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Saturday, September 7, 2013

Jesus for Sale


Confession time! Okay so, sometimes I struggle with how to encourage students to come to Symposium. I’ve tried to entice them to come for the activities, or the music. I’ve pushed them to come because I think they should. But I can’t help but think about how we do that same thing with Jesus. We dress Him up like the culture and society we live in, we offer bakery and hugs along with Jesus because maybe if they see they can get coffee and listen to cool music, more people will come to our church and add Jesus as a friend too.

 I have a lanyard attached to my key ring which says “Life with Jesus is better.” What does that even mean? Is life here and now better with Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior? I guess if you have a fear of death and separation from God, than it’s better than living without Him. But there’s a verse in 2nd Timothy which says, in fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. WILL BE PERSECUTED! How often do we bring up Jesus with that as the clincher? I can hear the infomercial now: If you call now, not only will you get Jesus with the unbelievable “get out of death free card” (you better believe it!) but you can also have a life of denying your wants and needs. Wait there’s more! If you act now, you’re guaranteed to suffer persecution and be considered an outcast by most if not all of your loved ones! Operators are standing by.

Standing up for Jesus won’t get you millions of dollars, nor will it get you all that your heart desires. Nearly everything in our society tells us that we need to be comfortable. It says we can have our cake and eat it too. I think a lot of well meaning people have adopted that same attitude with Jesus. If we dress Him up like the culture and make Jesus cool, maybe more people would “buy” our product. Yet Jesus himself was bold and manly, and he called out the masses that followed Him. Christ was always testing the hearts of those who dared to call themselves disciples.
Following Jesus isn’t safe. It isn’t always pleasant and comfortable. But in a world of deceit and disheartening news, wouldn’t a true message be greater? I need to stop trying to sweeten the deal and let Jesus Christ be the center. Let’s stop seeking what man can offer us and start seeking the real Jesus.

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