Following Jesus is not for the faint of heart.

Jesus knew this.  He understood that some would find his teachings unpalatable, overly harsh, disconcerting.  Many people in our culture love the idea of following Jesus.  But whenever His teachings are exposed for what they truly are, it has a repelling effect.  This is what we see in John 6.  Right after Jesus gets done teaching that He is “the bread of life,” many of those who were following Jesus “turned back and no longer followed him” (v. 60).

It really doesn’t matter that the stated reason for their refusal to follow Him was based on a misunderstanding of His teaching.  What it really boiled down to was their lack of faith in Him.  A true disciple, when confronted with difficult teachings, doesn’t reject or water down Christ’s words, but seeks understanding and trusts that, even when we don’t understand, Jesus knows what He’s talking about.  AKA, “Jesus said it, I believe it, that settles it!”

This summer at RBC, we are going to consider some of the toughest teachings in the story of God not to stir up controversy, but to “spur one another on to love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24).  Join us!