The Forgotten: 7/31-8/1/2010
Our mission as a church is to help people who struggle with faith live like Jesus Christ forever. Jake Larson’s message this week gave us a chance to think about how we’re all doing at the “live like Jesus” part.
Our world desperately needs us to show them what Jesus was really about. To say with our lives that “Jesus is Lord.” That Jesus is in charge of our days.
If someone was watching you from Monday to Friday, knowing that you are someone who is trying to follow Jesus, what would they see?
This has been a tough week for the reputation of Christians. Anne Rice, interviewer of vampires and atheist-turned-Christian, recently released a statement that she is quitting Christianity. She said she was not renouncing Christ, but the title of Christian. Her remarks can be found here, as they were covered by CNN. I’m not sure what you think about what she has to say. The truth is, I’m not sure yet what I think about what she has to say.
But it’s nothing new. Gandhi once famously said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
Sadly, people say things like this all the time.
Maybe this happens because people let one person or one bad experience destroy their perception of Christians. Or maybe they use these experiences to avoid dealing with the state of their own heart. Maybe this happens because there are some loud Christians who are misrepresenting Jesus and they get heard over everyone else.
Or maybe this happens because there’s part of it that is true.
Chances are we won’t get the chance to change Anne Rice’s mind. But we can take a good look at our own lives and examine what kind of impression we are making about Jesus. People are watching us to see what it means to follow Jesus. This ought to excite us, motivate us, challenge us, humble us, ignite us.
Here are some of the passages that Jake used this week:
Matthew 5.1-12, Matthew 7.24-27, Romans 8.29, 2 Corinthians 3.18, John 15.4-6.
They are worth reading again. Over and over and over again. Until they are so true that others can read them in us.
Listen to the weekend message
