I am not out to judge any church or Christians in this
blog. This is just to shine a light on
the real Jesus. This is something that God has been showing me for quite a
while now. Many of us have grown up with a very normal view of Christianity and
what Jesus was like when he walked the earth. From an outsider perspective, I
believe Christians are really nice dressed people who don’t drink or say bad
words. Christians are always happy and never struggle with addictions. They
have their own clothing line and bumper stickers and their own lingo.
Christians have really good potlucks, a lot of money and a lot of rules.
Honestly, that is what it does look like on a Sunday morning. No one would even know that the Smith family
argued the whole way to church, because they sure do have their happy faces
on. This was not intentional that the
church evolved into this, but as I read the bible, I find a completely opposite
example of Jesus and the church.
First of all, Jesus was born in a dirty stable and slept in
a manger where animals ate their food. Talk about a humble, non-kingly,
entrance into the world.
We often see Jesus as a real “religious” person who came to
tell us a bunch of rules. Not the case. I find that the “religious” people of
the day who tried to look all good and holy, were the ones that Jesus had the
hardest time getting through to. Jesus didn’t follow all their religious rules
and traditions. He was like “Woo Hoo! You can follow a bunch of rules. Let’s
start having relationships and getting real with each other. Let’s stop acting
all fake and let’s start loving the “non-religious” people who actually want
God more than you really do.” (A paraphrase of many conversations Jesus had in
the bible.)
Who were the people that really understood and fell at
Jesus’ feet? Biblically, who were the people that followed Jesus? What would
Jesus’ church look like? Adulterers,
prostitutes, tax-collectors, poor people, lepers, the blind, the mute, the
homeless, the paralyzed, murderers, and even his disciples were considered
“un-schooled ordinary men.” Jesus was looked down on for hanging out with this
crowd. Though, it was these people that realized that they needed a Savior and
that they needed to be healed. They came to Jesus as they were.
We don’t need to make ourselves look all nice and “good” to
come to Jesus. That is NOT what he wants at all. He wants you to come as you
are. He wants you to come broken, depressed, addicted, and hurting. He doesn’t
need you to fix yourself and look all nice and act a certain way before you
come to him. He wants you to be vulnerable. He wants to heal you and then set
you on the path for your life. Yes! Jesus does give us boundaries for our
actions. This is not about being legalistic. It’s about our father in heaven
knowing what we need to stay away from to protect our minds and our hearts from
the enemy’s lies and attacks. Jesus didn’t just save the adulterer from being
stoned to death. He made sure that she could be free from that kind of life and
“sin no more.”
It’s time we create a church setting where broken people can
feel like they fit in. Do we get uncomfortable when a raggedy homeless person
walks into our nice pretty church building? Or do we forget that Jesus was
homeless? (“The son of man had no where to lay his head.”) Is it ok to break
down and cry with your church people? Is it ok to tell someone at church that
you feel anger? Is it ok for a married Christian man to say he is addicted to
pornography and instead of feeling condemned, he can graciously be held
accountable?
The Jesus church is real and vulnerable. The Jesus church is
one where we can openly confess our struggles without feeling alone; but
instead, start to walk in freedom from these struggles. Not on our own, but
with the help from fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
My husband Michael had a very real relationship with God
before he considered himself a Christian. His first prayer was before he accepted Jesus. It was when I was just
his friend and in the Emergency Room for heart problems.
He prayed, “God I have issues with you, but Denise loves you
so take care of her.”
Seriously! If we could all be that real with God, things could
be a little different. His prayer was not a written out prayer that we say every
Sunday and probably don’t even feel in that moment. God already knows how you
feel, so your better off just telling him and start building an honest and
blunt relationship with him and be part of the Jesus church.
