The "Church" Needs to Start Living and Loving More Like Jesus.

So Judah Smith is a pastor in Seattle, Washington. Judah wanted to get the name of Jesus on the minds of people in Seattle. He didn’t want to push the agenda of his church; he didn’t want them to have a long debate on whether same-sex marriage should be legalized. He wanted them to see the name of Jesus and he wanted them to go to a website and fill in the blank of this statement: Jesus is ________. So he put this statement on billboards, he put it on busses; he put it out in so people in Seattle had to see the name of Jesus.

He wanted to honestly hear the response of what people in Seattle thought about Jesus. They’ve had 1.5 million visitors and counting to their website, and over 75,000 responses to it. (Check the site here: http://jesus-is.org/)

As people responded and shared their mind, Judah and his wife put a minute and a half video on the bottom of the page of sharing the truth of who Jesus is.

So where is this post going?

There seems to be a growing unrest in my generation for what the church has to offer. There seem to be more and more of my friends walking out the doors of the church. That being said, I have so many friends leaving the church on complete opposite sides of the spectrum.

I have some friends who walked out the doors of the church because they felt condemned for their sin and judged because they fell short of “expectations.”

I have other friends who walked out the doors of the church doubting and confused as to what to believe.

But I also have friends who walked out the doors of the church because they want more and felt like something was missing.

Why are there people walking out on both sides of spectrum? I think it’s simple. We’ve added too much too the one fundamental thing that matters: Jesus.

I think both sides of the spectrum leave because the same thing is missing.

We get tied down in denominational debates on whether babies should be baptized. Or whether or not the gift of tongues exists.

We spend more time protesting same-sex marriage legalization then we do actually spending time with those people.

I was reading in John 8:1-11 the other day and something hit me that I never really noticed before.

Maybe you have, but for me it was one of those “WOW” moments.

You see the crowds bring before Jesus this woman who was caught in the act of adultery and according to the law she should be stoned to death. But what does Jesus say? “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

So all the people are like, “Crap, I can’t throw a stone,” and they all leave.  But this next part is what hit me.

What person in that crowd has the only right and power to cast a stone at that girl?

Jesus.

Jesus could have picked up a stone and thrown it at the woman.

But Jesus doesn’t pick up a stone. He gets down in the dirt next to her and says, “Has no one condemned you?...Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

I can say from personal experience this is so often not the Jesus we portray in churches.  People around us see someone in sin and instead of getting in the dirt with them and helping them get out, they decide its easier to just throw a stone at that person.

So why do we focus so much time in church and in our personal lives on getting right with God? If you’ve turned from your sins and put your faith in Jesus, aren't you already right with God? Yes, God sees you as his Son and He is jealous for you to live in the freedom that that brings.

Does that mean we will never sin? Of course you are going to sin.

But does it mean we have to feel completely condemned and like the worst human being in the world when you do? No. No. No.

So then why in the world do we as “Christians” and “churches” throw stones at people who sin?

Don’t you realize you yourself are just as bad as them as yourself? You sinned this morning, oh and you just sinned two seconds ago in your thoughts.  But God looks at you and he looks at your brother or sister in the church that sinned the same way he looks at Jesus, his Son.

And why in the world do we as “Christians” and “churches” throw stones at the gay or lesbian person? Or the person that is a drunkard?

Don’t you realize you yourself are just as bad as them as yourself? You sinned this morning, oh and you just sinned two seconds ago in your thoughts.  Without Jesus radically changing you, you are no better then this person.

And if God really does look at you like he looks at Jesus, shouldn’t we seek to live like Jesus?

What does Jesus do when he interacted with people in sin? He usually ate dinner or lunch with them. Oh and he turned water into wine and drank with them.  (Sorry, it’s true.) And he even got down in the dirt with them to show how much he loved them. He never once throws a stone at them. And because he doesn't ever throw a stone, he gets killed by human beings that He had the full right to throw stones at.

So I don’t do New Years resolutions, well I do occasionally. And they always deal with exercise or something like not eating out at fast food places for the whole year. Crazy and absurd ones that always are failed 2 days in to the New Year.

But this year on New Year’s day I set another crazy and absurd goal, which I’m going to actually seek to succeed in: To live and love more like Jesus.

