This is similar to the story of the rich young man, (Mark 10: 17-25) who says to Jesus, that ever since he was a young boy, he has obeyed all of Jesus’ examples and commandments. He asks him, therefore, how can he get into heaven, to which Jesus replies, “Go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me,” (Mark 10:21). The man went away sad because he was very rich. This shows us that although times may have changed, some situations have not. Distractions due to wealth were apparent then as well as now.
Modern day disciples cannot accompany Jesus in the flesh, and the disciples back then did have an easier job. More people were willing to listen to them, whereas nowadays people don’t want to listen because they feel that they haven’t got time to stop their busy schedule. It is sad that we would be seen as, ‘strange’ if we did stop and listen because it is not ‘cool’ or ‘trendy’ to be into religion anymore. The youth of today and the future will have an even harder job, because the more time Jesus is away from us (in the flesh), the less people tend to believe that Jesus even existed, or that discipleship was ever commonly or openly practised.
Some of the things that modern day Christians can do to help, is to get younger children more involved. The Catholic church have a policy of, “get them while their young!” because if the church’s community can help to see that a young child gets a good upbringing into the church’s community, that can be the foundations on which that child can grow to be a modern day disciple.
On the other hand; Mother Teresa of Calcutta came through the distractions of the modern day world, and instead of setting herself up to lead a nice peaceful life; she chose to fight for the people who needed her help. While serving as principal of a Roman Catholic high school in Calcutta, she was moved by the presence of the sick and dying on the city's streets. In 1948 she was granted permission to leave her post at the convent and begin a ministry among the sick. She was forced to scale down her activities because of declining health, and after four decades of service to the poor, Mother Teresa stepped down from her role as administrator of the order in 1990. In recognition of her efforts she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.
This shows us that it is not impossible to overcome the ‘barriers’ between ourselves and God.
Only true disciples can turn away from the world’s constant distractions, and although they cannot ignore them, they can still choose to do the right thing. The disciples were not perfect; but they didn’t claim to be. They may have made mistakes; but they were only human. Many of them went on to be, and do great things, which, personally, I think gives hope to all of us.
