3-31-14<\/p>\n
I have come to realize that a lot of things they say about Jesus Christ are not true. Oh, I\u2019m sure He smiled a lot, and sometimes wore perfectly starched robes, and went around patting children on the head, like I saw on the covers of all those Sunday-School pamphlets. And, if I remember correctly, we have stories of Him preaching and dispensing wisdom, and then moving on to the next towns and lakesides. He was misunderstood; people were jealous of Him or threatened by Him; and He was an innocent victim of persecution. I understand all that.<\/p>\n
But why can\u2019t He just leave me alone with those images? Messiah, I get it. Died for my sins, fine. Shouldn\u2019t that be enough for Christmas and Easter?<\/p>\n
A lot of people think that\u2019s the whole package\u2026 but that\u2019s what is not true. And that\u2019s what makes me annoyed, drives me crazy.<\/p>\n
A Jesus who smiles all the time? No\u2026 I see Him. Sometimes He is angry. Sometimes He is disappointed and looks sad. Sometimes I see tears in His eyes. In those moments He is confronting ME. He reminds me that I sin, that I am lost in this crazy world. He pleads with me to make a choice. To change. To believe in Him. To replace the junk in my heart with the goodness He promises.<\/p>\n
Another annoying thing: He never shuts up. I wish there were a fishing village down the road He could move on to. He persists. He won\u2019t let me go. Those Sunday-School paintings of Jesus standing at the door and knocking? Don\u2019t let that kid you. He knocks at the front door, the back door, He scratches at the windows, He is like an alarm clock; like virtual phone calls and texts. \u201cWhy do you ignore Me, reject Me?\u201d is what He seems to be saying. \u201cI love you!\u201d<\/p>\n
And how annoying is this? \u2013 I\u2019ve gotten the feeling that Christmas and Easter are not enough for Him. Or church once in a while; or even every Sunday morning. He wants me, not my schedule or habits or family customs. Don\u2019t I pray, or think about praying, when someone is sick, or I\u2019m having a crisis? What does He WANT from me, anyhow???<\/p>\n
Why, why can\u2019t Jesus be like the guys in those other religions? A wise man, a powerful teacher, a prophet, a role model\u2026 those are good enough gods for all those followers, and their lives are OK. Well, maybe not, but at least those religions are sensible. I mean, Buddha and Mohammed and Confucius and the rest didn\u2019t ever claim they were sons of God, or \u201cGod With Us.\u201d Isn\u2019t it just like Jesus, though, to be the only One claiming that this is exactly who He is? That accepting Him is the way, the only way, to eternal life? It gets annoying.<\/p>\n
Because if it\u2019s true\u2026 I\u2019m fried. If that persistent, sincere, earnest, holy, logical, annoying Person called Jesus is telling the truth, I should be scared crazy. I remember that writer named C. S. Lewis said something: \u201cYou must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Annoying, right? Then I heard that Bono, the singer and activist, recently said, \u201cJesus isn’t lettin\u2019 you off the hook\u2026 When people say, you know, \u2018Good teacher,\u2019 \u2018Prophet,\u2019 \u2018Really nice guy\u2019… this is not how Jesus thought of Himself. So you’re left with a challenge in that: which is either Jesus was who He said He was, or a complete and utter nut case\u2026 You have to make a choice on that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Annoying! \u201cMake a choice!\u201d First Jesus says it; and then these guys; and then\u2026 then\u2026 then I know I do have to make a choice. Annoying! Everything else in life these days frees us from having to make choices. Or, if we make bad choices, someone is there to say \u201cIt\u2019s all right\u201d and \u201cNo problem.\u201d That\u2019s what is great about modern life, right? But\u2026 \u201cMake a choice, make a choice!\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not like my life depended on it. Can\u2019t you see how annoying this Jesus is? Why? WHY? <\/p>\n
+ + +<\/p>\n
The simplest Sunday-School song, maybe the very first hymn a lot us remember hearing, answers the question of Why Jesus is so\u2026 well, annoying, sometimes. But Jesus loves me, this I know.<\/p>\n