Georgia's Mom called me today. Maybe you guys don't know this, but she is a UMC pastor. She took a leave of absence to raise babies for a while, but now her son is in kindergarten (!) and she's back to work. Anyway. Georgia's Mom called me today to say, "I stood in the pulpit on Sunday and told my congregation that I am an admirer of Jesus. But I cannot look at what he said, look at my life, and say with a clear conscience that I am a follower of Jesus."

Wow.

Can I?

I tried to reason with her. "What about Naomi and Ruth?" I said. "What about ordinary faithfulness?"

To which she replied, "That's all fine and good. But Jesus didn't really say that, did he? Is it possible that we could be called to leave everything and follow him, then go on with business as usual? With an 'ordinary faithfulness'?"

Indeed, no.