I have a lot of Christian friends from all traditions: Bible Thumpers and black robed monks; lefties who are card carrying socialists and right wingers who think the US is the new Israel... in reality if not formally. I love them all.
Sometimes though, we are so busy thumping our position, defending, attacking and arguing with each other that we miss the real Jesus - even forget He's even in the room - with us through all this arguing. Remember when Jesus gave a good a-- chewing to his guys when they were arguing, posturing and promoting themselves and their position over and against one another? We do the same - nothing changes!
Today, I sat with a young guy; sharp, gifted, called, critical thinker. Yet one of the questions he had to ask before he let me go was where I stand in regards to the "big guys"... Mark Driscoll, Rob Bell and so forth. Really? The bottom line question is "are we in the same camp". I tend to resist that boxing in, though most of my friends who are saints around the globe do the same - they are simply more honest about asking for what reasons.
So, at the start of a great Spring season, can I challenge us all, during the Lenton season to stop and remember we all have so much more in common, ugh, hmmm.... ugh.... Jesus, than we do contrasting us? Can I challenge that we remember His thoughts on our bickering? Can I challenge that we just remember, if nothing else, that He is the point and He is in the room, and He is a person that is not what we preconceive, and perceive Him to be... He's not who we want Him to be, and I suspect for almost all of us, and no, you're not the one exception - bet on it, He is not who we think He is....
Read a blog Don Miller wrote today...
On Yesterdays blog I talked about John chapter ten, in which Jesus tells us He is the Good Shepherd and the sheep will hear his voice. It’s an exciting and comforting chapter if you consider yourself drawn to Christ and want to follow Him.
In the same chapter, though, He talks to a group of people who do not hear His voice, even though they are sitting right in front of Him talking to Him. It’s sobering. Here’s the exchange:
“So the Jews gathered around him and said to him “how long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they fllow me. I give them eternal life and they wull never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” The Jews picked up stones again to stone him.
There are, of course, all sorts of people who do not hear the voice of Jesus. We can’t infer from this chapter that this is the only kind of person. But it might be helpful to note some characteristics so we can better recognize them in ourselves when they show their heads. Here are a few characteristics I see:
1. They have a strong pre-conceived notion as to what the Christ will look and sound like, and Jesus isn’t fitting that notion at all. Jesus didn’t come out of their schools, He likely does not dress like them. He knows the ancient text just like they do, but He does not interpret it the way they’ve been taught to interpret it, which is likely through a self-serving agenda.
2. He threatens their power. To believe this is the Christ, they are going to have to give up everything they’ve been building all these years. They are powerful men, they rule over people, people come to them for guidance and wisdom. If Jesus is the Christ, they’re livelihood is likely gone. Paul would have this same struggle, but Jesus would confront Him personally. The issue is that if they follow Christ, they are no longer important people in their communities.
3. These are zealous men. They are willing to kill Jesus because He is claiming to be the Messiah. They are not a people of grace, they are a people of the law.
4. And as such, they would likely be threatened with physical retribution from their own community if they followed Christ.
5. They are people who want clarity. They don’t like all this vague hippie talk coming from Jesus. How are they supposed to judge right from wrong, or moreover, who is important and who isn’t with all this silly talk about sheep and shepherds?
6. Jesus likes their enemies. These are people who have very clear enemies and very clear lines about who is lesser than they are. Jesus befriends these enemies and even says they are the ones who hear His voice. These guys probably interpret this to mean that their enemies are right and they are wrong (not an accurate interpretation. the idea is that “the wrong” are loved and will receive grace and protection.)
To be sure, some people in this same predicament did follow Christ. Nicodemus is a good example. But in all, this is a group that is not ready to believe this strange, liberal guy from Nazareth is the great God of the universe.
The tough question to grapple with is would you? I mean if believing in Christ would cost you your importance, would you follow Him? If it would shame you amongst your friends, would you follow Him all the same? If it meant you could no longer be an expert judge in your field of influence, would you follow Him? And the big one, if Jesus loved your enemies, would you still side with Jesus? And this speaks nothing of the financial problems following Christ would entail.
So we see here that following Christ involves a bit of sacrifice. Good stuff to consider. I think the reward of knowing Him outweighs the sacrifice, for sure. There is freedom when we submit ourselves to Him, no matter how that disrupts our lives. I’d rather trust in the security He offers than the security I’ve created out of false and temporal systems.
When the final sunset falls for our lives, when the new heaven reveals itself with the new earth - all of this bickering gets us nowhere. May we focus on who Jesus really is and align ourselves to Him; not to the latest celebrity pastor, not to the latest self defined reality that sits well with us. May be dare embrace the reckless, radical, uncomfortable Christ who is the Living God and be conformed to HIS image.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Spirit.
Who was and is, and is to come.
Peace without end forever. Amen.
