“And as I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all to Myself”
John 12: 32 Tree of Life Version
This week I was scrolling my email inbox that is always flooded with articles, blogs and invites amongst other things. As I looked closer I realized that most of these were from those that are Christians but I struggled to see Christ. I asked myself, where is Jesus? As a Christian community, where have we placed Jesus?
I mean has He no longer become cool to the church so we nestled Him in the background of our activities about Him. He sometimes makes a faint appearance in our motivational sermons but rarely is He at center stage.
While I’m not talking about being completely radical, wait maybe I am. Maybe that is the problem we have failed to become completely radical for Jesus. We don’t have to beat people over the heads with a bible every minute but Jesus should take a prominent place in our lives and churches.
I shouldn’t have to go on a hunt for Jesus in His own house. As a community of believers, we have hidden away the one person who can change the lives of every human heart.
Communities need to see Jesus. Don’t think a scavenger hunt for Jesus is exactly what the Bible had in mind.
Maybe there is a fear of Jesus. A fear that He will turn people off or that the church would appear strange and out of touch with culture. Jesus, however, was very in touch with the culture of His day. He was sensitive and compassionate but when needed addressed the hard issues. Yeah, He went to the house of worship but He didn’t hide out there. He hung out with the people and people well they flocked to Jesus. He alone drew the crowd.
There is a story in the bible that I love. Some friends tried to get close to Jesus because they had a sick friend. The crowd was thick and they couldn’t get the stretcher through so they climbed up to the roof, tore it off and lowered their friend right in front of Jesus. (Mark 2:4; Luke 5:19) They were desperate and knew that only Jesus could meet the need they had. Only Jesus! So, they went where Jesus was.
Where have you placed Jesus?
