The word "Christian" is intended to mean "follower of Christ." Not complicated. Paul said that the "good" which God causes all things to work together for (Rom 8:28) is the conforming of the elect into the image of God's Son (Rom 8:29). That is, as followers of Christ, we are to conform to His image. Seems fairly straightforward.
It's not.
Many times we're told by the world and by others who claim to be Christian, "You need to be more like Jesus. You know, more loving, more accepting, more gentle." And, of course, Jesus is known for spending time with sinners and for telling the woman "caught in adultery" that He didn't condemn her (John 8:11). But for reasons that elude me no one ever says, "You need to be more like Jesus. You know, making whips and throwing moneychangers out of the Temple" or "Confronting the spiritual leaders of the day and warning them that they are hypocrites and cursed." Or the like. Because Jesus was not simple; He was complicated.
When I'm told, "You need to be more gentle like Jesus" I tend to respond with the examples I offered above. Jesus was not always gentle and warm and fuzzy. But that doesn't change the fact that He was gentler and more humble than we ever are. So it appears we don't have a problem of being judgmental; we have a problem of missing the mark ... in both directions.
Being a follower of Christ is serious business. It takes diligence and perseverance and hard work (Php 2:12-13). If we truly want to follow Christ, we need to search the Scriptures and follow all of Him -- the pleasant and the unpleasant. And if Christ is God (and He is), it stands to reason that conforming to His image will be difficult and even hard to grasp at times. What it will not be is simple. Because, to the finite, the infinite is complicated.
3 comments:
I certainly agree that we miss the mark on following Jesus at both ends. Yet, I think that there’s a line between following Jesus, and having His authority that confuses people on both sides as well. We certainly don’t have the authority to forgive sin, nor do we have the authority to condemn, yet I see people attempting to do both. I’d argue that those who excuse sin, are trying to appropriate the authority thar Jesus has to forgive sin. I’d also argue that people often try to emulate or exceed Jesus’ tone (using harsh language and vitriol), when perhaps humility and gentleness might be a better option.
When people decide to define Jesus in their image, I believe it leads to confusion about who really is Lord.
Absolutely! We are supposed to emulate Him, but only insofar as we can. We don't get His divine rights or capabilities. Nor do we get to tell Him what to do. (I've seen a lot of that, too.)
I’ve seen that as well.
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