Which Jesus do You Serve? -Part 3

My absolute favorite Christian song is: My Jesus, by Todd Agnew. In this song Todd asks his listeners two important questions...

"Which Jesus do you serve? Which Jesus do you follow?" If I were to answer that question honestly it I would have to say that I serve My Jesus. In other words, I serve a Jesus that I have molded and shaped to fit my life. I serve My Jesus, not the Jesus of scripture. I think we all do...

Sometimes we hide behind feel good Bible quotes of the bible, like this: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only son." John 3:16. Our churches, friends, and fellow brothers in faith let us down by hiding behind these feel good quotes. We have molded Jesus into our own safer and easier to follow versions. We pick and chose the quotes from the bible that make us feel good about our faith, and we totally ignore the parts of the bible that call us to action.

Listen to this story from Luke. Three men approaches Jesus and say "I will follow you wherever you go." We have all reached a point like this, its the day we "hand over our lives" to Jesus, proclaiming him to be our savior. Now don't get me wrong, when a person comes to this point it is a beautiful and miraculous point of someone's life. But the whole point of this three part blog of mine is to prove to you that "finding Jesus" is only the beginning. Calling yourself a Christian and recognizing Christ as your savior, is only the start to what SHOULD be a long road ahead. The first man in Luke is feeling so good about his faith that he decides he wants to serve the Lord. But Jesus tells him this, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head." In other words, he is telling this man that to serve Christ will mean possibly being homeless. The second man tells Jesus to essentially wait up for him, because his father has died and he wants to go give him a proper burial. Jesus says to him, "Let the dead burry their own dead, but you go and proclaim the Kingdom of God." He asks this man to leave his father unburied to go follow Jesus NOW. The third man, just as ambitious as the last two, asks Jesus if he can go say goodbye to his family before he leaves. Jesus responds, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the Kingdom of God." This is straight out of Jesus's mouth, essentially he says don't go say goodbye to your family. Leave them behind, and don't ever look back, look ahead to the Kingdom in Heaven and serve me no matter the cost.

While we hide behind these fluffy-duffy bible quotes such as John 3:16, we are missing out on our true calling. Yet we continue to mold the story of Jesus into our own little box, hearing time and time again that God loves us so much that he sent his son to die on the cross. That we are forgiven for all of our sins past and present, that as long as we accept Christ as our savior we are bound for heaven. These are usually the main ideas that we hold on to. But don't you see that we are picking and choosing the ideas and concepts that make Christianity easy for us? In my last few blogs, I have said that there is much more to Christianity, and much more to enacting a faith in Jesus.... And I said that we need to enact this faith NOW and not later... And the story in Luke 9 shows us what this may look like:

-Leaving your family, friends, and comforts behind. Serving God no matter the cost. Serving God with a vigor that cannot be stopped. Not looking back, but only looking ahead to the Kingdom...

The song I refereed to earlier goes on to say this, "If Ephesians says to imitate Christ, why do you look so much like the world?" What I think Todd Agnew is getting at is this very point: The actual Jesus from the Bible, lived a totally different life than that of most  Christians today. He did not go to church in an air conditioned building, listen to great music, and eat free food. And he certainly did not just serve God one day a week for only a few hours. No! Jesus lived an entire life dedicated to serving God, dedicated to proclaiming the word of God to the world, dedicated to showing God's love to everyone. The key word here is dedication, Jesus did not live a half baked life. He did not serve God when it was convenient, he served God with an untouchable vigor and DEDICATION.

"Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly love children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." Ephesians 5:1-2.

This Ephesians quote calls us to imitate Christ. And more importantly it makes a huge distinction between what I consider to be two types of Christians.
 1) Stagnate and Indulging Christian: The Christian who has come to know the story of Jesus, accepted his grace, and he/she just enjoys this gift on a daily basis. They live as if they can do whatever because all they understand is that they are forgiven and given grace because of Jesus. They sit around living a blessed life each day, enjoying the gift of grace, but never sharing it.
2) Christ imitating Christians: The Christian that comes to know the grace of God, and in light of this gift of grace he/she has received their lives are transformed. They are so moved by Grace that they offer their lives as living sacrifices to God, just as Jesus did.

Do you see the difference here? Which Jesus do you serve? Do you serve the "American Jesus" that offers total salvation and eternal life with little work? Or the real Jesus from scripture, the Jesus that totally surrendered his life to the cause of God? The real Jesus, not only sacrificed his life to further the Kingdom of God, but he also commanded us to do the same...

There is much more to Christianity.... Much more than just reading your bible, going to church here and there, and wearing a cross around your neck. This is SUCH an easy trap to fall into... But I encourage you to read the difficult passages of the Bible. Don't just read the fluffy-duffy ones, read the challenging ones. Read them and apply them, read them and assess your life. Because each one of us is called to do more than just enjoy the grace we are given... And Christianity (true Christianity) is a difficult path to walk.

I don't yet know what this is going to look like for me. I don't have all (or any) of the answers. I don't write all of this as a person that has it all figured out. In fact I write all of this simply as a person that has discovered these truths. I am guilty of being a lazy Christian. I am guilty of indulging in the gifts of God without giving anything back. Finding these truths about what it REALLY means to be a Christian makes me shake to the core. Now that I know the truth, now that I see so clearly what my life must entail, now that I see what it is Jesus commands us to do with our lives... I am left sitting here wishing that I never uncovered the truth. I prefer the American version of lazy Christianity much more... Because it is easier... I tremble because I don't yet know what this imitation of Christ is going to look like in my life. I don't know the road I should go down, I don't know the sacrifices I need to make, and I don't know where to go with all of this... I am more lost, alone, and confused now then ever.............

Again, while it is easy to read all of this and feel as if I am looking down on the rest of my brothers in Christ, condemning them for the lives they currently live. I am simply sharing a startling and devastating truth... A truth that has turned my world upside down....

Lord I apologize, for living so ignorantly up to this point. I apologize for procrastinating with my faith and servitude to your Kingdom. I am sorry that I get wrapped up in this life, I am sorry that I hold on to the things of this world, I am sorry that I ever have to think for a second before I sacrifice things of this world in order to serve you. I am sorry that despite knowing the truth, I am still going to struggle with all of these issues.... I am sorry that I throw away my talents, time, and resources each day. I am sorry that I break your heart... Lord I am sorry.


Lord I also pray, that you may open doors for both me and my brothers in faith. That you may point us in the right direction, down a path to walk down without ever looking back. Give me laser-like focus, to keep my mind centered on your Kingdom and on serving you... Just like your Son Jesus did. I want to imitate Christ, as best as I can... Though I know I am only human, and though I know I am merely but a speck of dust in this universe. But through you I can accomplish great things, by your Holy Spirit and will alone will any success in this world be attained. Praise be to you for all of the gifts and talents you have given me, help me to discover what it looks like to put my everything into serving you, and into imitating your son Jesus. Help me to quit enacting a half-baked faith that is centered around what is easy and comfortable. Help me to discover and demonstrate what it means to be a true Christian. 


There is so much more to being a Christian........