Im currently reading this book called “Beautiful Outlaw” by John Eldredge. This book talks about experiencing Jesus’ personality. His humanity, his humor, his gentleness, his honesty, his intentionality.
Through looking at his personality, we get to see more of his heart for us. More of his desire to know us and show us love. We get to see the utter freedom that Jesus walked in trying to teach the world about God.
The risks Jesus is willing to take with his reputation are simply stunning.
“The man is free – free from what people think, free from religion, free from false obligation. People wont like it, wont understand it; they’ll draw false conclusions, point fingers, and worse. He is free from that as well. Oh to be so free.
The more you fall in love with Jesus’ genuine goodness, which is true goodness, the more you will absolutely detest the counterfeit of a false piety and a shallow morality. As he did. Jesus had a wild freedom born out of profound holiness.“
Jesus didn’t care about reputation. His or ours. He wanted to bring Kingdom and freedom. He touched and healed lepers, he associated with tax collectors and sinners, he did things that were culturally inappropriate.
But through all of those things, he brought freedom. In the most scandalous, inappropriate, and absurd ways, he showed people what it looks like to freely love and follow him.
“…The freedom Jesus models is not a crass ‘giving the finger to the world.’ or the church, for that matter. …The scandalous freedom Jesus models for us in based in an understanding of a holiness much deeper than anything the religious ever concocted.”
My prayer today is that I can live in scandalous freedom. Freedom of false self, freedom of what people think, freedom of reputation. I was to freely follow Jesus. I want to take risks. I want to do radical and outlandish things. I want to live as freely as Jesus did.
