What’s this video about? Just read that REALLY long title.
Enjoy! (Both the video AND your food today)
Liberating you from bad ideas about God
Learn the MOST ESSENTIAL truths for following Jesus.
Get FREE articles and audio teachings in my discipleship emails!
What’s this video about? Just read that REALLY long title.
Enjoy! (Both the video AND your food today)
Would Jesus be a Ferguson protester?
I suppose it depends on what you mean by “Ferguson Protester.”
In case you do not live in the United States (or even if you do and have been living under a rock), let me summarize what happened. On August 9, 2014, a Ferguson police officer named Darren Wilson shot and killed a young man named Michael Brown. Since Michael was black and unarmed, and the police officer was white, many are saying that this killing was racially motivated and that officer Darren Wilson should be condemned for murder. Darren Wilson contends that he was being attacked by Michael Brown and shot him in self-defense.
Protests in Ferguson have been occurring nonstop since August, most of which have been non-violent. On Monday, November 24, however, the Grand Jury announced that Officer Darren Wilson would not be indicted for the shooting of Michael Brown. In response to this verdict, many in Ferguson, MO turned to further violence.
In the following post, I have tried to imagine what Jesus would say and do if He lived in Ferguson, Missouri.
My thoughts are below. Feel free to agree or disagree in the comment section.
This is the beginning place. God does not desire the death of anyone, whether they are innocent or guilty, young or old, male or female, black or white. God does not have a favorite race, a favorite age, a favorite gender, a favorite political party, or even a favorite class of people. He loves sinners as much as He saints.
It makes no real difference to Jesus whether Michael Brown was guilty or not. Jesus loves Him and is terribly saddened by His death.
For this reason, Jesus would be found among the mourners of Ferguson, Missouri.
Jesus would be deeply saddened by everything that has happened in Ferguson. He would mourn with the friends and family of Michael Brown.
Many are decrying officer Wilson’s actions as another example of police brutality and the over-militarization of our domestic law enforcement. Jesus is opposed to brutality and violence wherever it is found, especially among those who exist to “serve and protect.”
And yet…
Regardless of the decision reached by the Grand Jury, Jesus is deeply saddened that violence resulted in the death of a young man, and Jesus is deeply saddened by the violence and brutality that has been carried about by those who do not like the decision of the Grand Jury. Jesus would not call upon the people of Ferguson to riot or engage in any sort of violence toward the police or toward other people in town.
One thing Jesus definitely would not do is to offer a $5000 reward for anyone who kills Officer Wilson and his family members. This sort of blatant criminal activity only pours gasoline on an already raging inferno, and Jesus would condemn such calls to brutal violence.
Instead, Jesus would invite the people of Ferguson to love and forgive, and maybe even to do the most shocking thing of all — to give that $5000 to Officer Wilson and his family. Can you imagine the worldwide news stir that this would create? Instead, all we get is news about escalating violence.
Even when reporters try to allow the looters to provide their perspective, they receive only violence in return. Here are two examples:
This looks nothing like Jesus.
Whether or not Officer Wilson truly is guilty of brutal violence, more brutality from the people of Ferguson is not what Jesus would support. He would call for love and forgiveness, as these are the only things that can heal this broken community.
Related to violence is the issue of racism. Was the killing of Michael Brown racially motivated? Nobody really knows, except for Darren Wilson.
And again, maybe the Grand Jury will uncover some evidence which proves that Darren Wilson was racist, and if so, such actions and behavior can be rightly condemned by those who follow Jesus.
But again, just as Jesus would never call His followers to engage in brutal violence as a response to violence, so also, Jesus would never engage in any sort of racism as a response to real (or perceived) racism toward Him.
Jesus would not condone racist chants against white people (Warning: there is lots of profanity on that page). Racism is evil, whether it is white people hating black people, or black people hating white people.
Again, Jesus would call for forgiveness and love, not hatred and violence.
Ultimately, if Jesus lived in Ferguson, Missouri and was taking part in the protests, He would point the root of the problem.
The root problem is not violence. The root problem is not even racism. It is definitely not the over-militarization of law enforcement in response to the militarization of gangs.
The real problem is scapegoating.
Scapegoating is done when we blame other people for our own problems. Scapegoating is when we believe that yet another death will atone for the evils of the past. Scapegoating is when we refuse to admit our own failures and sins, and instead blame others for the way our lives turn out or our actions unfold. Scapegoating is when we refuse to take responsibility for our decisions, and instead blame others for our behavior.
