The Dangerous Way of Jesus

John 10:10 (NIV)

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Introduction

Have you ever been so sure about something, only to find out later that you had it all wrong?

And the thing that you were sure about, you were passionately sure about. It wasn’t malicious, or with ill-intent. You were just misinformed and unknowingly, you had it all wrong...

You see I grew up in a Pentecostal Holiness church where we weren’t allowed to do anything. I’m kidding, it wasn’t that strict, but as a teenager it felt like that sometimes.

And growing up, going to the movie theatre was not allowed. I’d ask my Mom, “Mom, why can’t we go?” And becuase we believe in the second coming of Jesus, she played this card on me. “Josh, what are you going to do if Jesus comes when you are watching a movie in the theatre? There will be no hope for you.”

And let me tell you… she had me convinced! It didn’t matter what the movie was… if Jesus came, and I was sitting in a theatre watching The Land Before Time, I would be judged and condemned to eternal damnation all because I watched a cartoon movie about a Little Foot.

Shout out to the 80’s!

And because there were times that I rebelled and went to see a movie anyway, I couldn’t even enjoy the movie! I’d be sitting there watching, but praying. “Lord, you know I love you. I play the drums for you. I go to church 5.5 times a week. Please don’t come now!”

And then as I got older, and I learned how to read the Bible, I realized that my Mom pulled on over on me. She tricked me! She used heresy to do it, but that’s besides the point!

Transition

And the reason I share that story with you is because I would say for a good majority of this room, you’ve been reading John 10:10 wrong. Today, I want to show you how we often misread it, and how it should be read.

Text

You’ve probably heard this verse and immediately associated the thief as Satan, or the caricature we have created that we call the devil. You’ve probably earnestly heard and repeated that satan, or the thief is after you to steal from you, and to kill you, and to destroy you.

While we can make an application that this is what Jesus was talking about here in John 10:10, it is actually not the interpretation of this verse.

No, if you read John 10 verses 1 through 21 in order to get the context of the verse, he is not talking about satan at all. As a matter of fact, it is probably going to shock you when you really understand who he is talking about.

He is talking about shepherds. Let’s read some of these verses together so that you can see it.

John 10:1–2 (NIV)

“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.

Church, we have some things to unpack together.

First, Jesus is talking to the Pharisees. The Pharisees were a movement in the time of Jesus that had heavy influence in the way that Judaism was followed. They were leaders in the synagogues and assumed the religious roles of leading the followers of Judaism.

Jesus is talking to them and then he drops this first revelation of a thief and a robber. Notice that he says that a thief and a robber is someone who enters into the sheep pen without going through the sheep gate.

Let’s read on...

John 10:3–5 (NIV)

The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

The gatekeeper will open the door for a shepherd. Let’s pause there so you se what’s happening.

Jesus is saying that people are entering the sheep pen in one of two ways. The thieves and robbers are jumping in without going through the gate, but the person who goes through the gate is a true shepherd. And, because he is a shepherd, the sheep will listen to his voice. Because the shepherd came into the sheep pen the right way, through the gate, he now has the authority to lead the sheep.

Thieves and robbers are not given that authority. Why? Because they are strangers to the sheep and they were never given a voice to lead the sheep.

Right after Jesus says this he leaves the crowd confused. Let’s read what verse 6 says...

John 10:6 (NIV)

Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.

So now Jesus has to make the whole thing plain to them...

John 10:7–9 (NIV)

Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.

Who came before Jesus?

The Pharisees.

The religious people who on the outside looked as though they had everything going on, but on the inside they were dead.

The thieves were the people who were manipulating the people of God.

The thieves were the people who used God for their own personal advancement.

The thieves were the people who had a form of Godliness, but they denied the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said these people are in the way of you experiencing the full life that I have called you to live...

And let me propose this to you all… the religious people were under the influence of a demonic spirit of their day that bastardized the children of God from their father. It was religious people who were separating people from the life that their heavenly father desired for them to live.

And today in 2023, I see the same spirit at work trying to separate the sons and daughters of God from Him through the prolific amount of misinformation that we face on a daily basis.

You see we don’t live in the information age, we live in the misinformation age.

And right now, at this very moment, people are being misinformed about who Jesus is, what he is for, and what he wants for you.

As a matter of fact, that is why I am so fired about this series, but Jesus has been misrepresented. Sometimes it’s by Christians, and now it is through the mass indoctrination of social media.

So let me try and re-present to you today who Jesus is.

Jesus is Love

1 John 4:7–8 (NIV)

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Culture is doing a very good job of changing the definition of love. We know that love comes from God. As a matter of fact, the kind of love that we receive from God is perfect love. As followers of Jesus we are to love like he loved.

Where the religious have got it wrong is that they love themselves. They love their preferences. They love what is convenient. They love whatever agrees with them. And I would say, that is an imperfect love. It is a love that is more influenced by our desires than God’s desires.

But the love that God has for us, and the love that was seen in Jesus, was a love for all mankind.

You see it is a mature love that can look at someone who disagrees with you and still love them.

It’s perfect love that can look at someone who does not vote like you and still love them.

It’s perfect love that can say to someone, because I love you, I want to see you out of that life that you’re living in.

And this is where Jesus is misunderstood.

Where culture has it wrong, and where the world has succeeded in influencing the next generation, is that if Jesus loves me he will affirm my decisions, even the decisions that lead me to a path of self-destruction. Listen, if that is what you want, then you don’t really want love.

I want someone to love me enough to tell me when I am wrong.

I need someone to love me enough to stop me from making a mistake.

