Are you really in love with Jesus? Would you do anything for Him, defend Him no matter the cost, even sacrifice your life for Him? I think it’s easy for us to say we love Jesus. I think we even mean it. The way we live our lives sometimes says otherwise. How often is it more convenient to put Him to the side for just a bit so we can continue on with what we want to do? When you’re in love, the object of your affection is the most important thing to you. You can’t eat or sleep because all you can do is think of that person. Your heart literally aches when you’re apart. Is this the kind of love you have for Jesus? More often than I would care to admit, I fall short of this ideal.
Love
Give Up Your Shoes
I was told of a woman in a nearby church who went to visit her husband in prison. As she was leaving, an older woman was being released. The woman being released was carrying a sack with a little bit of clothing and, inexplicably to me, had no shoes. A little later in the morning, the woman from the church encountered this same older woman in a McDonalds. Instead of simply getting her food and leaving, the woman from the church went and sat down with the older woman and they talked for awhile. Before leaving, the church woman gave the older woman the shoes off her own feet. I don’t have any further details, but I found the wholly unselfish actions and love demonstrated to a complete stranger both moving and inspiring.
Reflecting Jesus
Unfortunately, rarely does a day go by where you don’t read or see a story where a “Christian” is saying or doing something that impugns the character of Christ. I hope they meant well by their actions, but the reality is they make Jesus less attractive to the public. A lot of this can be traced to some really bad theology taught in the last couple hundred years. Ultimately the blame rests on we who swallowed the teaching without ever bothering to test the validity of it. We are all imperfect beings and we all have our own issues. But we must never forget that the reason for our existence is to reflect the love and beauty of Jesus Christ.
Feed My Sheep
If you grew up in church or have been studying the Bible for awhile now, you are probably familiar with the conversation Jesus and Peter had in John 21:15-19. This took place after Jesus had risen from the dead, and He was hanging out with His disciples on the beach. After eating breakfast together, Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him. Peter got a little offended that Jesus kept asking him the same question, probably assuming Jesus wasn’t buying his answer. Most Bible teachers say the three questions corresponded to Peter denying Jesus three times after Jesus had been arrested. Perhaps that’s true, but I think there’s more to be gleaned from this story.
Losing Concentration
In 1978, Alexander Solzhenitsyn addressed the graduating class at Harvard saying, “Many of you have already found out what others will find out in the course of their lives that truth eludes us as soon as our concentration begins to flag, all the while leaving the illusion that we are continuing to pursue it.” I believe this holds true for the Western Church today. Much like the Pharisees in Jesus’ day, we have heaped rules and regulations onto the teachings of Christ. In the centuries that have followed His death, Christianity has often looked little like its namesake. Instead of being an all-inclusive people loving and serving others in their desperation, we have become somewhat of a closed society, a secret handshake club that does our best to keep the world at bay. We have lost our concentration on the person of Jesus and have been lulled to sleep, convinced that we are still pursuing His truth.