How? I’m actually going to look to Jesus in the Word of God and seek to live like Him. Oh and Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” So we can follow Paul’s example as well after he met Jesus on the road and was saved.

I'm going to spend more time loving my brother who is in sin, I'm going to encourage him and get in the dirt with him.

I'm going to spend more time with sinners. I'm going to love on them and share with them that Jesus promises them a hope that isn't found in sex or money.

I want to ask you if you will consider joining me this year? Will you join me in seeking to live and love more like Jesus? It can be simple steps.

Someone I was talking to about this the other days was like, "know what I'm gonna do to try to do this? I'm just going to try and be more joyful and happy?"

A simple smile or gesture to a stranger next to you can be a means of loving like Jesus.

I honestly believe if churches started seeking to do this and stopped worrying about programs, and which person to throw a stone at next, less people in my generation would be walking out of churches and more sick and messed up people would be walking through the doors. 

So many of my friends that leave the church aren't seeing Jesus. They're seeing robotic human beings trying to live out a list or rules set before them and when they fail a rule on that list, they feel a stone hit them in the back of their head. 

Let's as the body of Christ not throw stones anymore.

Let’s just live and love more like Jesus this year.

Part 2: I'm Sick of "Christians".... Not Living and Loving Like Jesus

As most gospel stories, the passages that I encountered today were familiar to me. I’ve grown up hearing them taught in Sunday school. I’ve grown up reading them. But this morning some new things that I'd never realized before hit me as I read this passage.

There are three characters that I want to introduce you too:

Simon Peter: A fisherman also known as "a very poor man."

Levi: A tax collector also known as "a known thief."

Pharisees: The righteous of righteous according to the Jews.

In the beginning of Luke 5 we find Jesus going into Simon Peter’s boat to get away from the crowds and have some fresh air to stand up and teach to them. Since the chapter before when he started healing people, his fame began to spread and people started coming from all over to hear him and get healed. After Jesus finishes teaching the crowds from the boat, he leans over to Peter and tells him to cast his nets into the water. Imagine what is going on in Peter’s mind when Jesus tells him this. Oh wait, Peter shares what he is thinking, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”

Jesus is just starting his ministry, but news about him has already spread all across town. Everyone knows what he has been up too. Peter knows Jesus has been on a healing spree. Everyone knows that there is something unique and extraordinary about this man. So Peter listens to the carpenter and lowers his nets. And as he does so, the nets get so full they start breaking, they bring another boat over and fill both boats so full of fish that they both begin sinking. Do you know what Peter’s response to Jesus is after this happens?

“Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” Why does he respond this way to fish filling two boats? Because at this moment, Peter knows who this man is standing in his boat.

But Jesus doesn’t depart. He turns and says to Peter, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”

You see what happens here, Peter finds himself in the presence of Jesus, the Holy Son of God and says what every sane human being should say if they encounter such Holiness and perfection, “I am a sinner!” But Jesus doesn’t dwell on this statement, for He’s quite aware of Peter’s sinfulness. Instead He tells him not to be afraid and tells Him he will be used in the Kingdom of God!

This is what is amazing: God loves to use sinful men like Peter and like you for the advancement of His kingdom.

But it doesn’t end here in verse 11 it says, “And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.”

You see it’s impossible to actually encounter the Holy Son of God and not have your life completely turned upside down. Simon Peter realizes he is a sinner when he finds himself in the presence of God, but then three verses later he’s giving up his occupation and all he has known in life to follow Jesus.

A few verses later in verse 27 we come to our second character, Levi. Jesus says two simple yet life-changing words to the tax collector, “follow me!”

Do you know what Levi’s response was? Verse 28 says, “And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.”

Levi, a tax collector who is known as a thief and a sinner in that day and time, leaves all that he does in a split second to follow Jesus. Why? Cause he encountered Jesus, the Holy Son of God. And when he encounters this, he sees a hope he can’t get from stealing from people. He sees something that is worth giving up all that he has known or done.

But the story doesn’t end there with Levi. He didn’t just leave everything, he went home with Jesus and “made a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them.”

