Dear Friend,
There is something about me that you should know: I desperately want people to like me. Unhealthily so. This is probably because it is rare for me to run into someone who I don't honestly love. Almost everyone I meet feels almost instantly like an old friend. And for some reason, I also forgive and forget easily - so I can't ever stay mad at anyone. It is just the way I am wired.
Now that would be all fine and good. Except... since asking Jesus if I could become his follower (he always says yes), I find myself wanting to know him authentically coupled with a great desire to teach others about him.
One might think wanting to be liked and wanting to teach others about Jesus would go hand in hand, but it sometimes make people really mad when you repeat Jesus' teachings. And even madder when you tell them to live them out. His teaching are hard and difficult and often insulting.
So I have found that those two characteristics - wanting people to like me and teaching people about the real Jesus - can be crazy making. Jesus is love - but not the mushy kind. Its tougher love than one might imagine. So when I sit down to write my blog every morning and read the next scripture for the day, if it is one of those scriptures when Jesus has been harsh, I find myself spending a lot of time trying to find an angle to soften Jesus. Not because I want to protect Jesus, but because I want to protect me! Not good!
And if you've followed this blog, "Ignoring Jesus" which asked the question every day: "How are we ignoring Jesus' teachings?" You can imagine how hard it was for me to take that angle each day. It was so negative pointing out how most of us aren't cutting it. The angle had bothered me for a long time, so I finally decided to put this old blog to bed and to flip the question upside down and ask "How can we embrace Jesus and his teachings?"
So here goes... please join me on my new blog site Embracing Jesus. And walk with me through Jesus' life chronologically looking at what he taught and who he was. Let me be the cheerleader who inspires you to embrace Jesus' teachings. Jesus' teachings will still be hard and insulting at times, but this new blog will encourage us to fall at Jesus' feet and embrace him!
April
1 comment:
April,
Your post is interesting because I could not detect any attempt to temper the words or commands of Jesus to make them more palatable for the reader, nor does it seem necessary. You were successful in your attempts to remonstrate in a nice way, yet leave no doubt in the readers' minds what your message was. It is that directness which has kept me reading, and which makes me think. It's been a long time since I have heard someone talk about what Jesus expects of his followers and whether his followers actually pay attention to those things.
I will be reading your new blog. :)
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