How, then, should they be invoking One in whom they do not believe? Yet how should they be believing One of whom they do not hear? Yet how should they be hearing apart from one heralding? Yet how should they be heralding if ever they should not be commissioned? According as it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those bringing an evangel of good!
Romans 10: 14 - 15, Concordant New Testament
Most people say that we've already lost our youngest generation. They point to liberal protestors and coffee snorting hipsters and predict the doom and gloom which is sure to fall over our nation in the coming years. Yet where others see defeat, I see opportunity. Such was the case the other day as I watched a group of teens in a testimonial for the Christian series The Chosen. I was so impressed with the reaction of these young people who had just watched the chosen for themselves that I immediately fired off an email to a good friend with two simple words...message delivered! Their comments were uplifting to any believer who thought that our younger generation had been lost. One young woman gushed at how gentle Jesus was portrayed. Another woman was in wonder at how Jesus interacted with everyone around Him. But the testimonial which lifted my heart the most came from a young man who was in tears at how kind Jesus was, so different from the stern God which he had been raised to believe in. Now, anyone who has read my writings will know that I am no huge fan of the mainstream institutional church. Some of you may have even wondered why it is the church fell out of favor for me. well, all you need do is listen to the words of these young believers and you will see just why I now am on the outside looking into the church I was raised in. If only a series such as the chosen had been released when I was younger perhaps I would have forgone some of the pain and struggles I endured from Christian teaching and preaching over the years. I listen to the stories of these young men and women, and I see myself. I see myself in Sunday school class learning to behave well lest God become angry with me. Back then Jesus wasn't cool. Back then Jesus was a dead guy who sat in heaven judging my each and every move. That is what I was taught.
In this was manifested the love of God among us, that God had dispatched His only-begotten Son into the world that we should be living through Him. In this is love, not that we love God, but that He loves us, and dispatched His Son, a propitiatory shelter concerned with our sins.
1 John 4: 9 - 10, Concordant New Testament
In a way, I am glad that young people today have this resource in order to see the real Jesus for themselves. This is Jesus who He really was. This is the down in the dirt, sandals wearing, country teaching Messiah whom I have come to know for myself. This is the Jesus who was not all billowing white robes but, in your face, speaking about the Father at every opportunity. In my opinion, we have been presented with two different views of Jesus. One by the mainstream church who are all too happy to portray Jesus as a stern overseer. This is the gospel of Jesus these young people have undoubtably been fed up until now. So, it is not at all surprising to me that they would be in wonder after seeing the authentic Jesus. This Jesus is loving, patient and kind. Everything, in fact, that the scriptures claim that He is. This is a Jesus who has never used a scoring system to decide just who would be going to heaven. This is the Jesus who desired that all would be as He and the Father {John 17:21}. So, why did I send off that email to my friend after watching the testimonial of these young people? Because I saw exactly what many others saw. A new generation was being introduced to the truth of Christ Jesus. Do I wish that they would have seen the Jesus I know today? The Jesus who lives in me? Absolutely. However, I'll rejoice in their coming to know Him and pray that Christ is revealed in them. Message delivered.
To whom God wills to make known what are the glorious riches of this secret among the nations, which is: Christ among you, the expectation of glory.
Colossians 1: 27, Concordant New Testament
~Scott~
No comments:
Post a Comment