I need someone who loves me enough to speak God’s word, and his wisdom into my life.

And Jesus, he epitomized love.

There was a moment when a woman was caught having an affair. When all the religious people around her wanted to punish her by stoning her to death, it was Jesus’ love that said to her, “where are you accusers? Your sins are forgiven...” And yet, in the same breath, this same Jesus who loved her while she was still in her sin said to her, “Now go and sin to more.”

THAT is perfect love.

He accepted her just as she was, and because he loved her he called her up to a better life.

This is Jesus. He is a man of love.

Jesus was For the Minority

There are three “isms” that Jesus aggressively fought against. As a matter of fact, this is what made Jesus dangerous.

Jesus was against sexism. Jesus saw that in his day women were mistreated and were treated as a second class citizen to their male counterparts. Make no mistake, Jesus aggressively modeled inclusion of women in his ministry. Did he do this by picketing on the steps of the temple? No, he simply empowered women and let the world watch him do it.

Women are constantly in the stories of Jesus.

Women funded the ministry of Jesus.

Women were the first to tomb after Jesus’ resurrection.

There are female prophets and an Apostle named in the scriptures.

Throughout the Acts of the Apostles women are leading the way in the house churches, discipling their children, and financially supporting the missionary trips of the Apostles.

Jesus was against racism. Jesus’ twelve disciples actually had to work through their own issues of racism, but Jesus healed everyone. There is a story when Jesus even tested the faith of a women by calling her a dog. He called her a dog because she was half Jew, and half gentile. Jews despised this people group. But when this woman pushed through what Jesus called her, he then healed this woman’s daughter and said that he had never seen someone with this type of faith. What kind of faith was it? Faith that pushed past racial barriers.

Jesus was against classism. In the social economic environment of Jesus’ day, there poor held the rich in contempt, and the rich held the poor in contempt. Yet in the ministry of Jesus you see that he would heal the beggar and the noble. Jesus didn’t care if you lived in wealth or if you were poor. Jesus shows that all humanity was made in the image of God, and that every person is in need of a savior.

And while I can’t take you through all of the scriptures to walk this out for you, let me just show you what Paul wrote.

Galatians 3:28 (NIV)

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

I one swoop of the pen Paul pushes back against racism, classism, and sexism.

Why? Because this is way of Jesus.

And can I add to that… this is the way of the church!

That is why we are building a multi-ethnic, multi-generational, life-giving church here in North County San Diego. I know what it is like to walk into the room and be the only person of color in the room. I know what it is like to be a hispanic pastor and then immediately have it assumed that I must pastor a Spanish speaking latino church. I know how dangerous assumptions can be to the advancement of the Kingdom of God.

But I believe in a church that is brown, black and white. I believe that a 3rd Generation hispanic pastor can lead a multi-cultural congregation. I believe that Lighthouse can push back against the stereo-types of a homogenous church. I think our differences make us stronger, not weaker. I think our differences need to be celebrated, and not tolerated. I think that the beauty of diversity is that were representing on earth what heaven is going to look like!

The church should be the place where all colors can worship together.

The church should be the place where every person is lifted up.

The church should be the place where a Doctor can worship next to a Janitor, and an Attorney can worship alongside and ex-con, and someone who ran with one colored gang, can serve alongside someone who ran with another colored gang.

Because when we come into the church, through Jesus, we are all sons and daughters of a loving Father! We lay down our colors, we lay down our preferences, we lay down our prejudices, and take on the very nature of Jesus.

Jesus Lived to Make a Difference

While the religious leaders of Jesus day sought to promote themselves and advance their agenda, Jesus truly lived to make a difference.

Lighthouse, can I tell you that you can’t play it safe and make a difference?

Jesus knew that when he did the will of his father, there were going to be haters. And, he was OK with that.

Now, I am not advocating that you walk around trying to be hated. Some of you are looking for someone to look at you sideways so you can pop off. You’re saved, but you’re not that saved. That’s not what I am talking about.

Jesus said this…

John 15:18 (NIV)

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.

Jesus said this to his disciples and they are some of the last recorded words of Jesus to his followers. He’s telling them that the life that they were about to step into would be a dangerous one.

You see gone are the days when mainstream culture walked in step with the Judeo-Christian principles that this country was built on. Those days are gone.

We are now living in a world that is actively pushing against the teachings of the scripture, the teachings of Jesus, and the life that Jesus has called us to live.

I am VERY CONCERNED that the next generation is actively being indoctrinated with misinformation.

I am MORE CONCERNED that the adults in this room are sitting on the sidelines while all of this is happening.

Parents, get on the field!

There is a game that is being played and the soul of your child is hanging in the balance, and you are more preoccupied about your Fantasy Football Lineup. You’re more concerned about creating reels about your family having a moment than actually engaging in the moments of your family.

Parents, I implore you - disciple your child!

It’s not up to our Youth Pastors to disciple your child. And if you don’t know where to begin, start talking to some older men and women who you believe have done it right, and ask then what they did and how they did it.

Making a Difference starts at home…

But it should also pour into all areas of your life.

Conclusion

When you follow Jesus you know that you are a part of something bigger than yourself.

That’s why we live like no one else.

That’s why we should be giving like no one else.

We are not living just for the here and now, but we are living for the future.

If you think your life is boring, then leave the comforts of your life, and come and follow Jesus.

Abandon the safety and the monotony of going with the culture, and throw yourself into the danger of following Jesus and let’s change the world together!

Call

If you are ready to live that life, I want to pray for you, and then I want to lead you to your next step.