Maybe They’ve Never Seen The Real Christ

Francis Chan in the book, ChurchLeaders.Com Top 100 (2012):

As Christians in America, we often complain about how antagonistic people are toward Christ.  Personally, I’m not sure that Americans are really rejecting Christ.  Maybe they just haven’t seen Him.

Try to be COMPLETELY honest with yourself right now.  Is the following true of you?

• You passionately love Jesus, but you don’t really want to be like Him.
• You admire His humility, but you don’t want to be THAT humble.
• You think it’s beautiful that he washed the feet of the disciples, but that’s not exactly the direction your life is headed.
• You’re thankful He was spit upon and abused, but you would never let that happen to you.
• You praise him for loving you enough to suffer during his whole time on Earth, but you’re going to do everything within your power to make sure you enjoy your time down here.

In short:  You think He’s a great Savior, but not a great role model.

The American church has abandoned the most simple and obvious truth of what it means to follow Jesus:  You actually follow His pattern of life.  I pray for those who read this article – that we don’t become cynical or negative toward the church.  Instead, let’s make a personal decision to stop talking so much and begin living like Jesus.  Then we can say as the Apostle Paul, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”  (1 Corinthians 11:1).  My guess is that you’ve never had someone say that to you, and you’ve never said it to anyone else. Why not?

May we make it our goal to someday have someone say of us:  “The day/hour/15 minutes I spent with _________ was the closest thing I’ve ever experienced to walking with Jesus.”

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This morning our pastor mentioned my name in the sermon. That always zaps me back to attention! He was discussing all the various names given to God in scripture, and that there are, by some counts, over 600! Then he said he saw this on my blog.  Actually, Pastor Mike Stone of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Blackshear, Georgia posted these on his blog in 2010, and I thought it would be good to reproduce them here one more time. For those who want to dig a little deeper; the second-last one is also the title of a very hold hymn, which is how I came to learn of these names while still a teenager.

Genesis 22 – Jehovah Jireh – The Lord, my Provider

Exodus 15 – Jehovah Rapha – The Lord who heals

Exodus 17 – Jehovah Nissi – The Lord, my banner

Exodus 31 – Jehovah M’Kaddesh – The Lord who sanctifies

Deuteronomy 33 – Jehovah Chereb – The Lord, my Sword

Deuteronomy 33 – Jehovah Magen – The Lord, my Shield

Judges 6 – Jehovah Shalom – The Lord, my Peace

1 Samuel 1 – Jehovah Sabaoth – Lord of the hosts of heaven

Psalm 3 – Jehovah Kahbodi – The Lord, my Glory

Psalm 10 – Jehovah Malech-Olam – The Lord who is king forever

Psalm 18 – Jehovah Chezeq – The Lord, my strength

Psalm 18 – Jehovah Misqabbi – The Lord, my strong tower

Psalm 18 – Jehovah Naheh – The Lord who smites the enemy

Psalm 18 – Jehovah Seli – The Lord, my Rock

Psalm 20 – Jehovah Hoshea – The Lord, my Savior

Psalm 23 – Jehovah Rohi – The Lord, my Shepherd

Psalm 24 – Jehovah Milchamma – The Lord, mighty in battle

Psalm 27 – Jehovah Ori – The Lord, my Light

Psalm 89 – Jehovah Gannan – The Lord who is my defense

Psalm 91 – Jehovah Machsi – The Lord my Refuge

Psalm 98 – Jehovah Hamelech – The Lord, my King

Isaiah 40 – Jehovah Bara – The Lord, my Creator

Isaiah 49 – Jehovah Goel – The Lord, my Redeemer

Jeremiah 16 – Jehovah Ma’oz – The Lord, my Fortress

Jeremiah 23 – Jehovah Tsidkenu – The Lord, my righteousness

Ezekiel 48 – Jehovah Shammah – The Lord who is present

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The book mentioned at the beginning of today’s post is available from CBD