Jesus is my personal hero. I have never in my life been so inspired, so challenged, and so confused by anyone else in history. I guess that goes without saying- I mean, He's the Son of God, right? I wouldn't think the Son of God would be anything less.
It's not Jesus' difficult teachings that unsettle me. Teachings like "Love your enemies and pray for those that persecute you," "Anyone who doesn't give up everything he has cannot be My disciple," etc are incredibly difficult to follow, but at least I feel like I engage those teachings. Those teachings aren't what unsettle me about Jesus.
What unsettles me about Jesus is this: He completely destroys "living a good life" as the way of life for the Christian.
Huh?
Yes. He does. And He does it boldly.
I cannot get past the parable of the Sheep and the Goats in Matthew 25. In the parable, Jesus separates the righteous from the unrighteous and sends one group to heaven and the other to hell. His criteria for righteousness?
Was His criteria raising a good family? Being comfortable? Being kind and loving to those around you? Living with integrity and morality and following the Ten Commandments? Was it being forgiving and faithful?
No.
His criteria were "I was hungry and you fed Me, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was sick and in prison and you came to visit Me."
I am 39 years old, and it wasn't until six months ago that I ever visited anyone in prison. Even though that's what Jesus said to do. Even though that was one of the very criteria Jesus used to separate the sheep and the goats. I would imagine that the vast majority of Christians have never visited anyone in prison or visited a stranger in the hospital. Now, to be fair, there are a good number who do, and I would imagine that the other things Jesus says about feeding the hungry and giving water to the thirsty many Christians do, although it might not be as often as we would like it to be. Many Christians provide for orphans in the form of sponsorship and adoption and all that.
But here is the thing- I never visited anyone in prison because I never GO to prison. It's out of my way. It's not a part of my daily life. It's so far away from my life that I, along with most other Christians, could be born, live for 90 years, and die without ever crossing paths with a prison.
And that's the problem. In this parable, Jesus is saying that He is found in places where we would normally not go, and there are eternal consequences for not going where we would normally not go.
In this parable, notice that Jesus doesn't mention other things about the unrighteous. I would imagine that the unrighteous weren't murderers or thieves. They may have lived very decent lives. They probably went on vacation with their families. They probably lived with at least a decent degree of integrity. They were probably good parents, raising their children to succeed in school, establishing a solid home based on morals and integrity. They probably volunteered for the PTO and coached sports and spent quality time with the family.
But they ended up in hell.
That's why Jesus is so unsettling to me. He completely destroys the option of "living a good life."
In this parable, He states that heaven will be filled with people who did what was abnormal. Hell will be filled with people who did what was normal. And that is unsettling to me.
It is abnormal to visit a prison. Not many do it. It is abnormal to allow a stranger into your home. Not many do it. It is abnormal to spend resources giving water to the thirsty and food to the hungry, clothing for the naked and love for the unlovable. That doesn't fit in with what is "normal" in America.
Yet, the abnormal is what Jesus seems to prize. The normal doesn't interest Him in the slightest.
And that is why Jesus is unsettling to me.
See, in my innermost being, I would simply like to just live a good life, raise a family, be happily married, earn a living, and then die old and full of years. That really sounds attractive to me. That really sounds lovely. And it really sounds like that is the path that will get me labelled as a "goat" and send me straight to hell.
And that is why Jesus is unsettling to me.
I think it is time that the Church begins to re-think what it is we are here to do. We aren't here to live a Christianized version of the American dream, playing it safe in our structured communities and keeping to ourselves. We have to re-think what it means to even be a Christian. There was a time when the label "Christian" was an automatic death sentence to anyone who claimed it. It is that way many places in the world today. Can we honestly call ourselves "Christians" if we are not actively seeking Him out in the hungry, the thirsty, the sick, the naked, the incarcerated, the orphan, the widow?
I think that the main point Jesus is making in this parable is Christians, true Christians, have an unsettling passion to be with Jesus- to find Him at all costs. Jesus never said He was found in a church or Bible study or conference, as wonderful as those things are. He has told us where to find Him. He's waiting there for us. Sadly, the first 38 years of my life Jesus was waiting in prison for me to come see Him, and I didn't do it. He is waiting in hospitals and nursing homes for us to visit Him, and many of us never will. He is waiting in the orphan child who needs parents or at least sponsorship for physical needs.
And that is why Jesus is unsettling to me. He has destroyed the option of "living a good life." No longer can I content myself with simply being married, having a home, raising "good kids," planning for retirement, going to church, listening to Christian music, and having friends. It's not that there is anything wrong with any of that. It's just simply what is being omitted from that life that will ensure an eternity in hell, according to Matthew 25.
