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.
So where is this post going?
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.
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 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.
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.
