Who Do We Really Follow?

Many of us call ourselves Christians, Christ-Followers, disciples and/or followers of Jesus, but what does that really mean and what does it look like? Does it just mean we “go to church” every Sunday, try to watch our language around others, and oppose things like abortion and gay marriage? Being a Christ-Follower should mean that we strive to emulate Jesus' character and adhere to His teachings and practices, but how well do we really do this? If we read through the gospels, can we say that our behavior and our attitudes truly reflect Jesus, or do we more accurately reflect those who openly opposed him?

A recent Newsweek article cited a 2012 Barna study stating that many “evangelicals accepted the attitudes and beliefs of the Pharisees –religious leaders depicted throughout the New Testament as opposing Christ and his message – more than they accepted the teachings of Jesus.” The writer of the article says the Bible “has been abused by people who claim to revere it but don’t read it, in the process creating misery for others.” In his book, The Jesus I Never Knew, Philip Yancy asks, “How did Jesus, the only perfect person in history, manage to attract the notoriously imperfect? And what keeps us from following in his steps today?” (pg. 148). I think it’s worth a look to determine whom it is that we look more like and whom we are actually following.

Jesus Himself said the Pharisees were extremely righteous (Matt 5:20), but He also warned His followers not to imitate them and their practices (Matt 23:3). The  Pharisees:

•      …did not practice what they taught (Matt 23:3).

•      …were very focused on external works, and criticized others who did not do things the same way they did  (Matt 9:14; Acts 15:5).

•      …held tightly to their traditions, even elevating them above the commands of God (Matt 15:1-3).

•      …were highly offended rather than repentant when Jesus told them the contents of their hearts made them unclean (Matt 15:12; 21:45).

•      …were critical of true followers of Jesus, and they fought and argued with other factions and sects (Matt 12:2; Acts 23:7).

•      …asked Jesus questions, not for information or to better themselves, but to test Him and try to trip Him up (Matt 22:41-45).

•      …did not acknowledge that God’s way was right, and they rejected God’s purpose for themselves (Luke 7:29-30).

•      …were considered by Jesus to be a dangerous influence to be avoided (Matt 16:6, 11-12).

•      …criticized Jesus for reaching out to and associating with “tax collectors and sinners” (Luke 5:30).

•      …pray only to be seen and heard by others (Matt 6:5).

This is a very frightening list. How often to we exhibit these attitudes and actions rather than those of Jesus? It is so much easier to follow the Pharisees than it is to “deny [ourselves] and take up [our] cross daily and follow [Jesus]” (Luke 9:23 NIV). To follow Jesus, we should ask ourselves: Do we have compassion on people? Are we willing to associate with the undesirables of society and known sinners? Are we willing to love others and elevate the opportunity to serve and to do good above our rules and traditions? Are we willing forgive rather than condemn and point others to Jesus and help them to follow Him?

May we all do a better job of following Jesus’ attitudes of love, compassion, and forgiveness rather than the Pharisees’ attitudes of condescension, condemnation, and criticism.

Out of the Slimy Pit

Have you ever had a word picture in Scripture just jump off the page at you and communicate more than it ever has before? I love it when that happens, and I love seeing pictures of Jesus in the Old Testament. I was reading a beautiful, familiar passage in the book of Micah about God’s loving and forgiving nature:

“Where is another God like you, who pardons the guilt of the remnant, overlooking the sins of his special people? You will not stay angry with your people forever, because you delight in showing unfailing love. Once again You will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!” (Micah 7:18-19 NLT). 

I have heard lessons and songs (like Audio Adrenaline’s “Ocean Floor”) that focus on God throwing our sins into the depths of the ocean, but I have not thought much about the previous phrase until this morning. It says God will “trample our sins under [His] feet.” Think about that picture --- of something being trampled underfoot. It has been stomped on, run over, covered with dirt, footprints, garbage, and slime; it is ripped, wadded, torn, and crushed; it is completely worthless, only good for the trash bin, which is where our sin belongs. This is how God treats our sin.

But this is also how God treated Jesus when He was on the cross. Paul writes that “God made him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us…” (2Cor 5:21 NIV). If God tramples our sin underfoot and Jesus became our sin, then Jesus was trampled underfoot for us. This brings new light and appreciation to me for the line in Lenny LeBlanc and Paul Baloche’s song “Above All” that describes Jesus as being treated “like a rose trampled on the ground.” Jesus --God in flesh, the name above all names, the One who lived a perfect life, completely sinless and blameless ---was trampled on the ground because He became sin for us.

In the Psalms, David wrote that God “lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him” (Ps 40:2-3 NIV). We are the ones who should have been in the trash heap because of our sin. We were in the slimy pit, the mud, and the mire that David describes. We should have been trampled, mistreated, torn, and crushed, but instead, God lifted us out of that mess and Jesus received that treatment instead of us.

God trampled our sins under His feet. That’s a fairly easy picture to grasp. That Jesus was trampled as our sin –not so easy to grasp. He loves us that much and sees such great value in us –not because of anything we’ve done, but just because He made us and we belong to Him. Know today that Jesus loves you so much that He was willing to become trampled like garbage in the street, like a rose thrown on the ground so that you could be lifted out of the slimy pit. We need to help each other stay out of that slimy pit because of what it cost to get us out of it. And like David, let us keep a hymn of praise to God on our lips for all He has done for us, and may many others come to trust Him when they hear our stories of being delivered from that slimy pit!