I Been Gone a Long Time 1:41 PM

After taking a bit of time away from posting stuff on this thing, I decided to come back with a renewed vision. I realized that my last couple of posts have been a bit distracted and have strayed a bit too much from what this blog was originally intended to do. And what is that you ask? Well, it was originally intended to generate discussions and provoke thoughts about faith... more particularly, it was originally intended to talk about Jesus.

So that's exactly what I'm going to do.

You see, lately I've been thinking about the compelling nature of Jesus Christ.

If someone were to approach you and say "I am the Son of God, God's revelation to his creation, God in the flesh," you have two choices, with a third possibility:

1) you agree with what that person said and act accordingly

2) you disagree with what that person said and act accordingly
3) you take time to decide whether you are going to pick 1 or 2.

So really, there is no third option. There is no real in between in this equation. Either we come to a place in which we believe in Jesus Christ or we don't. What lies in between is a grey area that isn't so grey when we really think about it.

In other words, we either accept Jesus Christ and let our lives be changed by Him or we don't. 

To me, this is compelling. It's like a good zombie movie: messy, but I can't look away. It's like minor chords: disconcerting, but beautiful. 

The story of Jesus Christ is a compelling cacophonic revelation of the love of God. Accept it or not, it is real and true, and you can't deny it's ability to grab you and never let go. Even if it's grabbing you and you're wrestling and trying to get away, it's still grabbing you and trying to make you see the truth that you are loved by a God who would take on human form and die for you and take away all the guilt and burdens you have been feeling ever since you could think for yourself.

Though I certainly believe that there will always be a stage in which we explore the possibility that Jesus is who He said He is, I would also argue that until we fully and truly say "yes" to Jesus we are still saying "no." 

Of course, there are different ways to say "no" to Jesus. Some are stronger than others. But at the most base level, even the nice guy down the street who is just a "nice guy" and "playing with the idea" that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, thinking about saying "yes" to Christ, is still actually saying "no." Intuitively that guy might be hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit, but until he fully receives that voice and counsel, he is denying the most wonderful part of Who and What the Holy Spirit is: a quickening revelation of a God that loves and looks after you.

Not a lot of people like this. They get snippy when you say stuff like I'm saying.

Some people see this as bad news. 

I see this as good news. More on that later.

For the people that see this as bad news: I think they are afraid, angry, or any other number of things. Why? Because if Jesus is who He says He is, that means we have to start to change. Also, living in limbo when Jesus Christ is involved is a scary situation to be in. If you only give part of yourself to Him, it'll eventually be the case that you begin to lead a double life. You quickly realize that Jesus is not and cannot be compartmentalized and you sometimes feel the joy only he can bestow, and then others, you feel empty and alone because you're running away.

The truth: you either take the Bread and the Wine together that Jesus offers, or you take nothing. Alone, bread is a meal and wine is a drink. Together, Bread and Wine are the broken body and shed blood of Christ. For you, me, and everyone. Get what I'm saying here? I hope so...

Jesus said "whoever wants to follow me, pick up your cross and start walking." That's more of a paraphrase, but you can look at Matthew 10:38 and 16:24, Mark 8:34, and Luke 9:23 if you want to make sure I'm not telling lies. The point of such a statement is this: if you're going to walk with Jesus, you have to start walking. Otherwise, you're running in a different direction.

...

That's a pretty scary thought because there is not a lot of breathing room in that choice. Either we accept the life Jesus Christ wants for us, believe in Him, and walk with Him, or we don't.

But let me put it this way: if someone came up to you and said "two choices: live or die..." and they were telling you the truth, there wouldn't be a lot of breathing room in that situation either. That being said, I'm pretty sure I know what most people would answer. They'd answer "live."

:Essentially, Jesus asks us the same thing (with a little nuance). He says: "find life in Me by dying to your old self." 

At another point in the Gospels there is a moment when Jesus tells a man who wants to follow him that he is not allowed to bury his recently deceased father (Matthew 8:20-22 and Luke 9:59).

...

Imagine that. Someone tells you that if you want to hang out with them, you are not allowed to bury your father who just died. Instead, you have to drop everything and start walking. 

Does this scare you? Because this scares me... Terrifies me.

Up until this point, there have been moments when Jesus has looked at me and asked me to give things up. But nothing like that. Can't even imagine...

Of course there is a context and frame to that story in the Gospels, but the root thought of its message is this: before we do anything in life - even take care of our father who has just died - we must first and foremost accept Jesus Christ and let that permeate every aspect of our lives. Everything must be given over to Christ before we do anything. Otherwise, we are saying "no."

So at this point, it's becoming more and more easy to imagine that Jesus Christ is a divisive figure; that if Jesus Christ is God in human form and says "either follow me or don't there are no in betweens," then He must be close minded, divisive, and limiting because nobody who asks such things from us could be inviting, kind, compassionate, loving, and so on and so forth.

And at this point we are scared and running because we want to do what we want and want to "have fun."

But before you conclude that Jesus Christ is divisive and limiting, I would like you to think about the following idea: perhaps the way in which you previously thought about words like "divisive, limiting, and close minded" could change based on who Jesus Christ is and what He represents and reveals.


In most cases, a lot of people would respond to what I'm writing with "well based on what you say, I'm not willing to enslave myself to such a divisive person. I'd rather follow someone or something who is inclusive and lets me be me and do what I want."

But here is the earth shattering and divinely transforming paradox of Jesus Christ:

Limiting our lives for Jesus means a freedom we never thought possible.

But a lot of people say "heck no, I'm not limiting myself for Jesus. I'd rather be free."

...

And then they go play X Box 360 for four hours.

And then they drink themselves silly.

And then they are a bad husband and ignore their wife and kids.

And then they steal, cheat, and lie to get what they want.

And then, and then, and then...

Now to me that's limiting yourself. That's enslavement.


But then other people see this decision that needs to be made and say "heck yes, I will allow Jesus to take control."

And they are freed from everything painful and dark and terrible and hurtful in this world at no real cost to themselves and drawn back to the compassionate and loving God that created them.

So the answer is either "yes" or "no." Good News or bad news. We are all given a choice. But there is no in between.

Whatever decision you make or are making right now, I'll just ask you this: if you're saying "no," is that really working for you? Do you think that the way you've been saying "no" in your life is helping or hurting you? Do you think that there is, in fact, a God out there who loves you deeply and wants the best for you and all you need to do is say "yes" when he speaks to you and your life we be transformed for the better?

So let's go back to the guy and his dead father. The first thing we assume is that the father and his son were both innocent people and that they had a good relationship and that the son was just being a good son and wanting to pay respects to his dad and that Jesus is the bad guy in this equation.

...

But all the guy says to Jesus is "Lord, first let me go bury my father." Look at the verses I mentioned if you don't believe me...

So what exactly can we glean from this? Not a lot. There are a great deal of things this could mean. Though we assume that this guy had good intentions, maybe his father wasn't dead yet. Maybe this guy wanted to go "bury his father" in the sense of "kill his father." Maybe the guy had been putting this burial off for weeks and pops was starting to decompose and stink up the place. Maybe the son was a bad son. Maybe he was happy his father was dead because he was getting a solid inheritance. Maybe on top of that he and his brothers were arguing over the estate and letting their time of grief be encompassed by greed and selfishness. Maybe he was celebrating the burial of his father instead of mourning it because his father's death meant money and less accountability.

We don't know what this guy meant, and we don't know his story, so we can't say for sure.

But what we can say is this: Jesus is good. He died for us. He rose from the dead. He is here to free us.

And we can say "yes" to the story of Jesus Christ. God's revelation to man, God in human form, God's way of bringing us back to him.