Old Habits

1O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? 2This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?
Galations 3: 1 - 3 NKJV

How is it that you first learned of Jesus?  Was it in a sunday school song?  A scripture read to you from the word?  It is my belief that each of us followed a different path towards their destination of knowing Christ Jesus.  In my case, I learned the name Jesus from an early age.  My mother made it a point to make sure that her boys knew who Jesus was and what He had done not only in her life but for others as well.  I wasn't really that old when I learned that Jesus died on the cross for me.  Not only that, but three days later He rose from the dead and ascended into the heavens to be seated next to the Father in glory.  I think that this early teaching was my fist introduction of the disconnect between myself and Jesus.  For her part, my own mother continued the narative by reminding me that if there was ever anything I would do wrong, that Jesus was always there to forgive me if I would just ask Him.  In my mind, I was alone here on earth and Jesus was in heaven looking down upon me.  Don't get me wrong, I knew that Jesus loved me and had forgiven me my sins, but there was also another side to Him.  I recall a young pastor speaking to the kids in one of the sunday school classes I was in as a kid.  It seems that someone had let the cat out of the bag that our class was somehow...unruly.  That being said, the pastor was called in to lay down the law.  Yes, he explained, Jesus loved all of Gods little children, but His love was conditional on our own behaviors.  If we behaved badly, then we would need to go to Jesus to seek His forgiveness.  As an example, he reminded us of the story of an angry Jesus ransacking the tables of the money changers in the temple.  "Do you want to meet Jesus this way?' the pastor asked us?  For me, the answer was easy.  I wanted that get out of jail free card which came with knowing Jesus...always there to forgive me my trespasses.  It seems that Jesus was someone who constantly was worried of how I behaved.  If I didn't perform the right way, then the angry side of Jesus would be there to remind me of my mistake.  When I would hear of older people speak of their freedom in Jesus, this is not what I envisioned. 

14How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”
Romans 10: 14 - 15 NKJV

Now for the million dollar question of the day.  Was it my fault as a young whipper snapper for my misguided belief of who Christ really was?  Perhaps, but I really didn't know any better.  This was how I was taught about Christ.  Therefore, this was how I believed He was.  If I was wrong in my beliefs, then I was not alone by a long shot.  For the Jesus I grew up knowing is the very same Jesus my mother who taught me knew.  Not only that, this continues to be the narrative even today of who the man Jesus really is.  This is the Jesus those of us who know better continue to speak to the world.  So, what's wrong with the Jesus I grew up knowing and the Jesus I know today?  Well, for starters, I had NO relationship with my Lord and Savior growing up.  See, as a sinner, Jesus could never be as close to me as He is today {Galations 2:20}.    That brings me to yet another problem with the Jesus I grew up knowing.  That Jesus was distant and far off, only there to watch over me to monitor my behaviors.  Forget the fact that He died on that cross to ensure that I would no longer be enslaved to my own sins {Romans 6:2, 6:6}.  Like old habits, we have continued to teach and accept  the outdated narrative of Christ.  Well, if there is one thing I have learned is that there is NO freedom in the Christ Jesus I grew up knowing...only labor and condemnation.  It was my duty to work to get myself unto Jesus' standards.  The trouble with this line of thought is that we will never attain the righteousness of Christ by our own accord.  It's not at all possible.  Yet, this is the carrot at the end of the stick which many of us continue to chase.  If I only try hard enough and work hard enough to be like Jesus, then someday I might just accomploish that goal.  The trouble is, Jesus has set the performance bar so high that we will never reach it.  This is by design, for without Him and His sacrafice we are surely lost.  We cannot depend on our own efforts, but are completely dependent upon Jesus for our lives.  This is theat freedom in Christ I heard others talk about growing up.  We have no need to worry or fret when it comes to Him.  The man Jesus has ensured that we are now one in Him.  So why do we continue to teach the Jesus I grew up with?  I guess old habits die hard.

~Scott~