Today's reading: Nehemiah 6; John 7
I can't help but think how terrible of a pastor Jesus would be in the modern Western church...
I'm sure we've talked about this before, but it's been standing out to me the last couple days, and I think it's worth taking a step back to consider it.
Churches get so caught up in growth and attendance numbers these days. Sunday services, in a lot of churches, are more show/entertainment than they are biblical, meaningful, truthful, challenging content. Pastors are more concerned with presenting a front of "coolness" about the church so it's a place people want to come than they are about presenting Jesus and the life of faith He calls us to. Churches avoid controversial topics and take soft stands on biblical truths in order not to offend and loose too many people from their membership, and even more importantly, from their giving pool.
But when was Jesus ever concerned with how large of a crowd was following Him? How often was Jesus focused on how many people were giving to His ministry? Where do we see Jesus pulling His punches to protect the delecate egos of His listeners and make sure they didn't turn away from Him?
Never do we see these things from Jesus. In fact, we see the opposite. When the crowds following Jesus got larger, Jesus challenged them. At the end of John 6 He taught something so controversial that the entire massive crowd that was wanting to come and make Him king grumbled at Him and turned away. Then here, too, in John 7, we see Jesus doing the same kind of thing at the Feast of Booths.
Jesus was not concerned with people liking Him or what He had to say, He was concerned with them hearing the truth and understanding what it would mean to give their lives over to that truth. He didn't soft-pedal the realities of being His follower, but encouraged people to count the cost if they wanted to follow Him, promising persecution, and telling them they would need to take up their cross daily if they wanted to follow Him. Jesus was not about entertaining people, winning the masses, or offering people a cheap "fire-insurance" kind of salvation, like so many of our modern churches are.
I think it's worth asking: How long would Jesus last as the pastor of you church? How long before He was fired for alienating and scattering the church members who were more interested in an enjoyable Sunday morning than they were in a life given over to seeking first His kingdom and it's righteousness?
And if the answer is, "Not long," then it's worth questioning whose kingdom we are really looking to build as a church, His, or our own...
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