What's Your Red-Line?
- Kingdom Kulture
- Jun 19
- 4 min read
All around the world, we see presidents and dictators drawing a red line at what they deem to be the final straw on what their country is willing to tolerate. We are constantly hearing the standard that countries are setting to maintain what they feel is the sovereignty of the country. Some dictators and prime ministers are even willing to resort to using nuclear weapons if they feel as though their country's sovereignty has been threatened.
A thought comes to mind: Where has the red line gone for the Christians of the western parts of the world? What does it take for a believer to determine an action worthy of a nuclear response?
Many "believers" have maintained the status quo of life and have began to drift away from their faith without even realizing it. We have adopted a blasphemous version of the Gospel that allows us to keep our life and our own personal desires while still claiming to cling to the feet of Christ.
Some of Jesus' most famous words are, "Not My will but Your will be done, Father." Instead of echoing this sentiment in our hearts and lives, we have used it merely as a phrase to commensurate the life of Jesus and not our own.
We have allowed our careers to dictate our spiritual life. Our careers tell us how long we can pray, the days we are allowed to go to church, and how often we can congregate amongst ourselves as "believers." We have allowed the systems and cultures of this world to diminish the sovereignty that Jesus has in our hearts. Our prayers have become one-way phone calls to God with little to no response because our lives have shown God the lack of reverential fear we have for His beloved Son.
In the Bible, we constantly see the great men and women of faith drawing red lines when it came to their faith in God.
"16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, it is not necessary for us to answer you on this point. 17 If our God Whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up! 19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury and his facial expression was changed [to antagonism] against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Therefore he commanded that the furnace should be heated seven times hotter than it was usually heated. 20 And he commanded the strongest men in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace." - Daniel 3:16-20 AMPC
Oftentimes, we say we would have the faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, but what have we allowed to come in between our worship to God? We have focused so much attention on worshiping God with our hands that we have forgotten to give Him our hearts.
Jesus has many people come up to Him wanting to follow Him and become His disciple (Christian), but He first lists some of His own redlines for the types of followers He wanted.
"57 And it occurred that as they were going along the road, a man said to Him, Lord, I will follow You wherever You go. 58 And Jesus told him, Foxes have lurking holes and the birds of the air have roosts and nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head. 59 And He said to another, Become My disciple, side with My party, and accompany Me! But he replied, Lord, permit me first to go and bury (await the death of) my father. 60 But Jesus said to him, Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and publish abroad throughout all regions the kingdom of God. 61 Another also said, I will follow You, Lord, and become Your disciple and side with Your party; but let me first say good-bye to those at my home. 62 Jesus said to him, No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back [to the things behind] is fit for the kingdom of God." - Luke 9:57-62 AMPC
Jesus has a list of redlines for the type of followers He wants and accepts. It is not possible for us to truly follow Jesus without having these redlines in place in our own lives.
There were also crowds of people that haven taken interest in following Christ. These are some more redlines that Jesus gives them.
"26 If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his [own] father and mother in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God] and [likewise] his wife and children and brothers and sisters—[yes] and even his own life also—he cannot be My disciple. 27 Whoever does not persevere and carry his own cross and come after (follow) Me cannot be My disciple." - Luke 14:26-27 AMPC
The reality is that everyone can claim to be walking with Jesus because we can't presently see Him today. However, Jesus says that we will know them based off of the fruit that they manifest.
"17 And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages; 18 They will pick up serpents; and [even] if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will get well. 19 So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and He sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord kept working with them and confirming the message by the attesting signs and miracles that closely accompanied [it]. Amen (so be it)." - Mark 16:17-20 AMPC
If we are claiming to follow Jesus without placing these redlines in our lives, we are not actually following Jesus but simply taking the long way to a lake that is engulfed in flames.
Question of the Day: Do you have a red-line? Or do you only pray to Jesus before bed time?
