They Like Jesus, But...

Last Sunday, a guest speaker at our church showed the video below, to show that Christians, "have an image problem." The speaker said that people like Jesus, but it's Christians they don't care for, because of the way people who have used the label of "Christianity" have behaved in the world has turned them off from wanting to follow after Christ.



While, yes, there are people who have labeled themselves as "Christians" but then behaved nothing like it, such as those at the Westboro Baptist Church, I knew that there was a problem with this video and this idea, but couldn't put my finger on it at first. After thinking about it for some time, I realized what was wrong: it's not that these people like Jesus, but they like their own ideas about Jesus. And, in almost perfect timing, I experienced this same problem the following night at the skate park.

My wife and I went to a charity event Monday evening for our adoption agency, and when we got home, we forgot that we ran out of dog food that morning. I went out and picked up a bag from the pet store, then swung by the park at about 9:00PM to see what was going on. Surprisingly, even this late on Monday night, there were at least 40 people around the park. With all of the year-round schools off for Independence Day week, many kids are free to roam at night. I took a case of water and some tracts, and walked over to the benches where some people were sitting.

I first spoke with a 20 year-old named Josh, who knew he was likely headed to Hell. After we walked through the Gospel, he knew that he needed to repent, but wanted to do that later on in life. He wanted to still live wildly for now, but then make right with God before he dies. I pointed him to the nearby bench dedicated to a 17 year-old who died in an auto accident, and told him that he couldn't guarantee when he would die. He and his friend sat and thought long and hard about what I siad.

Then, I moved onto a group of five teenagers who were taking a break from skating. Two of them were Ethan and Wes. Ethan called himself a Christian, but had integrated other beliefs into his faith. Wes did not have any predetermined religious beliefs, and was generally open to all faiths being potentially true.

As I shared the Gospel with them, Wes started nodding his head along with the points I was making. It looked like God was starting to reach out to him. Ethan, on the other hand, was rejecting much of the truth of the Gospel, saying that God would punish murderers and rapists, sure, but was not going to be as hard on people who do minor things like petty theft. Even though what we were covering was basic Christianity, Ethan resisted many of the core beliefs of the faith. He said that he loved Jesus, that He died for his sins, that he had repented, but still pushed back on matters of sin and judgment, saying that everyone will get what they believe is right when they die.

Finally, after chatting for a while, I hit Ethan with a direct question. "Ethan, does your god send liars to Hell?" He said, no, that his god would never do such a thing. "That is the difference between your god and my God," I said. I quoted Revelation 21 to him, which says that all liars will have their place in the lake of fire. He rejected it and said that this was not his Jesus, who would never do such a thing. "You're absolutely right," I said, "because your Jesus is something that you created as an idol."

Just like with Ethan, many of the people in the video show that they have created a Jesus in their own image. Jesus was, "the first punk rocker." Jesus was, "black." Jesus was, "philanthropic." Each one of these people like their idea of Jesus, and have made Him a nice guy in their minds. And when these people are then asked about Christians, it's kind of like saying, "I like you, but I hate your wife." The truth is that if people took the time to read through the Bible and learn about the real Jesus, some of them would be convicted, but many of them would reject what God's Word says about Him.

Going back to what started this post, the speaker at church later made the point that, "People were drawn to Jesus," when He was here on the earth, because people wanted to be around Him, see His miracles, and learn from Him. That is true. And, people were also drawn to Him because they wanted passionately to kill Him. We have about ten instances in the Bible where people tried doing things like pushing Jesus off of a cliff and running Him out of town. Even the masses at His unjust trial shouted out, "Crucify Him!" and, "His blood be on us and on our children!"

If Jesus instead lived in this day and age, many of the same people who were on the video wouldn't think, "Jesus is cool, man." They'd be trying to do the same today.

Pray for Josh, Wes, Ethan, and their friends.