Public image is an interesting
vexation. It’s no secret that I’m open about my faith or my service in
ministry, but I get the sense, all the wrong folks think I’m a “Jesus Freak” or
a good sinner. I believe in Jesus and I love God, but the God of the cross is
not some cliché, image-conscience, lifestyle-driven deity. I assure you the “Jesus
Freak” mentality is a symptom of our broken world.
I believe in a living, loving,
and gracious God whose redemptive work of the cross will only cease to be
relevant if we live in a perfect world; therefore, it will be relevant until
its completion. Being a Christian doesn’t mean believers are better than
others; it means we’ve received the gift of God’s grace for being the sinners
we sometimes forget we are – grace which all are afforded through the work of
Christ.
Faith in Christ is life changing,
but it isn’t about lifestyles. It’s an encounter with the living God, who died
even for great sinners like me. To anyone who reads this, who can’t stand
Christians, who’s been offended by my more moralistic brothers and sisters (or
myself) know this, whatever you heard slandering you in the name of Jesus was
not and is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Gospel is this, Jesus lived
and felt every ounce of human suffering, Jesus died taking on all our burdens,
and Jesus resurrected in victory over the brokenness of our human world. This
is our hope, this is the Gospel, and this is what mends the brokenness of all
people (myself included).
God’s peace be with you all on
this day, now, and forevermore. Amen.
“We must learn to regard people
less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what
they suffer” (Dietrich Bonheoffer).
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