![\"Jeremy](\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Jeremy-Myers-300x412.jpg\")
I have long hair.<\/p>\nI have long hair.<\/p>\n
Recently a Christian man came up to me and said, \u201cDon\u2019t you know that it is an abomination to God for a man to have long hair?\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2019s words don\u2019t 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\u00a0dishonored. I also could have brought up the fact that in most artistic renderings of Jesus<\/a>, He had long hair, but nobody thinks that it was an “abomination” for Him.<\/p>\n
He stared at me for a second, then shouted \u201cBlasphemer!\u201d and stalked away.<\/p>\n
.. My poor attempt at a joke got me thinking.<\/p>\n
Looking like Jesus doesn\u2019t mean that we shout his name at people through a bullhorn. <\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
![\"elect](\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/elect-Jesus.jpg\")
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\u2014or more precisely, who we stand up for.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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,<\/strong> with His values, His goals, and His approach to God and people.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
While Jesus may not have said anything about \u00a0the 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.<\/p>\n
Toward that end, I am starting a new blog series called “Looks Like Jesus<\/a>” 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.<\/p>\n
(And no, I am not giving up on my current series on Calvinism<\/a>. 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\u00a0on your social sites and by leaving blog comments.)<\/p>\n
Leave your ideas in the comments below. Thanks!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Christians are to look like Jesus. But what does this mean?<\/p>\n
Does it mean having long hair and wearing white robes? Of course not!<\/p>\n
![\"looks](\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Bible_Jesus-P-570x295.jpeg\")
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