Here's the article I submitted to The Spectrum for Tuesday's edition, almost seven hours before the deadline. Go me. Anyway, I hope you guys get something from it.
"The other day a friend asked me if I would support the death penalty if someone had killed my parents. Without a moment’s hesitation I told him no. I wouldn’t. My reasoning is pretty simple really. Jesus told us to love our enemies and that no one is beyond redemption. I told my friend this and he cited what I’ve come to call the 'Well, that’s just Jesus' excuse.
He told me Jesus’ teachings were all fine and good and we should try our best to follow them, but we can never hope to do so fully because we’re flawed. It’s a fine argument on its face and certainly makes sense to anyone who’s tried following Jesus. The only problem is it’s wrong. Dead wrong.
There are plenty of examples in the Gospels that illustrate the fact Jesus has faith in us to follow His every teaching. He showed His disciples a mustard seed—the tiniest of seeds known then—and told them if their faith was as large as this tiny seed they could move mountains. Nothing would be impossible for them. Remember Peter? He saw Jesus walking on the water and asked if he could come out on the water. Peter then stepped off the boat, walked on water and started sinking only because of his lack of faith. Most of us today, me included, would have a hard time jumping out of a boat and believe we could walk on the sea. But remember the mustard seed. It takes only the tiniest amount of faith to achieve the impossible. So whether you think you can or can’t follow Jesus, you’re probably right. But even if you don’t believe in yourself, Jesus does.
If you read the Gospels, you’ll come across the account of Jesus calling some brothers to come follow him so he could make them fishers of men. They immediately left behind their father and followed Jesus. That story seemed absolutely ridiculous to me until earlier this year when I dug up some information on how rabbis taught back then. You see, in Jesus’ time it would be a great honor to be the student of a rabbi. Young boys would start memorizing the Torah at age six. After almost ten years of studying the Old Testament only the best of the best remained. These remaining men sought rabbis to follow. Whenever a student asked a rabbi for the privilege to follow him, the rabbi would measure up the young man. If the rabbi thought the young man could follow his teachings he would tell the student to come follow him. Sound familiar? The brothers Jesus called were not the best and brightest. If they had made the cut, they wouldn’t be fishing with their dad. They would have already been out following a rabbi. Jesus called them all the same. In fact, none of Jesus’ disciples were the best and brightest. Jesus called the not-good-enoughs. He believed in them. He believes in us. He believes we can follow him.
So this whole 'Well, that’s just Jesus' argument doesn’t cut it. If you follow Jesus you have no excuse to disregard a teaching by labeling it as too hard. Sure, it may be hard to love others as Jesus would. I find it extremely difficult to forgive those who have immensely hurt those I love. But Jesus calls us to follow because He knows we can. He believes in me. He believes in you. All we have to do is share in His belief."
"The other day a friend asked me if I would support the death penalty if someone had killed my parents. Without a moment’s hesitation I told him no. I wouldn’t. My reasoning is pretty simple really. Jesus told us to love our enemies and that no one is beyond redemption. I told my friend this and he cited what I’ve come to call the 'Well, that’s just Jesus' excuse.
He told me Jesus’ teachings were all fine and good and we should try our best to follow them, but we can never hope to do so fully because we’re flawed. It’s a fine argument on its face and certainly makes sense to anyone who’s tried following Jesus. The only problem is it’s wrong. Dead wrong.
There are plenty of examples in the Gospels that illustrate the fact Jesus has faith in us to follow His every teaching. He showed His disciples a mustard seed—the tiniest of seeds known then—and told them if their faith was as large as this tiny seed they could move mountains. Nothing would be impossible for them. Remember Peter? He saw Jesus walking on the water and asked if he could come out on the water. Peter then stepped off the boat, walked on water and started sinking only because of his lack of faith. Most of us today, me included, would have a hard time jumping out of a boat and believe we could walk on the sea. But remember the mustard seed. It takes only the tiniest amount of faith to achieve the impossible. So whether you think you can or can’t follow Jesus, you’re probably right. But even if you don’t believe in yourself, Jesus does.
If you read the Gospels, you’ll come across the account of Jesus calling some brothers to come follow him so he could make them fishers of men. They immediately left behind their father and followed Jesus. That story seemed absolutely ridiculous to me until earlier this year when I dug up some information on how rabbis taught back then. You see, in Jesus’ time it would be a great honor to be the student of a rabbi. Young boys would start memorizing the Torah at age six. After almost ten years of studying the Old Testament only the best of the best remained. These remaining men sought rabbis to follow. Whenever a student asked a rabbi for the privilege to follow him, the rabbi would measure up the young man. If the rabbi thought the young man could follow his teachings he would tell the student to come follow him. Sound familiar? The brothers Jesus called were not the best and brightest. If they had made the cut, they wouldn’t be fishing with their dad. They would have already been out following a rabbi. Jesus called them all the same. In fact, none of Jesus’ disciples were the best and brightest. Jesus called the not-good-enoughs. He believed in them. He believes in us. He believes we can follow him.
So this whole 'Well, that’s just Jesus' argument doesn’t cut it. If you follow Jesus you have no excuse to disregard a teaching by labeling it as too hard. Sure, it may be hard to love others as Jesus would. I find it extremely difficult to forgive those who have immensely hurt those I love. But Jesus calls us to follow because He knows we can. He believes in me. He believes in you. All we have to do is share in His belief."
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