Brutal to Beautiful

Me

Andrew Zai- I like the parts about not worrying about tomorrow and “come to me you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.”

What do I do with, “Don’t buy your dead.” Those who bury their dead are not fit to follow me. I haven’t heard that before. And taking up our cross...”

The truth is, when you actually read about Jesus, He is quite different than the guy you hear about from many people in church. The scariest thought for a Christian is, “what if Jesus was serious?” What if he really meant what he said.

Many of us signed up for fire insurance and a get out of eternal jail free card. We turned following Jesus into placing our faith in God one time after a church service that you will cash in at some undisclosed opportunity in the future. If you read this book, and honestly tell me that is what you think Jesus said.

We say things like, my faith is between me and God. But Jesus said if you won’t confess me before men I won’t confess you before my father. Read this book and tell me you think Jesus was encouraging you to keep your faith private between you and God.

So here is the problem. Jesus said a lot of things. Take care of the orphans and widows. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the prisoners, give drink to the thirsty. But I examine my life and struggle to say, my first and foremost idea is not how much of my current life can i give away to serve others and make sure they know Jesus. Instead, its about achieving my goals for an awesome life. Makings sure I can keep up with the Jones and upgrade everything. Get the next level of car or house or iphone.

We are all about being on fire for me. As T.O. said, “I love me some me.”

We are content to be lukewarm for Jesus. But here is the thing- even that phrase is a twisting of the text. Jesus said there are no lukewarm Christians. He said he would spit those those that are lukewarm out of his mouth. Luke warm is easy. Lukewarm isn’t beautiful.

YOU

Ministers falling left and right. We elevate people based on their skills and not on their being like Jesus. We want a good preacher. We want a place on Sunday that makes us feel good. Maybe, once every few years we will go on a mission trip or tell someone about Jesus if the setting is absolutely perfect.

I don’t think we take Jesus seriously.

When 9/11 happened, church attendance increased. Non believers walked into churches. People needed meaning and went searching for God.

When the pandemic hit, church attendance decreased. Believers started staying home, “I’ll protect myself”- can’t serve one another.

The beauty or draw has wained. there was a time in history when a pandemic meant Christians would shine bright to the world. Lay people lead the churches in the early church. Lay people gave their lives to serve people they didn’t know and disagreed with every part of their life. There was a time in history when a pandemic would rally every Christian to start giving stuff away and knock on their neighbors doors who were sick and risk everything.

If it seems impossible, remember- it worked once. It will work again. There was a time when people believed that the risen Christ was so powerful that they would willingly and even joyfully sacrifice for others that it was so compelling that even though the belief in a man rising from the dead seemed crazy, even though the person serving them was from a different place or race or a different social class. they were drawn by the commitment to sacrifice and even suffer to show the love of their God. And when objections in politics would arise the Christian would say like Paul, I know nothing except Christ and him crucified. or the man who said, all i know is I was blind but now I see. They would lay down their very rights for the name of Jesus.

The thing that makes the church beautiful to the world was it’s willingness to endure the brutal. The church began when a man had a crown of thorns put on his head and was nailed to a cross. When he got off that cross and rose from the dead, he went to the guy who would lead it all and said, now it’s your turn. You have been walking and doing what you want but now you are going to walk and be taken where you do not want to go.

Today I want to look at a letter written by Jesus’ best friend John. This letter is written after John had been caught by Roman authorities and boiled in oil. He didn’t die. His scar riddled body was exiled to an island. And that is where he began writing to local churches. Here is what he told them.

1 John 2:1–6 (ESV)

1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

The difference in conviction and guilt. Guilt says you walk out of here heavy and downcast-feeling like you aren’t good enough and there is nothing you can do about it. Conviction says you get down on your knees and start praying for the power of the Holy Spirit to change your heart so that you will become more like Jesus each day, knowing that He still loves you and is rooting for you in your sins and struggles.

3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.

4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,

5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:

6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

‘It is not Christ’s walking on the sea, but His ordinary walk, we are called on to imitate’ (Martin Luther).

Walking like Jesus is not about fighting for your rights, it is about laying them down.

The irony of freedom in Christ is that we are free to do anything but called to sacrifice the very freedoms our faith afford.

English Standard Version (Chapter 9)

1 Cor. 9:1

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?

1 Corinthians 9:19-23

19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

2. Walking like Jesus means sacrificing our best for others.

Francis Chan:

We all really like Jesus but we don’t want to become like Jesus.

We love that He laid down His rights but we will fight and defend ours to the death.

We love that he washed the feet of the disciples, but we don’t aspire to that- we might tolerate it once as a cheesy church gimmick.

We love that he would go homeless but we equate God’s blessing with upgrading our houses.

We love that he was spit on, mocked, and simply took it, but we wouldn’t do that.

We love that he suffered intentionally for us, but you are going to orient your life around fun, self, and the things you desire.

In short, we love him as a savior, just not as a role model.

We extrapolate this down to “in principle”, not actually getting down and washing feet.

Not actually loving our enemies.

Not actually selling our homes

Not actually reconciling with someone that hurt me

Not actually turning the other cheek.

Not actually going the extra mile for an enemy.

ILL.

Pastor who don’t do hospital visits and brag. I was told this.

Riley Galano put my name down to speak at his chapel in Greenville. When I was getting started, I had other pastors tell me you gotta limit the people who have access to you.

the fact that Jesus walked on earth means he was incarnational. He was present with people.

Philippians 2:5–8 (ESV)

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Jesus went to the cross for you, but you need to protect your me time rather than minister to those in need.

It’s brutal, but that is the only way it’s beautiful.