‘Oh’, we say, ‘Is this the respect in which we want to resemble our Lord?’ It is not the first thing that we think of in being like him, but it is the pathway we must travel while we are on earth. Later will come exaltation, but for now we are called to be like him in this respect, and that should be no cause of shame to us. He has made it far easier for us to suffer scorn, because he has suffered it first. Our admiration of him and our love for him is not in the least diminished by the fact that he has been called Beelzebub. We know how to discount the foolish assessment of the world which does not know him, and neither does it know us, therefore we must dismiss the abuse we receive from the world for Christ’s sake. But at the same time we should expect it. If we are like our Master and our Lord, then the world is going to see a resemblance between us and him, and it is predictable that they will treat us in the same way as him. For now, we suffer with him; later we will be glorified with him. If we are not prepared to suffer the rejection of the world now, how can we expect to enjoy the honour of the Father in the world to come? This then is the glory and the honour of the disciple: to be like his Lord in the persecution which he experiences.
You get those who are rich pastors. Who do they think they are? A servant is not above his lord. If the Lord was content to live a simple life without riches or finery, then he has set a pattern for all who would serve him, and we cannot expect to have a completely different standard of living. If his life was a life that was free from the trapping of wealth, then so should ours be. He did not follow this lifestyle for no reason. ‘Behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses’ (Matthew 11:8). Our lifestyle should reflect our message.