Christianity began when Jesus started his public ministry. The first guy to ever start tailing him and doing what he did like a kid brother or something was the first Christian. They probably started following him around because he made some conversation with them. They probably were looking over their shoulder to see if he was talking to someone else. They probably did this because they were the scum of the earth. They were probably only ever talked about. And I mean in derision and disgust. Jesus probably said something complimentary and *gasp* shook his hand. He probably asked him why he was wasting his time on such sinful hobbies and told him to come hang out with him instead. Now there was a heart alive. You have no idea how happy that made that fellow. For him to have a friend. Now Jesus' following grew, I imagine, in much this same way and these guys started turning into some decent chaps, lowly though they were. On the other hand all the big, fancy-dressed, scholarly joes of Israel have got their robes in a tangle. The idea that Jesus is running around wising everybody up and breaking bread with sinners just eats them through their ephods.
Nearly 2,000 years later...
Nearly 2,000 years later...
The modern Christian is a little different. He is fashionable to a tee. Well read and educated. He walks around being kind to people, because well, they need him. They won't be caught dead sinning (in public) and Jesus is there answer to everything. Really, politics, social opinions. You name it. Our sinners of the day have changed too. They have their own union. Christianity repulses them, but not half so much as Christians.
What changed? Did Christians ride on grace to a loftier castle? Listen to author Philip Yancey's take on the evolution in his book The Jesus I Never Knew:
It's a question. Sinners liked being around Jesus. Sinner's don't like being around us. Could it be that we have become very much unlike Christ? Could it be that Christian has become nothing but a whopping misnomer?
We need to adjust.
What changed? Did Christians ride on grace to a loftier castle? Listen to author Philip Yancey's take on the evolution in his book The Jesus I Never Knew:
The more unsavory the characters, the more at ease they seemed to feel around Jesus. People like these found Jesus appealing: a Samaritan social outcast, a military officer of the tyrant Herod, a quisling tax collector, a recent hostess to seven demons.
In contrast, Jesus got a chilly response from more respectable types. Pious Pharisees thought him uncouth and worldly, a rich young ruler walked away shaking his head, and even the open-minded Nicodemus sought a meeting under the cover of darkness.
I remarked...how strange this pattern seemed, since the Christian church now attracts respectable types who closely resemble the people most suspicious of Jesus on earth. What has happened to reverse the pattern of Jesus' day? Why don't sinners like being around us?
In contrast, Jesus got a chilly response from more respectable types. Pious Pharisees thought him uncouth and worldly, a rich young ruler walked away shaking his head, and even the open-minded Nicodemus sought a meeting under the cover of darkness.
I remarked...how strange this pattern seemed, since the Christian church now attracts respectable types who closely resemble the people most suspicious of Jesus on earth. What has happened to reverse the pattern of Jesus' day? Why don't sinners like being around us?
It's a question. Sinners liked being around Jesus. Sinner's don't like being around us. Could it be that we have become very much unlike Christ? Could it be that Christian has become nothing but a whopping misnomer?
We need to adjust.