Jesus would invite the police to revisit their recruitment process and training procedures so that people of all backgrounds and races are treated fairly and justly.
Jesus would invite the people of Ferguson to forgive Officer Wilson, knowing that although the death of Michael Brown was wrong, nothing will bring Michael Brown back, and seeking the death of another person only amplifies the problem and perpetuates the violence.
Jesus would remind the people of Ferguson that death does not do away with injustice. Only forgiveness does that. That the proper response to racism is not hatred, but love.
Jesus would invite all the people in Ferguson, whether they are black or white, rich or poor, in power or without, that “other people” are not the problem. “We” are the problem. Each of us is responsible for our own actions. And while we cannot, should not, and must not force others to relinquish power, to be generous with their money, or to love and forgive in return, we can love as we want to be loved; we can forgive as we want to be forgiven; we can serve as we want to be served.
So would Jesus be a Ferguson protester? Yes, but He would also be protesting the protests. He would be a friend to the Brown family in their loss, and He would also be a friend to the Wilson family in their fear. He would call for racial reconciliation, for peace, for love, and for forgiveness.
This is the response that brings hope and healing. This is the response that looks most like Jesus.
In the end, I agree completely with what Alan Cross wrote yesterday about the Ferguson Protests:
I have seen quite a bit of vitriol, mocking, and derision directed their way today from white Christians in social media who have reposted racial jokes and memes and have condemned them heartily. I do abhor violence and destruction of property and am praying for peace and for those whose businesses were destroyed. It is wrong and it should not be happening and those breaking the law should be arrested and brought to justice. There is really no discussion on that point. But, not all who disagree with what was decided are violent or want to do destroy things. And, even worse, what has affected me today is the energy that some people have exhibited in making fun of the crowds and mocking them and saying that they would never be them.
Then, I saw a tweet from David Fitch, professor/writer, that referenced Mark 6:34 and it got me thinking. I turned to the parallel passage in Matthew and it says this:
“And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.'” (Matthew 9:35-38)
Christmas is the season that we celebrate the coming of Jesus, born as a baby in Bethlehem to Mary and Joseph. We call his birth the Incarnation because the Son of God came and put on flesh and made his dwelling among us. He came and lived among US. He taught and healed and told us about the Kingdom of God. His Kingdom invaded our own little kingdoms and he told us a better story – a True Story. He gave us life. He did not stand afar off from us in our sin or misery or destructive ways. He did not mock us or make fun of us or declare how stupid we were. He didn’t reject us. He became one of us and in so doing, saved us all – all who will come to Him.
WE were the crowd. Harassed and helpless. Sheep without a shepherd, not knowing where to turn, where to go, or what to do. So, we followed the loudest voices we could hear – the voices of our culture or our past or of temptations or seducing spirits or ourselves. We went after them looking for life and answers and we became harassed on every side. Helpless to do anything to save ourselves or change our situations. Some turning to violence. Some to pride. Some to greed and anger and some to judgment and condescension so they could establish themselves as better than others. But, Jesus came for us all. The privileged and the powerful, the poor and the angry. All of us, even those whose sins look more respectable than others.
Agree? Disagree? Share this post with others and weigh in with your own comments below!
I have long hair.
Recently a Christian man came up to me and said, “Don’t you know that it is an abomination to God for a man to have long hair?”
I could have argued with him by correcting his misquote of 1 Corinthians 11:14. I could have showed him the cultural reasons why Paul’s words don’t really apply to us today. I could have stated that even if long hair was dishonorable, maybe the reason I had long hair was that I wanted to be dishonored. I also could have brought up the fact that in most artistic renderings of Jesus, He had long hair, but nobody thinks that it was an “abomination” for Him.
But I said none of these things. I have learned that sometimes, it is best to just laugh off such outlandish accusations, and move on.
So instead of trying to show the man how wrong he was, I just cracked a joke. I said, “I have long hair because I’m trying to look like Jesus!”
He stared at me for a second, then shouted “Blasphemer!” and stalked away.
I am not exactly sure how my words were blasphemous, but then, nothing this man said made mush sense.
.. My poor attempt at a joke got me thinking.
Yes, we Christians are supposed to look like Jesus. In fact, “Christian” means “little Christ.” Yet I fear that we have misunderstood what it means to look like Jesus.
