mainly about love

what would happen if everyone showed unconditional, unselfish, love? love with out secret motives? love with out seeking something in return? what would our families, friendships, churches, communities look like, if everyone genuinely cared about everyone... if we cared about each other more than we cared about ourselves? if instead of trying to keep ourselves entertained we cared for others needs? could you imagine what the world would look like? a world without famine, without murder, without gossip, without war, without divorce... a world where we wouldn't have to hide who we really are deep inside... because we are always open and honest because we wear our hearts on our sleeves... how much more useful would the church be if we worried less about petty, selfish, meaningless things and more about the bigger issues in the world... a good friend of mine said recently that they no longer want to be called a "christian", because the word "christian" has a negative connotation... i think if the church worried less about types of worship, what color the carpet is, and pews vs. chairs, and worried more about feeding the hungry, healing the broken, and loving the "unlovable" then this world would be better... if we built relationships without the motive of "saving" people... and loved them, just because we should... i think the church would be more effective... I think if we loved people without the secret motive of "saving" them, then we would probably actually save more people...

Jesus isn't safe, he's not tame like we make him out to be (C.S. Lewis)... If people knew the real Jesus they would be shocked... If people knew that Jesus wasn't the white skinned, blue eyed republican dude with a bunch of parlor tricks up the sleeve of his white robe with the blue sash...

The fact is that when people say they don't like Jesus, it's usually because they don't like one of his so called followers... But the amazing truth, the gospel of grace is that God is for us, and not against us... He's not a religious tyrant whom you have to watch your p's and q's when you are around Him...

If people only knew the Jesus who knocked down tables in the church and basically told off the stuck up religious leaders of the time... if they only knew the Jesus who hung out with prostitutes, tax collectors, sick people, blue collar hard working men... if they knew the Jesus who broke the "Church Rules" to do what was right, out of love... The Jesus who wasn't polite and invited himself over for dinner and brought a bunch of other weirdos with Him...

If people only knew that Jesus was wild... that He was free... that He was reckless... Jesus isn't manipulatable... He doesn't fit in a box for us to take Him out when we need Him and shove Him back in whenever we want... He doesn't work like that...

Contrary to popular belief, following Jesus isn't easy and He never said that it was. If anything He knew it was harder... Jesus calls you to love everyone, unconditionally... To drop everything, and every selfish bone in your body... To recklessly love people... to love God... To serve God... To serve others... To not serve yourself...

Here comes the truth like a bitter pill... You may not like it...

Jesus died for Michael Jackson... pretty crazy... he died for Hitler... He died for homosexuals, democrats, republicans, catholics, Pat Robertson, baptists, muslims, etc., etc... and here's the kicker... He loved them too... Jesus actually loved Hitler... Can you love those types of people? Maybe if Hitler lived in a world where love was an unselfish thing, maybe he wouldn't have done the things he did... Think how the world would be different if Hitler's message would have been one of love as apposed to hate...

I will end this post/sermon by a quote from one of the greatest theological minds of our time. In the song, "Where is the Love?" by the Black Eyed Peas, Justin Timberlake poses a few very good questions...

"People killing. People dying. Children hurt and you hear them crying. Can you practice what you preach? And would you turn the other cheek? Father, Father, Father help us. Send us some guidance from above cause people got me, got me questioning, 'Where is the love?'"