We have been blinded by popular culture and have lost sight of Who God is. A friend of mine asked me recently to think about something: if the church in America today could be picked up and transferred back in time, would she even recognize Jesus and, if she could, would she be ashamed of Him? That really made me think. Remember, before He began His public ministry, Jesus knew the hard physical labor of being a Carpenter. His hands were calloused. He had wood shavings in His beard and on His clothes. He would have been physically exhausted from His work at the end of the day. Once our Savior hit the road to preach, He left His everything behind. He owned nothing. He knew deep poverty; He knew hunger; He didn’t even have a home. Traveling as He did from town to town on dusty roads by foot, He would have been dusty and dirty much of the time. Besides all of that, Jesus was an outcast. He was considered a rebel and a trouble maker by the established religious leaders. His own brothers thought He was crazy and wanted to take charge of Him. They didn’t even come close to believing that He was God in the flesh–even though they grew up with Him. Jesus was a friend of sinners and a man of sorrows. It was only when people misunderstood His mission that He was popular. Once He openly declared Who He was, people wanted Him dead.
If we could go back in time and live around Him, what would we think of Him? Would we believe Him? Would we be ashamed of Him? Would we think Him crazy? Think about it: we drive nice cars, live in nice houses and have plenty to eat. We are clean and respectable. Our churches don’t tend to make waves. We are friends of the world–not to save them but so that we can play with them. We emphasize God’s love over God’s holiness when we should be understanding God’s love through the lens of His holiness. What would we think of Him cleansing the temple? What would we think of His choice of friends? What would we think of Him denouncing the established religion–even though it claimed to follow God? More importantly, what would Jesus think of us? What does He think of us today? If He walked among us, would He be cleansing our Christian ministries? Would He be denouncing our churches? Would He say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant?” Would He even acknowledge that we were His?
If we could go back in time and live around Him, what would we think of Him? Would we believe Him? Would we be ashamed of Him? Would we think Him crazy? Think about it: we drive nice cars, live in nice houses and have plenty to eat. We are clean and respectable. Our churches don’t tend to make waves. We are friends of the world–not to save them but so that we can play with them. We emphasize God’s love over God’s holiness when we should be understanding God’s love through the lens of His holiness. What would we think of Him cleansing the temple? What would we think of His choice of friends? What would we think of Him denouncing the established religion–even though it claimed to follow God? More importantly, what would Jesus think of us? What does He think of us today? If He walked among us, would He be cleansing our Christian ministries? Would He be denouncing our churches? Would He say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant?” Would He even acknowledge that we were His?
