Apostle John, who was an eyewitness of Jesus’ earthly ministry, who believed in Jesus, and then after He died he quit believing, and then after the resurrection he started believing again, who was ultimately arrested by Emperor Domitian and put on the island of Patmos to rot, who had seen more bloodshed personally than most of a whole bunch of us put together, who had lost friends to acts of terror by the Romans and by the Jewish Temple leaders, who had seen the entire Jewish Temple destroyed, said that, “God is love.”
When Jesus was about to be crucified and He gathered with His closest followers that last night together, He said “this will be the distinguishing mark of those who follow me”…not whatcha know, not whatcha read, not whatcha memorize, and not whatcha do on Sunday morning…“the distinguishing mark of those who claim to be my followers is that you love one another.” Why…? Because that love for other people reflected the nature of God.
What passes for Christianity nowadays is very different from the first-generation passion of what it meant to follow Jesus back then. And that’s very likely why the church isn’t connecting with our current culture. The gospel of grace was and is an irresistible message. The first century approach of advancing the gospel of grace modeled by Jesus and His apostles and His other followers is the exception rather than the rule nowadays. It’s no wonder that so many people resist it, reject it, and rebuff its followers. The fault doesn’t lie with Jesus or His teachings or His life’s example. He taught a simple ethic in the great commandment: love God and love others; love others as I have loved you.
But that is not what is exemplified by a great many Christians nowadays.
I am attracted to what Christianity originally was.
A great many Christians nowadays seem to have an uneasy relationship with grace. 'The church' seems to do best when it’s characterized by grace...it is certainly more appealing when the message of grace is most apparent...grace that was modeled and taught by Jesus. But grace seems to often be an early casualty in the world of organized Christianity. A great many Christians seem to gravitate toward graceless religion...they define themselves in terms of what they are against...instead of defining themselves in terms of what they are 'for'. Jesus consistently criticized graceless religion and its practitioners...and He consistently criticized graceless religious leaders. The ones who had Him killed were those who claimed to know God the most...but they knew little of grace. And they confirmed everything he said about them by doing so.
The church is most appealing when grace is most apparent. And ‘Christian’s’ are most appealing when grace is most apparent.