Levi can’t keep Jesus to himself. He wants others to encounter the Jesus that just set him free from his stealing. You see, when you really encounter Jesus and the hope you can get from him, you want everyone around you to experience that hope too.

This is the part of the story that our third and final character joins us. Do you know what the Pharisees say to Jesus in verse 30? They ask Jesus, “‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

If you read my last blog post, you know I’ve been wrestling with the way American Christians and Churches are living and acting today. This is why! It seems that it’s such a rarity to be eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners. It seems as if churches and Christians often think like the Pharisees, “Really? You’re hanging out with them?”  It’s so easy for a church to become so inward focused and so focused on their problems that they forget their biggest problem is already taken care of.

They forget what it was like to encounter Jesus for the first time. They think about themselves and their problems and not about the dying world around them.

You see Jesus loves to use weak human beings to do His work. He wants to use you.

Whenever I make my way through any of the gospels in the bible. It’s really uncomfortable. I’m constantly running into these Pharisees that are trying to destroy Jesus, because they think they “know” what is right!

But it’s also uncomfortable because I keep running into Jesus, the Son of God teaching some of the hardest truths known to mankind.

 

Look at what Jesus says in the next chapter in 5:22, “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!”

You see, we have a hope that can only be experienced in Jesus. But this hope doesn't promise a comfortable life. Jesus says you will be blessed when those around you revile, exclude, spurn and hate you! See Jesus experienced all of this as he walked on this earth and as he hung upon that cross to die for your sins. We are called to imitate Jesus and we know we are imitating Him when we are spit upon for our faith.

This is what I often struggle with about the American "Christian" and "Church" culture.  We've seemed to lose sight of what really being a disciple entails. It's not promising a comfortable life, it's not promising a perfect life of happiness. It's promising you the hope of eternal life with your Savior, but before that its commanding you to forsake all you have and know for the sake of God's Kingdom. It's commanding you to "go therefore and make disciples of all nations!" (Matthew 28)

Peter and Levi realized that hope came with a price. You gain forgiveness from your sins and you gain eternal life. But, you also gain a life of hatred. Advancing the kingdom can often be hard work, the very people you want to know Jesus will often end up hating you and wanting you dead. Being a disciple is hard work. It's not an easy life of comfort.

Levi is believed to have lost his life as a martyr.

Peter lost his life on a cross for proclaiming the Kingdom of God boldly.

Are you really willing to be hated? Are you willing to lose your life for the sake of the advancement of the God's kingdom? If not, being a disciple of Jesus probably isn't for you.

(I would love to hear your thoughts. Don't hesitate to comment below.)

I'm Sick of "Christians".... Not Living and Loving Like Jesus

Yesterday I posted the following quote on my Facebook wall, “If you're an American 'Christian.' And you feel "called" to stay in America. Wake up and start obeying Jesus and actually living and loving like Him.”

I want to clarify that statement because some people responded to me with an “Amen brother!” And others responded with a, “I totally disagree.”

I left a comment below my post in response to someone’s comment that I believe sums up what I was trying to say, “My point was, if you feel like God is calling you to America, then actually start reaching the lost here! Start going to the hood and to the poor people and love on them like Jesus. My point is, don't use the 'there are lost people in America too' as an excuse to just stay in the America and pursue the American dream like so many 'christians' do.”

Before I go on, I really am not trying to bash followers of Jesus. I’m not trying to declare or force anything upon anyone. But I want to challenge what I believe is the majority of the “Christian” body in America to start acting like Christ. A lot of people have and will continue to label me as young and zealous, and say its just a season that I’ll get past. I pray this is not true. I pray that I never cease to be zealous to desire "christians" to live like Jesus.

This was Paul' heart when he challenged the Corinthians to "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ." (1 Corinthians 11:1)

Two nights ago I couldn’t sleep. I tossed and turned for hours.

My heart was broken thinking about the images I had seen in South Asia this past summer. But my heart was broken even more for the American "church." I wept thinking about the millions of people I saw this past summer who will spend eternity damned and separated from the God who created them.

I’m going to be honest with you where I’m at right now, so buckle up:

I’m sick of the way most American “churches” and “Christians” act.

I’m sick of the way American “churches” and “Christians” are perceived by the world around us as hateful.

