Hate Him or Love Him,
But Don't Ignore Him
“This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will
be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will
pierce your own soul too." Luke 2:33-35(NIV)
Reflect
Have you ever noticed that most people are okay talking about God but not okay talking about
Jesus? God is “out there” somewhere. God is a kind of a “blank” in the minds of many. Because
of this, God can be anything I want him to be, a concept, an idea, a myth, a creator who wound
up the universe and then “walked away” from it allowing it to “unwind” on its own. The notion
of a generic, distant “God” doesn’t scare us. We can “take” that kind of God.
However, “Jesus” is another story.
His name offends, causes lawsuits, gets shut down by school
districts, and brands those who speak out that name as right wing fanatical lunies.
districts, and brands those who speak out that name as right wing fanatical lunies.
Why is this?
Jesus offends one thing in every human being.
That one thing is our pride, our
independence, our autonomy. He demands something. He expects something. He tells us to
“die to ourselves and follow him”. In today’s world that’s intolerant, It’s narrow, it’s demeaning
to those who don’t believe.
independence, our autonomy. He demands something. He expects something. He tells us to
“die to ourselves and follow him”. In today’s world that’s intolerant, It’s narrow, it’s demeaning
to those who don’t believe.
The name of Jesus cuts to chase.
Yes.
I must surrender my life to him to find my life.
Unfortunately
I spend most of my time trying to make sure
I don’t die.
Each of us must face this inherent conflict.
If we do not face it now, we will
fact it later.
Dealing with Jesus can indeed be postponed.
But for
each of us the postponement will end and we
will be able to ignore him no more.
Prayer
“Lord help me this year to speak the name of Jesus more often.
Help me to get to know you, by
getting to know Jesus, his life, his teachings, his power, his way of ushering in the Kingdom of God,
so that I am getting to know You, and not some false characterization of You. Amen”
getting to know Jesus, his life, his teachings, his power, his way of ushering in the Kingdom of God,
so that I am getting to know You, and not some false characterization of You. Amen”
This may date me, but....
ReplyDeleteIn the 70's was the Jesus Freak movement. Jesus' name was on everyone's lips. Kids brought their Bibles to school (high school!). I remember being irritated by it. Part of the reason was because it just felt like a 'trend'. There were kids that a week earlier were doing drugs and now were telling everyone they met "Jesus loves you". It didn't seem genuine to me and it did pass by the wayside, trend wise that is. I remember a friend who told me the Baptist church she went to was amass with hippies seeking Christ so the church had to 'loosen up' and let the long hairs into the sanctuary to worship!
(the ways we can make coming to the Lord so difficult amaze me)
I think this is why it is so important to be in touch with the Presence of God through the Holy Spirit. Its hard to talk about someone genuinely or to express gratefully when we are only doing so from the third person position.
What the JF Movement did for me was confirm in me that I had to come and stay with Him real time. Its not to say there weren't stages of 'evangelical speakeasy' and major sidetracks of traditional sidestepping along the way. But, they were there for a purpose and these things made me even more determined not to fake it. If I speak Jesus' name, I don't want to do it from a 'trak' or a planned, well versed dialogue. I want his name to be my 'power' because I believe. Overspilling from who I am not what I want to be. Thank you, Jesus, I pray we will never be ashamed of the gospel, that we will realize that your presence in us isn't a guess, its a given. Thank you, Lord.