is He not the Beloved King (Psalm 45), and like the pearl of great price (Matt 13:46)? Is He not the One who is “majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders” (Ex 15:11)? He is the only wise God (Rom 16:27), and the only Savior (Isa 43:11). He is before all things and above all things (Col 1:17). He is the One whom my soul loves (Song 3:1-4), and He is “with me as a dread warrior” (Jer 20:11). Is there anything so valuable as Him? Is there anything so precious? Like Paul, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” (Phil 3:8).

No, there is no inconvenience too great for godliness. In my most rational mind, I would rather be inconvenienced a thousand times over than to miss Christ. I would rather lose all comforts in order to be like Him. Is an app on your phone really worth it? Is there anything worth keeping at the loss of godliness? Is your ego or your status too important to you? By the power of the Spirit, in light of the gospel, take a stand. Be inconvenienced. Be considered weird. Cry out to God for help against all manner of sin and weights that would keep you from running your race well, and consider what real, practical steps you can take to be more like Jesus. He has promised to help you (Rom 8:29), so walk in the reality of the promise of God. “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it” (1 Thess5:23-24).

Jacob Crouch 2023