Do You Like What You Worship? by Brady

Last week I was given some “constructive criticism” by one of my leaders at church about the way I preach and how it is perceived. Apparently something I said in the last couple of months struck a chord with a student or two, and they think my teaching is too much of hell, fire, and brimstone. A secret about all pastors and preachers is that we all want to be liked, and liked by everyone. So I won’t pretend this just rolled off of me, but I really am content with this kid’s analysis after reflecting on the last few months.

One thing I realized is that I have yet to use the word hell, Satan, or preach a sermon on judgment to the youth group. If you were to sum up my messages in the first few weeks, they could be categorized as messages of change more than anything. I believe it is time that Christians actually practice their faith, realize their spiritual life is more than a church service once or twice a week, and truly attempt to follow Jesus of Nazareth. But that just might be the problem with my message.

This may sound harsh, but I truly believe that many Christians today would not even like Jesus if they actually met him, much less choose to follow and worship him. Jesus to most people is nothing more than a teddy bear who is incapable of saving them from much of anything aside from a stock market crash or having to park further away in the parking lot. I believe Jesus came preaching a message of change which led him to ultimately get crucified.

David Kinnaman has authored a book that every Christian should read called unChristian. After 3 years of careful analysis of the culture today, Kinnaman and the Barna Group draw many conclusions about the state of the Church in America. One part of the book talks about the culture today creating God in their own image rather than vice versa. He says, “Some Christians respond to outsiders’ negativity by promoting a less offensive faith. The unpopular parts of Christian teaching are omitted or deemphasized. They hijack the image of Jesus by portraying him as an open-minded, big-hearted, and never-offended-anyone moral teacher. That is an entirely wrong idea of Jesus.” (Pg. 32-33)

This comes from a man who is hardly a fundamentalist. In fact, the entire book is about the failures of the church today and how we need to reform the church structure so that we can reach a new generation which is influenced by relativism and pluralism. The main problem is, we are more in the business of self-help, feel good messages than truthful teachings these days. I am sure I sound like a black and white fundamentalist, but if you cannot preach about living a life worthy of the call of Christ, then we live in a watered down Christian society. Kinnaman even goes onto to say, “The church desperately needs more people who facilitate a deeper, more authentic vision of the Christian faith in our pluralistic, sophisticated culture.” (pg. 16)

The truth is, I am not sure if I would have liked Jesus’ teachings, personality, or demands all of the time if I lived in the 1st Century. I am sure he would have stepped on my toes many times, and would have made me angry with his words at times. After sorting through some of this, I still boil down my faith to the core belief that my only hope lies in a 1st Century Galilean carpenter. For better or worse, I’m with the guy who told his followers they must eat his flesh and was perfectly secure with his message that he even challenged the 12 disciples to leave with the crowd (John 6). I’m with the guy who brought a whip into the biggest church around and caused chaos (John 2). I’m with the guy who referred to a Gentile woman as a dog (Matthew 15). In fact, I actually like Jesus more because of these stories, because he challenges me to decide who really is Lord in my life. What I’m not sure about is if this is the same Jesus most Christians would say they like, much less admit they worship.