We talked this morning in small group about how we as a church, both our individual church, and the corporate church at large, welcome people. The things we do well and the things we could do better.
The question was asked, have we become more about the religion about Jesus rather than the religion of Jesus. It’s a question that made us all uncomfortable but also one that most if not all of us answered yes to. I think that’s often true for we as individuals, we as the corporate church, and we as the world in general.
I think often we worry more about trying to be good Christians rather than trying to be like Jesus. It’s certainly a lot easier to try to be a good Christian than it is to be like Jesus.
Being a good Christian means going to church and serving donuts and teaching Sunday school and giving money. It’s about following the rules. These aren’t bad things at all. They are needed and they are honored. But there’s so much more.
Being like Jesus requires us to step outside our comfort zone. It requires us to talk to people we may not be comfortable talking to. It requires us to go places we may not be comfortable going. It requires us to think about concepts we’ve maybe never thought of. It requires us to give of ourselves in ways that stretch who we are. Sometimes it requires us to break the rules.
Sometimes it even causes us to say things that make ourselves and others uncomfortable. It requires risk.
But risk for the sake of being like Jesus is always met with faithfulness.
Risk for the sake of being Jesus’ hands and feet in this world is always met with blessing.
Risk to be a troublemaker, to break the rules, to rebel, to see things differently, all for the sake of being like Jesus? That’s the kind of crazy I want to be. Because I would much rather have people wonder in this life if I’ve lost my mind rather than have God in the next life ask me why I didn’t
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