Some tough teachings

My quiet time today found me reading John 6.  I've read this chapter countless times, but some things stuck out at me today that I don't remember before.  The Bible works that way.  You can read the same verse time and time again, and each time it can apply to your life differently, or mean so much more, depending on what is going on in your life at the time.


Today as I read I had in my head the grumblings I've been hearing more and more lately.  People of my generation and the generations coming after mine are grumbling about the church.  I even hear people who I know to be believers grumbling and questioning.  Maybe not questioning their faith, though some are, but questioning the tactics of the church, the bible and other believers.  This has really got me thinking.  I know in the end times many "false Christs" will rise up, deceiving the nations.  To some extent that is what is happening.  The cross is hard and people are finding other "prettier" ways to get around it.  People are offended at the Bible, even those who grew up loving and trusting it.  

As I read John 6 today a few verses stuck out at me.  Let me set the scene.  Jesus had just fed the 5,000.  The next day people came back to Him, wanting more physical fulfillment.  They weren't seeking anything spiritual from Jesus. They weren't trying to discover how to get to heaven, how to be a better person, they were simply hungry and wanted more.  This was the easy part.  He had fed them.  They were willing to accept that miracle.  This day was different, however.  He started teaching on things that weren't so easy to accept.  He stepped on a few toes. He laid it all down.  People didn't like this Jesus as much as the one the day before.  See, this Jesus was telling them the truth about themselves, the truth about life, the truth about God.  It was easy to be fed, not so easy to hear what they really needed.

John 6:60 says, "On hearing this, many of the disciples said,  "This is a hard teaching.  Who can accept it?""  --Even some followers of Jesus were having trouble with His message.  
Following Christ isn't easy.  It definitely isn't popular.  But it is worth it.  You can't pick and choose what you do and don't want to believe about Christ, about God, about the Bible.  This is a package deal.  We can't just omit things because they are not politically correct or because they are socially unacceptable.  That's not how it works.  There are going to be times when you have to stand up for things that go against this world.  There are going to be times you have to walk away from things because they go against the Word of God.  But you can't just merely back away when the going gets tough.  Thanks be to God that Jesus didn't.  He could have walked away from the cross, but instead He chose the will of the Father.

John 6:61 says, "Jesus, knowing in Himself that His disciples were complaining about this, asked them, “Does this offend you?”"

Jesus knew His message was hard.  He had told them that He was the one and only way to heaven.  God isn't just some god on a mountain that we're all working our way up to and eventually all get there, no matter what path we take.  No.  He is GOD.  The Almighty.  The One and Only.  He doesn't require that we work our way to Him, instead, He came down to us.  This is Jesus.  This is offensive.  This sounds close-minded and judgmental.  After all, isn't God love?  Absolutely!  But God is also just.  He demands perfection, something none of us can give.  But, because He is love, He allows us to come to Him through His Son, Jesus.  Jesus IS perfect.  When we place our trust in Him God no longer looks at our imperfections, He chooses to see Jesus.


The end of chapter 6 hit me pretty hard.  Verse 66, "From that moment many of His disciples turned back and no longer accompanied Him."  The going got too tough.  His teachings got to be too much.  He was no longer simply being the "loving" God, He was sharing the whole truth, the cold, hard facts.  And they turned away.

There were a few, however, who didn't turn away.  John 6:67, "Therefore Jesus said to the Twelve, “You don’t want to go away too, do you?”"  In 68 Simon Peter responds to Him, "Lord, who will we go to? You have the words of eternal life."

See, Peter got it.  Yes, the teachings are hard.  They are socially and politically incorrect.  You may have to give up things, turn away from things, make a stand when no one else will.  You may lose friends, even family, because of these beliefs... But to whom else would you turn?  Jesus is the only one Who has the words of eternal life.  Period.

truth in love

All the comments, posts, pics, blogs, etc about Chick-fil-a CEO, Dan Cathy, this past couple of weeks has spurred on this blog.  
Let me start by saying, just in case you don't know, that I am a born again believer in Christ.  He is my LORD, my boss, my everything.  


This week I have seen post after post, comment after comment, about how, because I am a Christian, I am a hypocrite, a bigot, and that I hate gays.  I will readily, and humbly, admit that I have acted in hypocritical ways on several occasions.  Everyone has.  We're human.  It's in our nature.  It's not something I am proud of nor intentionally do.  Ever.
I do not, nor have I ever, hated gays, or any other person.  Not only do I have friends who are gay, my brother-in-law is as well.  I love them all dearly and completely.  
The only thing I hate is sin.  I hate my sin, because I sin on a regular basis.  I hate all sin.  I have to because sin is in opposition to God and if I love God I have to hate all things against Him.  


I am no better than anyone else.  Jake often says, "there are 2 types of people in this world-sinners and sinners- the only difference is one has been forgiven of those sins."  That's the only difference.  Every single person on this planet has sinned.  If you're breathing, then you've sinned.  Young, old and in between.  All of us.
And Christ died for everyone, but not everyone accepts it.  


So often I hear quoted, "Let he who has no sin cast the 1st stone."  However, people neglect to go on with 'the rest of the story' (as Paul Harvey would say).  After the religious leaders dropped their stones and walked away Jesus turned to the prostitute and said, "Go, and sin no more."  He loved her in-spite of her sin, but He didn't say, "continue on with the way you're living..it's all good."  No, He told her to walk away from her life of sin.


Jesus did hang out with "sinners", because He wanted to change them.  In every single encounter with Jesus, people walked away changed.  Prostitutes walked away from prostitution, tax collectors paid back what they had stolen, adulterers left that life. That's what happens when you have an encounter with Jesus.  You will never be the same again.  You may choose to walk away from Him, but the choice is all yours, as are the consequences.  Either way, once you've truly met Jesus, your life will be different.


Something that has rung in my head all week is that we, as followers of Christ, are so afraid of offending people--so afraid that if we speak out against sin, that people are going to call us haters, bigots, close-minded hypocrites--that we are going to wind up "not offending" and "loving" people right into hell.




The thing is, if I truly believe there is a real hell, full of unimaginable torture, if I truly believe that people who haven't turned their lives over to Christ and accepted Him as their Lord and Savior are going to die and spend eternity there, and I don't tell them how to change their destiny, then maybe I don't truly believe it.
Because if I really believe it, I would be shouting it from the rooftops.  I would be telling every person I came across what I believe.
If I believed I had found the cure to cancer but chose not to share it with anyone I would be wrong.  If I saw a multitude of people blinding walking toward a huge cliff and said nothing, I would be wrong.
How much more so should I share the only way to avoid an eternity--something we can't even comprehend--of burning agony, of unending pain and torture.  Why wouldn't I share that?


I am commanded to speak the truth in love.  And it is because I love--not hate--that I share Christ.  If I hated, then I would say nothing at all.