{"id":258,"date":"2011-04-01T15:49:37","date_gmt":"2011-04-01T19:49:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?p=258"},"modified":"2011-04-01T15:49:43","modified_gmt":"2011-04-01T19:49:43","slug":"they-want-to-see-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/they-want-to-see-jesus\/","title":{"rendered":"They Want to See Jesus… But They Can’t See Past the Church"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>My father-in-law is a “sayings” dad. He is one of those fathers who has funny saying for nearly everything.<\/p>\n

If you stand at the refrigerator with the door open, trying to figure out what to eat, he’ll say, “Take a picture. It’ll last longer.”<\/p>\n

If he is in the car and is second in line at a red light and the person in front of him is not paying attention when the light turns green, he’ll say, “What are you waiting for, an invitation? It’s not going to get any greener!”<\/p>\n

If you stand between him and the television when he’s trying to watch a show, he’ll say, “You make a great door, but a lousy window.”<\/p>\n

This last one really got me thinking. I wonder sometimes if the church makes a great door, but a lousy window. Though we can help people get to Jesus, they often don’t want to because we make it difficult for people to see Jesus.<\/p>\n

The church often hinders people’s ability to see who Jesus really is. We have done such a poor job of being an authentic community that humbly seeks truth, loves one another, and unselfishly serves our neighbors, that even if people want to learn about Jesus, it’s hard for them to get past the gatekeepers of the church. Even when we have nice doors, we often keep those doors tightly locked (metaphorically speaking).<\/p>\n

So many people look at the church as a representation of Jesus, and if they don’t like what they see, they think, “If that is what Jesus-followers are like, I want nothing to do with Jesus.” Often, when people think they are rejecting Jesus, they are really just rejecting a twisted representation of Him in the church.<\/p>\n

Personally, I love both Jesus and the church. When I sometimes seem critical of church, it is only because I am trying to clean away some of the grime and dust that keep people from seeing a clear representation of Jesus Christ. This is not just in my writing, but in my practice as well.<\/p>\n

What are you doing to help people see Jesus more clearly?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In our culture, some people like Jesus and some people don’t. 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