Right before communion on Sunday, Adam spoke about the 'real Jesus.' So often we forget what Jesus was really like; we envision him living in a suburban home, wearing nice clothes, shaking hands with the religious, debating politics, and condemning the worst sinners. When we look at the gospels, we see that Jesus did not fit the bill of the American posterchild: his status was that of a poor Mediterranean peasant, he wore a smelly garb and his feet stank, he pissed-off the religious, he didn't care much about politics, and he embraced in genuine friendship the "worst sinners" of society (he sincerely liked and loved everybody, regardless of their past, present, or future). Jesus was a homeless Rabbi in ancient Palestine whose best friends were the people nobody wanted. I think it's very important for us to understand Jesus as he really is, not just how we imagine him to be in our Western-World mindset (another reason I can't wait for Gospels class with Weatherly next year!).
Which Jesus do you follow?
Which Jesus do you serve?
If Ephesians says to imitate Christ
Then why do you look so much like the world?
Cause my Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and liars
He loved the poor and accosted the arrogant
So which one do you want to be?
Blessed are the poor in spirit
Or do we pray to be blessed with the wealth of this land
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness
Or do we ache for another taste of this world of shifting sand
Cause my Jesus bled and died for my sins
He spent His time with thieves and sluts and liars
He loved the poor and accosted the rich
So which one do you want to be?
Who is this that you follow
This picture of the American dream
If Jesus was here would you walk right by on the other side or fall down and worship at His holy feet
Pretty blue eyes and curly brown hair and a clear complexion
Is how you see Him as He dies for Your sins
But the Word says He was battered and scarred
Or did you miss that part
Sometimes I doubt we'd recognize Him
Cause my Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and the least of these
He loved the poor and accosted the comfortable
So which one do you want to be?
Cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church
The blood and dirt on His feet would stain the carpet
But He reaches for the hurting and despised the proud
I think He'd prefer Beale St. to the stained glass crowd
And I know that He can hear me if I cry out loud
I want to be like my Jesus!
I want to be like my Jesus!
Not a posterchild for American prosperity, but like my Jesus
You see I'm tired of living for success and popularity
I want to be like my Jesus but I'm not sure what that means to be like You Jesus
Cause You said to live like You, love like You but then You died for me
Can I be like You Jesus?
I want to be like my Jesus.
-- Todd Agnew, "My Jesus"
5 comments:
I've always seen Jesus as the poor guy who loved everyone. Jesus wasn't above people but among people. That makes him the true son of God.
It's good to hear that you respect people's opinion and their choice of believing in God. I think that's Eric's reason why he doesn't like Christians: they always try to convert you.
It sucks that Eric has only met Christians who unapologetically try to convert him; Christians who model Jesus--I think--are to be more loving and serving than anything, and if the person wants to become a Christian, the person knows that the option is open. No scare tactics, no dogmatic-minded confrontations, no condemnation or hellfire-and-brimstone speeches. Just love and friendship and invitation--and if the person says, "No," then the love and friendship is certainly NOT eliminated!
I sometimes ramble about this stuff; it's something I'm passionate about. But tell Eric we're not all like the Christians he's met! Hah.
No complacency either...Don't forget that we have to be people of action not just build as many relationships as possible. Yeah it sucks to talk about hell. But believe it or not folks its as real as its gonna get. Jesus said there was a heaven and a hell not me. I believe in loving others and building relationships but sometimes thats not enough for others. I have friends who have asked others over and over again to accept Christ (and praying for them) and they really bugged them you could say. They finally accepted Christ and are the most on fire true Christians you will ever meet. Because someone cared enough to SAY something and TALK to them.
So much for the preconceptions about Christians, I'll tell Eric that not all Christians are like this ;)
Eric and I are thinking about studying in America after graduation, we don't know which city yet, but we'll see :)
Dylan, we both agree that Hell is real; I don't dodge the subject! I talk about it a lot in class; I just look at it from a different perspective than you (and that's O.K.!). We say the Bible is black-and-white on things like this, and like you said, "Take the Bible for what it is," but when you really look at the scriptures in the Old and New testaments regarding hell... Well, it is black-and-white that Hell is real, but exactly what it IS isn't really clear.
And I'm not docking evangelism; I definitely believe in the importance of talking about faith. Like I've said, I've had many conversations with friends, but only a few of them have begun the journey that is Christianity. Books like "A New Kind of Christian" and "Radical Reformission" have helped mold my views on evangelism; good reads, bro.
Inaya, studying in the states would be amazing! I thought about doing a semester in Australia, but (sadly) Australia does not have many good colleges (for what I'm looking for). If you come near Cincy, that would be sweet. I could show you and Eric around, hah.
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