It doesn’t mean that we grow long hair, wear long robes, and go about with a holy half-smile on our lips, saying things like “Verily! Verily!” (On three different occasions over the past three weeks, I have had people come up to me and tell me that I look like Jesus. I am now thinking of cutting my hair…)
Looking like Jesus doesn’t mean that we set up a Jesus statue in our front lawns and point spotlights at it.
Looking like Jesus doesn’t mean that we shout his name at people through a bullhorn.
Looking like Jesus doesn’t even necessarily mean that we feed the hungry, heal the sick, and perform miracles.
Looking like Jesus means, among other things, that people will want to hang out with us for the same reasons they hung out with Jesus.
Looking like Jesus means that we will see what God is really up to in this world, and will seek to join Him in His work.
Looking like Jesus means that we will not stand out in a crowd for how we are dressed or what we are saying, but will get noticed because of what we stand up for—or more precisely, who we stand up for.
Looking like Jesus may mean that we don’t get our “rights,” but instead end up sacrificing our rights–and maybe our very lives–for the sake of others.
Jesus doesn’t want us to look like Him. He wants us to look like us, but to live in the way that He lived, with His values, His goals, and His approach to God and people.
It used to be popular to attempt to live life by asking ourselves all the time “What would Jesus do?” In more recent years, I am not sure that this is the best way to live. I don’t think Jesus wants us to ask “What would Jesus do?” and then seek to do it. No, I think Jesus wants us to ask, “What would Jesus want me to do?” and then go do that. This means that while we may not look like Jesus, we will act and behave how Jesus wants.
My friend Sam Riviera often weighs in on church activities or theological topics by saying “That looks like Jesus.” Over the past several years, I have been reworking a lot of my life and theology, and have discovered that this “Jesus lens” is a good guide to making decisions about life and theology.
While Jesus may not have said anything about the social/political/theological topics of homosexual marriage, immigration reform, or mega churches, we do know enough about Jesus from the Gospels to get a general tenor or trajectory of Jesus’ life to make an educated guess about what He might have said.
Toward that end, I am starting a new blog series called “Looks Like Jesus” in which I will try to apply this “Jesus lens” to various passages of Scripture (like the flood in Genesis 6), theological topics (Does God’s grace extend to gay people?), and social issues (What would Jesus say about immigration reform?). As I write these posts, I will publish them here on the blog for your input.
(And no, I am not giving up on my current series on Calvinism. The two series of posts will run concurrently. If you prefer one series over the other, please “vote” for it by sharing posts from that series on your social sites and by leaving blog comments.)
I am going to post my first (well, second I guess, since this is the first) post in the “Looks Like Jesus” series tomorrow. I will be looking at how Jesus would get involved in the Ferguson protests.
In future posts I will be looking at various theological and social topics through the lens of Jesus so that our response to these issues looks like Jesus.
Do you have ideas for this series of posts you would like to see covered in the future? What Bible passages do you want examined through the lens of Jesus Christ? What theological topics and social issues should be considered?
Leave your ideas in the comments below. Thanks!
I am sure you have heard about Mark Driscoll and his recent resignation from Mars Hill in Seattle.
This post is not really about Mark Driscoll, but about how his resignation is a symptom of a wider problem in Western Christianity.
As much as I never really cared for Mark’s preaching, approach to ministry, or theology, I always felt a bit sorry for him. He was another victim of the corporate, celebrity-style Christendom that operates under the word “church” in most of the western world.
About ten years ago I listened to a sermon by Mark Driscoll in which he publicly stated his desire for Mars Hill to become the largest church in the United States. It had already been recognized at that time as the fastest growing church, and he wanted to leverage that growth into the largest congregation. Yet according to recent news releases, by January 1, 2015, Mars Hill will be no more.
I think people around the world are finally starting to wake up to the fact that when it comes to church, bigger is not always better. Of course, this doesn’t mean that smaller is better either.
Church is not about “how many” at all. It is not even about “how.”
In a culture which says “It’s all about you,” we need to reawaken to the fact that Church is all about “who.”
Who is the church about?
Jesus! He is the sole head.
Who is the church about?
People meeting together for friendship and fellowship.
Lots of people point to the description of “two or three” in Matthew 18 as the minimum requirement for church. I personally don’t think this text has anything to do with how many people are needed to “do” church, for church is not actually something we do, but is something we are.
