What if the Jesus we often see in the American church is nothing like the Jesus in the Bible? What if we dumb down Christianity and make God's grace and His love about us and our own glory, and not His glory?
I am at a place in my life where I am reevaluating my life and how I spend my time. Am I spending my time glorifying the Lord? Am I spending my time sharing the good news of the Gospel? Am I spending my time advancing the kingdom? Because if I'm not, then I have to ask myself, what am I doing with my life? Literally. If my life is not spent to advance the kingdom of God, then what is the point? It is not enough to just be a good person and go to church. It is not enough to say I believe in Jesus and then not listen to EVERYTHING He says. This makes sense doesn't it? Jesus says to make disciples of all nations. But only if your called. No. That's not what the verse says. Jesus says make disciples of all nations. Period. This isn't an optional "calling" that is for some of us, but not for the rest of us. It is for ALL of us.
Jesus said to give to the needy, but don't let anyone else see you do it. (Matthew 6:1-4)
Jesus said not to lay up for ourselves treasures on earth, but treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy. For where your treasure is there your heart will be also (Matt. 6:19-21)
Jesus said judge not, lest you be judged. (Matt. 7:1-2)
Jesus said ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. (Matt. 7:7)
Jesus said that if we follow him we could be homeless. (Matt. 8:18-22)
Jesus said that we shouldn't worry about burying our own father, but should immediately follow him (Matt. 8:18-22)
Jesus said that we will face persecution. (Matt. 10: 16-23)
Jesus said that whoever loves his father and mother more than Him is not worthy of Him. (Matt. 10:37)
Jesus said that whoever does not take up his cross and follow Him is not worthy of Him (Matt. 10:38)
Jesus said that we can come to him, all who labor and are heavy laden, and He will give us rest (Matt. 11:28)
Jesus said that on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. (Matt. 12:36)
Jesus said to the rich man, go and sell all your possessions because he knew that he was tied to the wealth he had. (Matt. 19:20)
Jesus said that many are called, but few are chosen. (Matt. 22:14)
Jesus said that the Pharisees, who were concerned with following every inch of the law and then some, were hypocrites. Because they were more worried about what the outward appearance looks like, rather than they were about the condition of their hearts. (Matt. 23:25)
Jesus said that whatever we do to help the naked, the poor, the hungry, the thirsty, or a stranger, that we are helping Jesus himself. (Matt. 25:40)
Just to give a little more background on the Pharisees...
There were around 6,000 in Israel in Jesus' day. Their biggest sphere of influence was in the synagogues, where they taught their rules and regulations. Pharisees were exclusivists, who separated themselves from people of certain occupations in order to keep themselves clean. They didn't go near the sick or the poor. They were legalists, worried more about the fine points and exact details of the law than anything else. They believed in both the written law (Torah) and the oral law, which was passed down through the generations and was in direct disobedience to God who said not to add or take anything away from his Word. Bottom line is this: they missed the heart of Christ.
So do we, today, miss the heart of Christ? Are we similar to these Pharisees whom Jesus so strongly rebuked? Seriously, read the Gospels more, Jesus was not a fan.
I think of Matthew 7:21-23 which says, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord', will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of the Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'
That's terrifying. I don't know about you but I don't want to think I'm going to heaven and then stand before the Lord and have him say to me, depart from me, for I never knew you. We must know our Father, our creator. We must KNOW him. We must be in a relationship with him. We must spend time in his word and get to know Him. And we must do what He says to do. We must love him with all our hearts and love our neighbors as ourselves.
Some of the things that Jesus said are nice. We like them. We like to believe that he will give us rest. But we do not like to think about the fact that that rest doesn't exactly necessarily mean physical rest on a comfortable bed with a roof over our heads. We do not like to think about selling our possessions, because we worked hard for them. We earned them. We can not give them up. But we can. We're supposed to. Jesus makes it clear that following him is not easy. It is counter cultural. But it is the greatest thing we will ever do in our lives. We were created in his image, and we were created to make his image known. We were created to enjoy his grace and make his glory known... to the nations.
We sit in our comfortable chairs or pews in our multimillion dollar church buildings and we listen to "good pastors" and "good music". We worship a shiny Jesus who fits quite nicely into our American culture. But what if that's not the real Jesus? What if we are actually worshipping some glorified version of ourselves, instead of worshipping the One who truly deserves the glory. We can not make Jesus into our image, we have to realize that we are made in His. And in his Father's. And in the Holy Spirit's.
I am not saying that churches in America are bad. I am simply wondering if we need to redirect our attention to the Biblical Jesus, instead of the American church Jesus. I want to advance the kingdom of God, and I want to be a part of it. I want to bring God glory, because He is so worthy. I am not. I know that I would be shackled by sin if it weren't for God's grace. Doing what He says is the least I can do.
So here is my challenge to myself and to you. Don't settle for a Jesus that allows you to be comfortable. Because following Jesus isn't comfortable. It isn't easy, and it isn't glamorous. But it's the best thing you'll ever do with your life. He will always lead you through, so do not fear. For the Bible also says that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).
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