I’m sick of the way “churches” meet on Sundays and then live their lives contentedly when there are poor people down the road that need to hear about Jesus.

I’m sick of “churches” and “Christians” arguing over whose theology is right.

I’m sick of “churches” who split over stupid things and won't talk to fellow brother's and sisters because they are offended.

I’m sick of “Christians” that live contentedly their whole lives pursuing the American dream in their comfortable “Christian” communities when down the street from them there are those that are hurting and across the ocean from them there are billions of souls being damned to hell with no chance of ever hearing the gospel.

I’m sick of people that call themselves a “Christian” yet don’t act like Christ in the least bit.

I’m sick of “Christians” not taking the word of God seriously.

Have you read the gospels lately? Where did Jesus ever act like one of the above scenarios?

Read Philippians 2:1-11. That's how Jesus acted.

As a believer we have the one thing that can bring eternal hope to the dying world around us, yet we often close the doors to our churches and homes to those that are hurting and in need.

Over the last two days as I've written research papers and read books for school. There are images that flooded my mind two nights ago that won't leave.

Images of the temples and mosques where I encountered thousands of people worshipping false gods.

Images of beggars that had no arms and legs sitting on the side of the road with no hope.

Images of the kids in the slums that had no clothes and who had diseases all over their skins that had never experienced earthly love.

Images of the street kids who had no parents and lived by collecting garbage from the sewers.

As much as these images weigh on my heart, I'm grateful for them because they give me a perspective on life that I didn't have before.

At 1AM the other night, I left my house to go walk. It was raining, so I took an umbrella and just walked crying out to God to wake those up around me to start living like Jesus. But I also prayed possibly the hardest prayer of my life.

“God, I pray you will never let me be content.”

You see I don’t ever want to be content with material things.

I don’t ever want to be content when millions and billions of people that live around me are going to be damned for all of eternity.

I'm often portrayed as thinking it is wrong to stay in America. I want to clear this up. I’m not saying it’s wrong to stay in America. But staying in America doesn't mean you don't live and love like Jesus did!

We must never be so content to with our lives that we forget about the family that lives down the road with no food. 

We must never be so content that we come home from a job and stay in our house 7 nights a week when a few miles away there are girls selling their bodies to make enough to feed their families.

Today I came across an article that was titled, "Why millenials are leaving the church" It made some really good points about fellow brothers and sisters that are seeing the way “churches” are acting doesn’t line up with the way Jesus lived.

But, I’m praying my generation of fellow brothers and sisters will be remembered not by those that left the church. But are remembered as those who actually lived like Jesus. I pray we are remembered as those who opened their hands, homes, churches and hearts to those that live next door to them. I pray we are remembered as those who weren't afraid to give up everything, even their lives to bring hope and life to those that live thousands of miles across the sea.

Oh Lord, allow us never to be content. Wake the church up to start living and loving like Jesus did. 

I would love to hear your thoughts. Please don't hesitate to comment below.

Hey Miley Cyrus, We Will Stop!

I was driving down the interstate this morning with my radio on, it was a catchy beat. All of a sudden I stopped thinking about what I had to do today and gave my full attention to the lyrics of the song that was on. It was Miley Cyrus' song “We Can’t Stop.” I’ve definitely heard the song before, but never payed attention to what it was actually saying. As I listened, I started to feel sick in my stomach.

A couple weeks ago I read an article that Trevin Wax put out titled "I Weep for Miley" following her VMA performance. I thought it was a fantastic response. But now that we are almost a month away from that act, I must admit I hadn't thought much about it. That week there seemed to be so many emotions flying around the internet and blog world. I read some blogs that were angered that it was allowed on TV, some that were saddened by the fact that Hannah Montana is no longer Hannah Montana, and some that started to despair that our culture was so broken and messed up that we’re doomed.

Whatever your emotions were, they most likely have started to dissipate over the last couple weeks. Maybe you haven’t even thought about Miley or those emotions at all. I know for me, the busyness of life, school and work I haven’t thought about them once until this morning when I turned my radio on....

The first verse went like this….