And that's why Jesus is unsettling to me. I hope He's unsettling to you as well.
It's not Jesus' difficult teachings that unsettle me. Teachings like "Love your enemies and pray for those that persecute you," "Anyone who doesn't give up everything he has cannot be My disciple," etc are incredibly difficult to follow, but at least I feel like I engage those teachings. Those teachings aren't what unsettle me about Jesus.
What unsettles me about Jesus is this: He completely destroys "living a good life" as the way of life for the Christian.
Huh?
Yes. He does. And He does it boldly.
I cannot get past the parable of the Sheep and the Goats in Matthew 25. In the parable, Jesus separates the righteous from the unrighteous and sends one group to heaven and the other to hell. His criteria for righteousness?
Was His criteria raising a good family? Being comfortable? Being kind and loving to those around you? Living with integrity and morality and following the Ten Commandments? Was it being forgiving and faithful?
No.
His criteria were "I was hungry and you fed Me, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was sick and in prison and you came to visit Me."
I am 39 years old, and it wasn't until six months ago that I ever visited anyone in prison. Even though that's what Jesus said to do. Even though that was one of the very criteria Jesus used to separate the sheep and the goats. I would imagine that the vast majority of Christians have never visited anyone in prison or visited a stranger in the hospital. Now, to be fair, there are a good number who do, and I would imagine that the other things Jesus says about feeding the hungry and giving water to the thirsty many Christians do, although it might not be as often as we would like it to be. Many Christians provide for orphans in the form of sponsorship and adoption and all that.
But here is the thing- I never visited anyone in prison because I never GO to prison. It's out of my way. It's not a part of my daily life. It's so far away from my life that I, along with most other Christians, could be born, live for 90 years, and die without ever crossing paths with a prison.
And that's the problem. In this parable, Jesus is saying that He is found in places where we would normally not go, and there are eternal consequences for not going where we would normally not go.
In this parable, notice that Jesus doesn't mention other things about the unrighteous. I would imagine that the unrighteous weren't murderers or thieves. They may have lived very decent lives. They probably went on vacation with their families. They probably lived with at least a decent degree of integrity. They were probably good parents, raising their children to succeed in school, establishing a solid home based on morals and integrity. They probably volunteered for the PTO and coached sports and spent quality time with the family.
But they ended up in hell.
That's why Jesus is so unsettling to me. He completely destroys the option of "living a good life."
In this parable, He states that heaven will be filled with people who did what was abnormal. Hell will be filled with people who did what was normal. And that is unsettling to me.
It is abnormal to visit a prison. Not many do it. It is abnormal to allow a stranger into your home. Not many do it. It is abnormal to spend resources giving water to the thirsty and food to the hungry, clothing for the naked and love for the unlovable. That doesn't fit in with what is "normal" in America.
Yet, the abnormal is what Jesus seems to prize. The normal doesn't interest Him in the slightest.
And that is why Jesus is unsettling to me.
See, in my innermost being, I would simply like to just live a good life, raise a family, be happily married, earn a living, and then die old and full of years. That really sounds attractive to me. That really sounds lovely. And it really sounds like that is the path that will get me labelled as a "goat" and send me straight to hell.
And that is why Jesus is unsettling to me.
I think it is time that the Church begins to re-think what it is we are here to do. We aren't here to live a Christianized version of the American dream, playing it safe in our structured communities and keeping to ourselves. We have to re-think what it means to even be a Christian. There was a time when the label "Christian" was an automatic death sentence to anyone who claimed it. It is that way many places in the world today. Can we honestly call ourselves "Christians" if we are not actively seeking Him out in the hungry, the thirsty, the sick, the naked, the incarcerated, the orphan, the widow?
I think that the main point Jesus is making in this parable is Christians, true Christians, have an unsettling passion to be with Jesus- to find Him at all costs. Jesus never said He was found in a church or Bible study or conference, as wonderful as those things are. He has told us where to find Him. He's waiting there for us. Sadly, the first 38 years of my life Jesus was waiting in prison for me to come see Him, and I didn't do it. He is waiting in hospitals and nursing homes for us to visit Him, and many of us never will. He is waiting in the orphan child who needs parents or at least sponsorship for physical needs.
And that is why Jesus is unsettling to me. He has destroyed the option of "living a good life." No longer can I content myself with simply being married, having a home, raising "good kids," planning for retirement, going to church, listening to Christian music, and having friends. It's not that there is anything wrong with any of that. It's just simply what is being omitted from that life that will ensure an eternity in hell, according to Matthew 25.
And that's why Jesus is unsettling to me. I hope He's unsettling to you as well.
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