Merry Christmas!!!

“I do not believe in the Virgin Birth and hope that none of you do.”

-Pastor in NYC

I was talking to my brother recently, and the conversation shifted to Jesus and the Bible. My brother was commenting on a conversation he recently had with a friend about the idea that Jesus will send people to hell for rejecting him. His friend commented that “I don’t think my jesus would do something like that.” That is a pretty bold statement, but he is absolutely correct(I will explain this statement in a minute).  Why does a musical artist after receiving an award for singing about murder, sex with lots of different women; while completely full of themself, thank God? The artist is a walking contradiction.  Somehow, Jesus has become an enigma; even though he ascended to heaven over 2000 years ago.

Mark Driscoll made the following statement, “The mainstream church has transformed Jesus into a Richard Simmons, hippe, queer Christ.” Or a “neutered and limp-wristed popular Sky Fairy of pop culture that…would never talk about sin or send anyone to hell.”

I would like to introduce you to Pocket Jesus. He isn’t God, doesn’t have any power, and exist in your fairytale. He is your imaginary friend, who you decided to create when you didn’t like what the real Jesus did or said. He doesn’t care if you sin as long as you remember him every once in a while and remember to brush your teeth, so you don’t get cavities. You can carry him around in your pocket and pull him out whenever you feel like it. He is your “Homeboy”, and he is an idol and a false god.

Here is my point, My brothers friend’s “Jesus” wouldn’t send anyone to hell because, he doesn’t exist. Anytime we discard a trait of God because we don’t like it, it is no longer God and we  begin worshiping an idol. Unfortunately, a consumerist mentality and postmodern thinking have clouded people into thinking that Jesus works at Burger King and always answers: ”Have it your way.”

We must approach God as He is, not only as we understand Him to be. Since He is GOD, the necessary approach is to automatically admit that you can’t conceive all that He is.

It is a travesty to minimize God so He fits into our lifestyle.

Jesus did die for you, but not only you; he died to redeem the world. This idea that God is first “your personal God” is an incomplete view of who he is. We don’t get the benefits of Jesus as Savior until He is acknowledged as King. He is God of the universe, of all things and viewing Him primarily through the lens of your own life and problems limits the way you experience God. Why do so many people consider themselves Christians when their lifestyles contradict everything Jesus died for? I believe it is because, many see Jesus as only “their savior” and not as King of the universe. The bigger He becomes in us, the less of us there is to get in the way.

BIGGER GOD

=smaller you

It is easy to limit God by our understanding, but I would challenge you to concede this point…HE IS BIGGER THAN YOU CAN EVER COMPREHEND. Pull that tiny action figure out of your pocket, smash it on the ground and embrace this unknown, mysterious Creator.

“It is about the greatness of God, not the significance of man. God made man small and the universe big to say something about himself.”
-John Piper

“Sin has a way of shrinking God down in our minds and puffing us up in our own estimation. But just a glance into the universe that God has made resizes everything in a heartbeat”

-Lou Giglio

Additional Reading:

Crazy Love Francis Chan

Knowing God J.I. Packer