A story just popped into my head:
What if Jesus were to show up randomly one day to any of our "synagogues" (assuming he'd even want to walk into a synagogue considering how many open-air amphiteatres and parks are around)? Lets just say he walked into any of our church services and as soon as he found a seat in the back somewhere, he looked up onto the powerpoint and saw words about him, solely about him. The words said things like "his blood set us free, he forgave our sins once and for all, he came back from calvary, etc."
You would think (because you were singing the songs about him) that if you looked at his face as he was sitting there, he'd be smiling, kind of pridefully.
He'd probably feel elevated right?
Or maybe he'd feel blessed?
Or maybe he'd feel really loved?
Or maybe he'd feel like he was worthy of worship?
Or maybe, this is just what we'd think if we were to actually see Jesus sitting in a service that was all about him . . .
But . . .
What if Jesus did show up? What if he did hear songs being sung about him? What if he did hear the pastor say that Jesus was the only way to God?
And to our amazement, we expected to see an elevated . . . blessed . . . loved . . . worthy . . . Jesus . . .
But what we got instead was completely not what we expected.
This Jesus stood up right in the middle of it all . . . and flipped over the offering tables . . . and the hymnal stands . . . and started ripping down the statues . . . the projectors . . . the cameras . . .
And walked up to the front of the auditorium, grabbed the mike from the pastor [who's passing out] and said authoritatively,
"Why do you call me good? No one is good, only God."
And then he walks off the stage, obviously fighting back the vague memories of a people from the past who wandered around like lost sheep looking for a shepherd.
What would you do?
What would you think?
What would you feel?
Would you feel like every bit of your faith was ripped from your hands?
Would you feel crushed?
Would you feel like you'd been doing the best you could, but were suddenly told by the one person you wanted to please all this time that you were worshiping something other than God?
Or would you feel relieved that after all this time you thought that if you didn't worship Jesus you were gonna somehow be cut off from God or punished or sent to hell?
What if Jesus's greatest mission was to point people to the one true God, and not become the one true God himself?
That'd be pretty scandalous, wouldn't it be?
What if Jesus were to show up randomly one day to any of our "synagogues" (assuming he'd even want to walk into a synagogue considering how many open-air amphiteatres and parks are around)? Lets just say he walked into any of our church services and as soon as he found a seat in the back somewhere, he looked up onto the powerpoint and saw words about him, solely about him. The words said things like "his blood set us free, he forgave our sins once and for all, he came back from calvary, etc."
You would think (because you were singing the songs about him) that if you looked at his face as he was sitting there, he'd be smiling, kind of pridefully.
He'd probably feel elevated right?
Or maybe he'd feel blessed?
Or maybe he'd feel really loved?
Or maybe he'd feel like he was worthy of worship?
Or maybe, this is just what we'd think if we were to actually see Jesus sitting in a service that was all about him . . .
But . . .
What if Jesus did show up? What if he did hear songs being sung about him? What if he did hear the pastor say that Jesus was the only way to God?
And to our amazement, we expected to see an elevated . . . blessed . . . loved . . . worthy . . . Jesus . . .
But what we got instead was completely not what we expected.
This Jesus stood up right in the middle of it all . . . and flipped over the offering tables . . . and the hymnal stands . . . and started ripping down the statues . . . the projectors . . . the cameras . . .
And walked up to the front of the auditorium, grabbed the mike from the pastor [who's passing out] and said authoritatively,
"Why do you call me good? No one is good, only God."
And then he walks off the stage, obviously fighting back the vague memories of a people from the past who wandered around like lost sheep looking for a shepherd.
What would you do?
What would you think?
What would you feel?
Would you feel like every bit of your faith was ripped from your hands?
Would you feel crushed?
Would you feel like you'd been doing the best you could, but were suddenly told by the one person you wanted to please all this time that you were worshiping something other than God?
Or would you feel relieved that after all this time you thought that if you didn't worship Jesus you were gonna somehow be cut off from God or punished or sent to hell?
What if Jesus's greatest mission was to point people to the one true God, and not become the one true God himself?
That'd be pretty scandalous, wouldn't it be?
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