What Price Obedience?

When we usually ask, "What does my obedience to God cost?" it seems that we point to things that we have to give up in order to satisfy the demands of obedience. Oswald Chambers takes a different approach. In My Utmost for His Highest, Chambers makes the point that our obedience costs us nothing because obedience is the best and highest response of the subject to the King. But Chambers poses the question, "What does our obedience cost others?"

None of us lives and functions in a vacuum, so the decisons and choices that we make have an impact on others. This is not news to any of us. The decision to spend time on a home project means that there is less time to spend with a friend or family member--or on another project. The decision to spend a dollar in one place means that the dollar is no longer available for other uses. A choice to take a certain job may mean moving to a new location--with attendant consequences for friends and family. So too with spiritual choices--and obedience is primarily a spiritual choice.

Should the cost of my obedience to others be factor in my ultimate decision of whether to choose the obedient course of action? Likewise, should the cost of my disobedience to others be a similar factor? For example, if I knew that making a disobedient choice would remove me from a place of God's blessing in some area of my life--with the corresponding loss for my family--shouldn't that motivate me to choose obedience? (That one is easy.) But what if my obedience will cause changes for my family that they are not excited about, or that they are opposed to? I would contend that I must choose obedience, despite the difficulties to others. But at some level doesn't that sound a bit selfish?

I get the benefits of obedience while my wife or kids or friends "suffer" the consequences of my obedience. They may be uprooted from their social, school, work, and church networks. Is that really fair? (DISCLAIMER TO MY FAMILY: I am not considering a major transition that will have these direct effects on your life in the near future. You may resume normal breathing.) Was it "fair" to Abraham's family that they should leave Ur and travel to some place that they had never seen at the direction of a God they didn't really even know? Was it fair to Noah's wife and kids to expose them to ridicule for their Dad's construction project--undertaken to address a natural phenomenon that had never occurred? Was it fair that the apostle Peter had to leave his family behind for much of his post-Jesus life in order to do what he was called to do? Was it fair to the families of the martyrs to lose a father or mother or sibling, when a few simple words of recanting would have spared them from the trauma? In the face of costly obedience, what better opportunity to talk with our kids about what obedience to God is really all about?

I suppose that ultimately "doing right" is not always fair--never has been; never will be. But it is still always right.

Press On!