I have been thinking: What if Jesus were alive today? I've come to the conclusion that if Jesus were among us, we (the Church) would probably hate him. Perhaps we would crucify him. I mean, how could we follow someone who loves people who are so messed up?
Insert your sin here in the blank: Why would Jesus love a __________________.
Did you insert Atheist? Gay? Muslim? Murderer? Adulterer? Drunk, fornicator, swearer?
One of the many reasons people cannot relate with the church is that church presents itself (and it's followers) as somehow better, more righteous and deserving. People in the church don't drink, smoke, swear or think bad thoughts. That's why they are saved. And that's why the rest of you are going to Hell.
Watch this video with Jars of Clay lead singer Dan Haseltine. He makes a great point. A lot of people cannot relate to the church. The church isn't real. In turn the church doesn't relate to a lot of people.
Luke 7:41-42 says: Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denari, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back,
so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?
Simon Peter answers the one who had the bigger debt forgiven. He was right.
Christ has canceled the debt of all of us. Only when we realize how great the our own debts were can we recognize the Grace that was given to us. My friend Brian says to this effect: if you believe you are 90 percent good, you only need a 10 percent Jesus. I believe that more people would follow Jesus if we would sell them a 100 percent Jesus. Instead, the church sells a 10 percent Savior-- with the other 90 percent taken care of by our good works, righteousness, steadfast prayer and all those other wonderful holy things we do. If you would stop being you and start being us, then you could get this deal too.
In college, I attended a David Wilcox concert. I love the guy, he plays great melodies, writes amazing lyrics and ends up with relevant music. Many of his songs are spiritual with heavy Christian undertones (see Fearless Love, Hold it up to the Light). After the show, my friend asked him if he was a Christian. He responded that he does not like to answer that question. The reason was because the question too often was less about whether he loves the same Savior as they do and more about whether he hates the same people they hate.
Happy Easter. I guess my prayer is that we don't allow religion to crucify Christ. It's already happened before.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
-- Roman 5:8
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
-- Roman 5:8
1 comment:
amen and amen.
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