MYTH #20-JESUS TAKES A STAND AGAINST SINNERS

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This can be a subtle, deceptive myth. It's popular within much of Christianity to "take a stand" against sin and sinners. Therefore Christianity is known for its stands-political stands, values stands, stands against homosexuality, against same-sex marriage, against abortion and on and on and on.

There are three damages here: FIRST-When your emphasis is to "take a stand against" something or someone, you become known for your gloom and doom attitude and turn off those who are looking on.

SECOND-Even though you may have great intentions to fight against corruption, you will find yourself standing against the same people you want to share the good news with. It's very difficult to have it both ways, as we've discussed in an earlier myth.

THIRD-The greatest damage is that by following this myth, you will most certainly miss the example of Jesus and His Good News message.

To debunk this myth I want to share a few observations. FIRST-Jesus didn't take a stand against sinners. There were two kinds of people in the days of Jesus-the religious and the sinners. Jesus didn't seem to have any difficulty with the sinners at all, but His constant struggles and battles were against the religious.

SECOND-Jesus didn't take a stand against sinners; He stood side by side with them.

THIRD-Jesus didn't take a stand against sinners; He even sought them out to hang out with them.

Let's check out a few illustrations of Jesus standing side by side and even hanging out with sinners. When Matthew, a tax-collector, was called by Jesus, there is an interesting scene at dinner in Mark 2: Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?" On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

In Matthew 11:19 it is recorded: The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.' That's how He was identified with respect to sinners-as their friend.

In Luke 7 Jesus has another interesting encounter with sinners: When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is-that she is a sinner." Jesus allowing sinners to be near Him and touch Him really stirred up the religious leaders.

Then in Luke 15: Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." And again Luke records in chapter 19: All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a sinner."

Jesus didn't stand against sinners, so why should we? Jesus identified with them, loved them and sought them out, so why don't we? Jesus went to the sinners instead of inviting them to come to an event He was leading. This is precisely where I believe we have gone wrong for so many years. We seem to think the most effective way to reach out to people in need of God is to invite them to come to us rather than going to them. By the way, the early Jesus movement did not grow through promoting large events and building large facilities, inviting the world to come and join them. The spontaneous expansion of the church of Jesus spread by contagious followers of Jesus touching other individuals and families with the Good News of the love of Jesus.

One more thing is important here. The modern day Jesus movement is spreading spontaneously and massively throughout the world by taking Jesus into the marketplace. The Jesus movement is all about standing with the sinners-the non-religious-hanging out with them in their world. It's not about standing against the sinners and pointing them out, but about standing with them and pointing them to Jesus.

MYTH #19-'JESUS PLUS NOTHING' IS SIMPLER AND EASIER TO LIVE

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My favorite verse that Paul penned is in the second letter he wrote to the followers of Jesus in the city of Corinth. He said, "I am afraid as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, that your minds might be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to the Christ."

Over the last 6 years we have come to understand what it means to embrace the message of "Jesus plus nothing". To embrace this is to embark on a diligent process of removing the man-made add-ons that have been attached to Jesus. When you start out in this process, it is easy to get caught up in the simplicity and purity of devotion to Jesus. At first, it's easy to drop off many of these add-ons. I mean, many of them are so obviously in the way and a distraction from Jesus.

Here's where the myth emerges. I hear it more often than I'd like. I hear people say: "I've never found anything so easy in all my life. It's easy to follow Jesus." This is it! If you feel this way, then I'm not sure you quite "get it" yet. On a certain level, this might be understandable in that you don't have to stuff your mind and life with all of the legalistic add-on stuff. But there is a myth here just the same.

I am returning to the decision I made when Jesus apprehended my life in a fresh way a few years ago. I said then and mean it more today: "I'm trying to do the most difficult thing I've ever done in my life-to follow the teachings and principles of Jesus."

"Jesus plus nothing" is simple and easy to understand, however living this kind of lifestyle is not so simple and easy. This is clearly seen in a few of the interactions with Jesus. It's much easier to just operate your life with a checklist, and then check them off as you do them. "Jesus plus nothing" is not a system of do's and don'ts-a system of beliefs or a checklist. It's a relationship-a day-in-day-out relationship with Jesus.

One of these interactions with Jesus is found in the Gospel of John (John 6): Jesus answered, "Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."

Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

So they asked him, "What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"

Jesus said to them, "Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." "Sir," they said, "always give us this bread." Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which people may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"

From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God."

Here you have a very difficult time among the many disciples. When Jesus made Himself out to be the bread of life-the new manna in town, He invited them into a personal, intimate relationship with Him. It's like eating of the bread-taking me into your lives in such a way that you ingest me. Because of this difficult challenge by Jesus to come into a dynamic relationship with Him and learn to trust Him, many left Him.

Where did they go? I think they went back to the simple and easy life of going to Synagogue each week and dropped out of the Jesus movement. It was just too difficult to struggle through cultivating a relationship with Jesus.

It's the same today. The "Jesus plus nothing" lifestyle is not simpler and easier. If you believe that, you are mything out! I am committed to being a stubborn follower of Jesus and this is the most difficult thing I've ever tried to do in my life. The internal struggles are tough, but so worth it. How do you do the works of God? Get caught up into obeying, waiting and trusting Jesus for everything, then you'll have the satisfaction of doing the work of God.