It's our party we can do what we want
It's our party we can say what we want
It's our party we can love who we want
We can kiss who we want
We can sing what we want

Hold up. Read that again. Do you understand why I started to feel sick?

As much as I agree with Trevin Wax weeping for Miley and the World. I must make some confessions.

I confess I’ve played a part in this fallen world.

I must confess that instead of standing up for what I know is right. I have helped support the mindset that Miley explicitly states in this song.

Oh and I must confess that I’ve felt emotionally sad about where our culture is headed, but not done enough to push back against it.

People, our culture didn’t start declining with Miley Cyrus. But she is a prime example of what our culture and society believes these days. 

How often instead of fighting against these things, do we as believers just go along with the flow? How often instead of saying “enough!” do we drive down the highway singing along to the lyrics of songs like these or sit in our bedrooms glued to a screen that idolizes sex?

I actually want to thank Miley Cyrus. Why?

Because, with her putting out songs that state, “we can do whatever we want!” we have lyrics and music that help us clearly see what the people in America believe.

With her prancing around the stage at the VMA’s, we have a closer image of what has entrapped billions of human beings online in pornography.

I want to thank Miley, because she has re-awakened me. She has reminded me that because of Jesus, I actually have hope and I don't have to do what my flesh wants.

The end of her song goes like this…

And we can't stop
And we won't stop
We run things, things don't run we
Don't take nothing from nobody

I have good news that is the complete opposite of this….

We can stop! Me must stop! 

If you committed to living and following Jesus, you committed to honor Him in all you do!

I’ve confessed I’ve fallen short to honoring Him in so many ways. All you have to do is look at my testimony here, to see that I’ve fallen short and dishonored Him. Today though I'm not just confessing, I’m committing to no longer sitting back and watching our culture decay and rot. But I'm committed to bringing the only light that can cover the darkness that has taken over our culture. I know that our culture can only be saved by the grace of God. He sent His one and only Son to die for us for the very purpose of bringing hope to this world? It is the only hope that our culture has.

So will you join me? Will you confess your weaknesses and acknowledge that the grace of God is the only thing that can save our “we can do what we want,” pornographic, drunken, drug filled culture?

Will you join me in not only praying for our culture, but letting the light of Jesus shine through you brightly on a daily basis? Don’t believe the lies that our culture puts in front of us. But instead refute it with truth. Jesus is the only thing that can save our culture and He has invited us and commanded us to play a part. Will you deny Him and go along with the flow? Or will you obey and join Him and shine your light?

My Summer Abroad in a Third World Country

I’ve been back in America for a little over three weeks. If you did not know I spent the previous 2 and ½ months overseas in two Asian countries. As I’ve reflected the past few weeks on my summer and what I experienced I felt like I should share a few things on here.

I can’t go into specifics of exactly where I was for the safety of the national believers and workers that are there. But I want to give a little overview of the culture I was in.

I was in a country where I couldn’t walk more then a block and a half without seeing a mosque.

I was in a country where I couldn’t walk more then a block without seeing a beggar.

I was in a country where I couldn’t walk more then a block without seeing a building half built and just left there.

I was in a country where less then 1% of the population follows Jesus.

Thank you to everyone who generously supported my trip and enabled me to go this summer. It is only because of the grace of God that I was able to go these unreached villages and cities bearing the only Good News that can possibly bring life into their dying souls.

For 3 days a week, my friend and I would travel with two national brothers to many villages that had not only never seen white people, but had never heard the Good News. The lies of Islam and Hinduism have been running rampant in these villages for hundreds and in some cases thousands of years and we were able to sow seeds in these places for the first time. Although we did not see salvations personally in these villages, it was absolutely amazing to be able to share Bible stories and then give them parts of the Bible and tracts. Small seeds were planted in thousands of men and women's hearts that only God is able to grow!

 

Now, I’d be lying to you if I didn’t tell you how hard and uncomfortable it was to be constantly stared at and touched by hundreds of curious people wherever we went.

Oh and I’d be lying to you if I didn’t tell you that some days it took all of my strength to get out of bed and tons of strength from the Lord to leave my apartment to encounter the culture.

And, I’d be lying to you if I didn’t tell you about how it was difficult for me to eat the many things put in front of me that I had no idea what it was I was eating.

