I've recently gotten thoroughly frustrated with some behavior that people think is "Christian" but it's really not, and I'm starting to see why people might think we're a bunch of jerks. I believe that if you play the game long enough and do the church thing without really knowing Jesus you slowly morph into a current day Pharisee. The Pharisees were the legalistic leaders in the Bible that Jesus had the hardest time with. They're also the ones He got angry with the most because they led more people away from the truth than into it.
Here's what I'm taking about. When Michael Jackson died I heard "Christians" say things like "What a freak show", and "He was the scourge of our society". The problem with that is that Jesus would never, under any circumstances that I can think of, refer to someone as a freak show. And it was the scourge of society that He liked to hang out with because they needed Him the most. So if He was walking the earth in 2009 He would have been friends with Michael Jackson and held out a hand of hope to him instead of calling him names and spitting on him. Only the Pharisees and legalists sat in self-righteous judgment on everyone else and it absolutely drove Jesus nuts. When it all comes down to it we're all just as messed up as MJ seemed to be, the difference is we don't wear it all on our faces and we aren't in the spotlight where every stupid mistake we make is broadcast to the entire world.
I also recently received a comment from someone who disagreed with me on an issue that stated (my paraphrase) "we have no business supporting or engaging in this world because God has called us to be separate". Again, people might think that's a christian attitude but it isn't. The Bible says we are set apart by God as His people for His purposes BUT we are supposed to be engaged IN the world, we're just not supposed to become LIKE the world. How is that supposed to happen if we look down our noses at all the "sinners" (as if we weren't just like them) and pull back into safe little "christian" cocoons where we never have to engage the world on anything? How will anyone who is truly lost see the amazing benefits and freedom that come with knowing Jesus if those of us who truly know Him aren't out there showing them? Any argument against engaging the world for the sake of Jesus is lost completely when we look at the life He lived on this earth. He came not just to save us from ourselves but to show us exactly how we're supposed to live the life He has given us. He hung out with prostitutes and outcasts, and the diseased and crippled. He didn't insulate Himself from them and live as safe a life as possible while calling them all freak shows and losers.
I am sick and tired of listening to people who call themselves "Christians" harp on the rest of the world for not living up to their standards. The world can't be expected to live up to standards it doesn't believe in. It's like expecting a snake to act like an eagle and then getting all judgmental when it can't. We've got to knock it off and start living what we say we believe, not just for our own sake but for the sake of the world around us. Step one - love God more than anything else in this world, step two - love my neighbor (whether he's Michael Jackson or the neighborhood bully) as much as I love myself. Jesus said everything hangs on those two commandments. One of the biggest complaints people have against Christians is that we're a bunch of hypocrites, and as long as all we do is clump together, talk big, and sit in judgment on the world, that's all we really are. I don't blame anyone for not wanting to join that group...matter of fact I don't want to be part of that group either. I would much rather be the real deal.
Comments (11)
Amen.
Posted by Judy G | August 1, 2009 4:59 PM
wow, i totally agree. Allot of my christian friends made fun of michael jackson and that upset me. He was obviously a very sad and empty man and i wish he would have lived longer if only someone could have shared jesus with him. When i heard he had died i wanted to cry. Think of all the good that someone in his position could have done if they had the right heart. Maybe if christians had stopped judging him and showed him the loved he deserved, maybe he would have known God.
Posted by anonymus | August 2, 2009 7:48 AM
I'm a christian and I MADE fun of Micheal Jackson just for abusing his kids and the plastic surgery. But now that I read this, I feel horrible inside. Your right, all Christians like myself should stop judging others. I really feel horrible for hating Micheal Jackson and I do wish that he had someone to tell about Jesus.
Posted by Jessi | August 2, 2009 3:54 PM
Wow what an eye opener. I feel like this article really shows the job of Christians which is to share God's Word to the world, and not look down on anyone but help them get to know Christ!
Posted by Caroline | August 3, 2009 8:28 AM
Like everyone else i used to think MJ was a freak. Until he died. Then i realized that he was just like the rest of us. A father, with a family. Someone who just wanted to be a normal person. I hate it when people judge him because he was just searching for love.
Posted by April | August 3, 2009 9:04 AM
exactly! i am sick of hearing self-righteous christians put other people down! all have fallen short of the glory of God, and it's no one's duty to sit in a seat of judgement and point out the faults in everyone! like paul says in the new testament, he got down on people's level (not becoming like them) but reaching out to them so that they might too come to know God's glory and his saving grace!
Posted by anjelica | August 3, 2009 12:15 PM
I feel absolutly horrible for making fun of one of God's perfect creatons. I'm a Christians and I shouldn't have. Michale Jackson wasn't a bad person at all he was just simply a sinner like all of us are. He might have been worse than some of us but he was just lost, confused, and simply a sinner.
Posted by Maddi | August 3, 2009 7:02 PM
wow. that is exactly how i feel about my school right now. my school is completely fool of modern day pharisee's. it is SO hard to help Jesus do his work when everyone is convinced they are christians because they go to church. and these so called "christians" make the rest of us sound like hypocrites. i often think it would be much easier to live in a country where worshiping the real true God is illegal. at least there you know that everyone going to church loves God because they're risking their lives.
and the christians that look down on other christians because they are a different denomination burn me up!
any advice on how to share God's truth and love with them without sounding like im better than them(not saying i am)????
Posted by Katie | August 3, 2009 8:15 PM
I agree to a point. no we should not look down our noses and judge, but if the bible says it, then it is....too many people call upon the name of Jesus but know him not. And they really don't want to know him, because the path is narrow and not wide. I get tired of the multitude of people who call themselve christian, but don't want to have anything to do with following Christ! Satan has convinced a lot of people of the lie. That there is not sacrifice for following Christ. THe truth is some people don't accept Christ as their Lord. Had mj heard the gospel? or had he rejected it? I don't need to judge him, because there is a day that judgement will be made by the Holy, Awesome and loving creator of the universe! His and our eternity is in God's Hands.
Posted by April | August 3, 2009 9:26 PM
If not for the grace of God, we would all be just like MJ. There is not one that seeks after God! When we realize that we are ALL born sinners and that it was HIS hand that reached into time and plucked us from our wretched lives then we can be free to truly love our neighbors as ourselves. The David Crowder Band received a lot of flack when they did their club tour a few years ago, but Dave explained to people that how else will those who are lost hear the message? We are the body that must extend it's hands out to those who are hurting, because that's what Jesus did!!! The church isn't within the four walls, it's within us and it's our privilege to reach out to a lost and dying world to show the love of Christ.
Posted by Lisa | August 4, 2009 6:54 AM
Your right we cannot judge people because we are not perfect either. But I do beleive that when michael jackson saw Jesus face to face that Jesus DID JUDGE him based on the choices he made here on earth. michael either went to heaven or hell based on those choices. so we may not be able to judge him but God did.
Posted by Abbie | August 5, 2009 2:07 PM