For all the talk of being fundamental, conservative and sticking to the Bible, its ironic that the Teen Mania Honor Academy “discipleship” program actually has no basis in New Testament Scripture. If we are going to call ourselves Christians, then you would think we would actually look like Christ. Since He is our Head, our Source, our Lord, our Redeemer, our Brother, our Father and Friend – you would think we would take our cues from Him instead of coming up with new ideas and then claiming, “Well, what Jesus really meant was….(fill in the blank with non-Scriptural requirements here).”
Jesus already showed us what discipleship looks like in the way he treated his twelve disciples! We don’t have to guess or make up our own system.
We never see Jesus giving His followers a strict list of behaviors that will gain them holiness. We never see him attempting to control or manipulate them. We never see Jesus attempting to take away their free will or ability to make their own choices. In fact, He doesn’t even make people pledge an unbreakable “commitment.” After a hard teaching where many followers decide to leave him, he says to the 12, “Hey, do you want to leave to?” He gives them the freedom to choose! He doesn’t use guilt trips. He doesn’t manipulate. He doesn’t condemn. He goes out of His way to serve and ascribe worth to prostitutes, drunks, the poor, political traitors, the non politically correct crowd, etc. His emphasis wasn’t on honor or statesmanship.
His emphasis was on love.
I’m sick and tired of a “Christianity” that perverts who God is and what it means to be a Christian. Jesus is the image of the invisible God. He is what God looks like. Period. End of story.
If you think hanging out with strippers and drug addicts is using “cheap grace” or “not honorable” then YOU DON’T LOOK LIKE JESUS.
If you use your authority to manipulate people then YOU DON’T LOOK LIKE JESUS.
If you seek to control people instead of giving them true freedom then YOU DON’T LOOK LIKE JESUS.
If your highest emphasis is on your own honor and integrity instead of loving others then YOU DON’T LOOK LIKE JESUS.
So, please quit pretending like you do.
5 comments:
RA–VERY well said.
August 30, 2010 6:35 AM
Nunquam Honorablus said…
Breathtaking.
True.
Freeing.
Thank you RA. Definitely a classic post. It’s convicting in the best way possible 🙂
August 30, 2010 9:18 AM
Candor said…
GREAT post.
August 30, 2010 7:07 PM
dan said…
This is fantastic. Spot on.
August 30, 2010 9:17 PM
Krista said…
Agreed!
August 31, 2010 9:23 AM