And yeah, I’d be lying to you if I didn’t tell you about the moment of vomiting in the bathroom or laying in bed with a fever that I longed for my bed back in America and a nice big juicy bacon cheeseburger from Red Robin.

 

But, the one thing I’d be lying to you the most about is if I told you it’s been easy for me to come back to America and re-engage with culture.

God definitely in my time grew in me a greater gratefulness for my upbringing and the fact that he saved me. But my heart has been forever broken and changed after encountering millions upon millions of people that not only are poor and dying in the physical sense. But that are poor and dying in their sin.The millions of people that I walked by and interacted with that if they don't repent and turn from their sins will spend eternity in hell.

Romans 1:19-20 says, “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

I’ve always had a conviction off of this verse that there are millions if not billions of people out there in the world who are dying without ever hearing the gospel. But it took on a whole new meaning when I actually saw it with my own eyes. I lived this summer in a region of the world where every 2 seconds someone is dying and being damned to hell for eternity. It's one thing to talk about, it's another thing to see with your eyes.

Something else I learned in a more personal way this summer was that there is nothing in me that can get another person to change or make another person give their life to the Lord. It’s not about me seeing people being saved, although that is the goal of us sharing the Word of the Lord with them. But, it's primarily about me being faithful to the command and commission of God and going to these places and giving them the only Word that will be able to save their souls. As you do this, God will be faithful to His Word and many will come to know Jesus!

John 15:16, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go…”

If you are a believer, God not only chose you as his disciple. But He has appointed you and commissioned you as his disciple to go and make more disciples.

You don’t have to go across the world or to a third world country to make disciples. But I urge you to consider it. I urge you to ask the Lord if that’s what He wants you to do. I urge you to pray tonight, “Lord, I come before you with all my plans for my future pushed aside, lead me where YOU want me. I’m ready to go wherever YOU call me.”

If you know me personally, you know that my heart beats for the nations and missions. If you haven’t interacted with me since I’ve been back. Know this, my heart has grown ten times bigger this summer for the nations and I’d love to share with you more of what God has done! Feel free to email, call, text or even set up a time to get together with me for a cup of coffee. I’d love to tell you more personal stories from this summer.

An Invitation to Join Me This Summer

It's been a while since I've put a blog post up and this one is going to be short and too the point.

In 5 days, I start the biggest journey and adventure I've been on to this point in my life. I hop on a plane at 6 PM on May 21st and land in South Asia at 1:30 AM on May 23rd.

I will be spending my entire summer in places with little to no access to the message of our Father.

I invite you to join me this summer by praying for me. Because of security issues in the country I will be going too, I will not be updating this blog. But, I will be sending out some emails with updates.

I would love to include you in these updates so you can know more specific ways you can be praying for me and the team I will be with. Please let me know your email address in the comments section or shoot me an email at cjmaresco@gmail.com and tell me there.

Does the Bible Make You Uncomfortable?

I was having a conversation at lunch yesterday with a dear brother and as we talked about the Lord and what He was calling us too. As we talked, we started talking about the Word of God and just how truly uncomfortable it is. I was hit by how it truly makes does me feel uncomfortable. My mind started racing and the following question came to my mind, “Am I reading the same bible as those around me?”

Think about the following question for a second: When was the last time the bible made you feel uncomfortable? Has it ever made you uncomfortable? Are you confused at what I’m even getting after right now. Let me pose the question in another way.

When was the last time you did something so radical, so against what this world says is normal that someone pushed back on you? When was the last time you did something that had other people thinking, is he crazy? Is he okay? Because not only does the bible often demand its followers to do things that will have people around us saying, “what’s wrong with that dude?” The way Jesus lived, died and rose again in your place is reason enough to take God at His Word and do what it says. Jesus is worth it.

Do you live your life in that way? I’ve been studying the book of Mark recently and two things have stuck out to me:

1) Jesus is AMAZING and worth every ounce of my life.

2) I say I love Jesus and want to honor Him, but often the reality is the way I’m living isn’t following in his footsteps or obeying what He has called us to as his disciples.