But even if we say that church exists where there are two or three, nothing is said in Matthew 18:20 that when these two or three gather, one of them needs to stand up and give a sermon. Nothing is said that when these two or three gather, they need to sit in a circle with their bibles open on their laps, discussing a particular text or point of theology. Nothing is said about prayer or music or food.
It is best to think of church as you think of family.
Do you ever talk about going to “family”? Of course not. You are a family.
Do you ever plan regular family events? Well, sometimes. But these are rarely set in stone for all time, and you never assume that what you do in your family is what all families everywhere should be doing as well.
But even when family events are planned, true “family” most often occurs outside and away from these family events. True “family” happens as life happens. True family occurs at 4:00 in the morning when someone has a bad dream or wakes up with a stomach ache. True family occurs when memories are formed while buying celery at the supermarket. True family occurs when everybody laughs at a joke about peas on the curtains. If you tried to package and export these family events to all other families, it wouldn’t work.
How did I get onto this topic after beginning with a discussion about reconciliation and redemption of abusive leaders?
For Mark Driscoll, I hope that he does not enter into another form of Christian leadership any time soon. It’s not because he is disqualified. Far from it! He might be more qualified now then ever before. It is just that modern Christian forms of “leadership” look nothing like the leadership modeled by Jesus.
For all the fans of Mark Driscoll, I hope that rather than simply turn to another celebrity pastor or mega-gathering for their weekly fix of preaching, they see that Jesus Himself wants to lead them into the biggest adventure of a lifetime.
And as for all the critics of Mark Driscoll, I hope there is absolutely no gloating whatsoever. What happened to Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill is extremely sad, and anyone who gloats is in danger of the exact same problem.
Ultimately, I hope that western Christianity in general learns from what happened to Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill.
I hope we learn that reconciling and redeeming abusive church leaders begins with reconciling and redeeming the church itself.
The problem is not the church leaders. Church leaders are some of the victims of a church structure that functions as God never intended.
So let’s abandon our power structures, our titles, our positions, our platforms, our offering plates, and even our buildings and campuses.
Instead, let us turn to love. Love for our neighbors. Love for our enemies. Love for our family.
Let us not rush to get fallen leaders back into positions of authority. Let us not rush to get anyone into any position of authority in the “church,” for there is no authority other than Jesus Christ, and there is no church other than the family of God.
This post was part of the November 2014 Synchroblog. Here are the other contributors:
Sometimes people think that “faith like a child” means living in ignorance. Children don’t know much, right? They just believe without any facts or thinking or logic. So this must be what it means to have faith like a child.
I agree that in some ways, faith like a child means taking God at His Word and just moving on.
But at the same time, God gave us brains, and desires that we use them. He invites us to reason with Him (Isa 1:18).
So if faith like a child doesn’t mean living in willful ignorance, what does it mean to have faith like a child?
This video clues you in to part of it:
I am convinced that faith like a child does not mean ignorance like a child.
No, to have faith like a child means to view life like a child.
How does a child view life?
Like the girl in the video, children have a tenderness of conscience. They are emotional.
But this doesn’t mean that to have faith like a child you need to have emotions like a child. No, it’s more than that.
Children are full of wonder and awe.
Children are creative and imaginative.
Children are playful and fun-loving.
As adults, we get bored with flowers, bugs, and sunsets. We lose delight in talking with others about nothing. We are jaded and disinterested.
Adults hold grudges, harbor fears, and stay angry.
Adults refuse to forgive. Adults remember slights.
I think one of the things that attracted people to Jesus is that He was “child-like.” Does this mean He lacked wisdom and understanding? Far from it! No, Jesus was “child-like” in that He was full of the wonder of life, the hope for humanity, and the beauty of creation. Jesus lived in awe.
And awe is contagious.
Do you want to have faith like a child?
Having faith like a child has absolutely nothing to do with not asking questions. After all, have you ever known a child who doesn’t ask LOTS of questions?
No, having faith like a child means having an “imagination” like a child.
Those who have faith like a child will hope, dream, forgive, create, trust, and love. Live life to the full. Be excited. Be adventuresome. Be tender of heart. And always ask lots and lots of questions.
So think! Reason! Question! Ask! But also imagine, dance, sing, laugh, and play! Then you will have faith like a child.