I think we can so often overanalyze every little detail of Christianity. We have so many great thinkers of the faith; we have so many resources at the tips of our fingers that it makes it so easy to quickly stray away from the simplicity of the gospel and the great commission of our Savior.

Take a look at Mark 5 and the story of Jesus encountering a man filled with many demons. There’s no precise number, but the demon speaks to Jesus in the story and says, “My name is legion, for we are many.” These demons had complete control over this man. This man lived amongst the tombs because he was constantly cutting himself and when they tried to bind him, he would not only break the chains apart, “he broke the shackles in pieces.” He was a danger to society, he was a danger to those around him and because of this he lived out amongst dead people.

Now when Jesus came and cast the demons out of this man, the man’s response was one you and I probably would have. “He (the man) begged him (Jesus) that he might be with him.” Think back to the moment you repented of your sins and put your faith into Jesus. Wasn’t that a glorious time? You were made alive and given new life. I’ve seen a countless number of people give their lives to the Lord in the last couple years and each time there is a fire in them for the Lord that is beautiful. They just want to be with Jesus. Now when the man asks Jesus to go with him, Jesus doesn’t allow it. Instead, Jesus charged the man saying, “’Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.’ And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.”

Did this man have any formal training? Did this man sit around making sure every part of him was ready before he obeyed what Jesus commanded him? No, he obeyed and did exactly what Jesus told him to do. This man had been saved from his biggest problem, and even though he didn’t get what he wanted, he knew whatever Jesus told him to do was worth it! Why? Because Jesus had given this man new life and this now demon-free man was willing to do anything for Him.

Would this be considered a bit weird today in our society? Would this be considered the “wise” thing to do?

Do you think you have to have everything in your life perfect in order to do something meaningful for the Lord? Well let me just be honest with you, you are going to be waiting 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 more years. You’re going to be waiting until you are in the grave. Because you, brother or sister will never have everything perfect in your life; that is reality, that is truth, that is fact.

Is the Christian life wise at all? Think about what our God commands of all his followers in Luke 14:27, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

Does this verse make you feel nice and comfortable? This makes me horribly uncomfortable. I love my father and mother, I love my 4 brothers, I love my life. But Jesus says, I’ve got to hate them in order to be their disciple? Now, Jesus point isn’t literal hate.

His point is, “Has your family become an idol and more of a priority before me?”

Or it could, ‘Are you pursuing that job promotion more than you are pursuing me?”

Jesus left everything in heaven to live amongst us. Are you willing to leave everything you know in order to live amongst a people that have never heard of Jesus?

Another question to think about would be: Are you willing to drop all of your pursuits, dreams and life goals in order to take Jesus into a hostile place where you are not only not going to have DirecTV, but there’s a good chance you are going to die?

I believe The GREAT (not mediocre, not “maybe I’ll do this if I have time,” not “I’ll consider it.”) Commission from Jesus today is often made into a ministry at our churches. NO, it isn’t a ministry! It has to be at the core of the body of Christ! This has to be at the core of every disciple of Jesus. It’s how Jesus lived his life, and it’s what he has called us to.

Matthew 28:18-20, “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.”

Jesus, who has all authority, lived as human, died as a human on the cross and was rose from the dead deserves all the glory from all the peoples of this world.

Yet we disobey him so often, he commands us to “go therefore and make disciples of ALL nations.” But instead we decide to “stay henceforth and make disciples of my kids.”

We are neglecting the reality of the Kingdom of our Lord. Yes, God deserves the glory of your kids, yes you are called to “train them up in the ways of the Lord.” But that’s not the core of a disciple of Jesus. So when you or I decide to not “go therefore and make disciples of all nations,” we are deciding that we know better than the creator, sustainer and savior of the Universe.

Yes it can cause us to be uncomfortable to obey this. But the bible isn’t there to bring you comfort. It’s there to a) bring you forgiveness of your sins! And b) to kick your butt into action by telling you how to live as a disciple of Jesus!

Don’t believe the lie of this world that everything has to be in perfect order for you to follow Jesus to the ends of the world. Be like the man who was set free from the demon. You’ve been set free from something far greater than a demon, you’ve been set free from your sins! But just like the demon free man, step outside your comfort zone, and start obeying Jesus when he commands us to take the gospel to the ends of the world!