Learning to Lovewell: W5 - FRI
The Jesus Way
Luke 15:1-2, NLT 1 Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!
Jesus includes those that society and religion often excluded, he saw the people we have often forgotten about, and he is always moved to compassion so much that he came down to this earth to save us all.
And all the issues we’ve mentioned this week, issues related to social justice, related to the poor, powerless, oppressed, abandoned and vulnerable among us, they are all important, but may we always remember that at Crosswalk, we fly one flag, and that flag is Jesus. Whatever causes we go after, whatever groups we advocate for, wherever the gospel takes us may we make sure that it is Jesus we are following, and not the causes themselves.
You’ve heard me say many times, the devil doesn’t care what we’re focused on as long as it’s not Jesus. We can advocate so much for an oppressed group, that we begin to oppress and treat their oppressors badly. But is that the way of Jesus? We can be so focused on a cause that we can do a lot of things for Jesus, but none of them with Jesus, which can also be dangerous.
When I was a university chaplain, I can remember sitting in a meeting with a group of student leaders who were in charge of one of the student churches that took place on campus every week. During the meeting, the question was asked, “What are we going to do this week that is really cutting edge?”
I quickly piped up because I strongly felt that they were asking the wrong question, even though it came from a good place. I said, “Isn’t it better to ask, ‘Where is Jesus leading us this weekend?’ Cause if he leads you to do something cutting edge, awesome, but if not, I guarantee you that you’ll feel better following him, than the whims of trying to be cutting edge or received well by your peers.”
Wherever we go, and whoever we advocate for, may we continue to do our best to make sure we’re following Jesus, instead of running ahead of him and hope he comes after us. I promise you, he will lead us into places that will challenge us and make us uncomfortable, but they will also change our lives.
Luke 15:1-2, NLT 1 Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!
Jesus includes those that society and religion often excluded, he saw the people we have often forgotten about, and he is always moved to compassion so much that he came down to this earth to save us all.
And all the issues we’ve mentioned this week, issues related to social justice, related to the poor, powerless, oppressed, abandoned and vulnerable among us, they are all important, but may we always remember that at Crosswalk, we fly one flag, and that flag is Jesus. Whatever causes we go after, whatever groups we advocate for, wherever the gospel takes us may we make sure that it is Jesus we are following, and not the causes themselves.
You’ve heard me say many times, the devil doesn’t care what we’re focused on as long as it’s not Jesus. We can advocate so much for an oppressed group, that we begin to oppress and treat their oppressors badly. But is that the way of Jesus? We can be so focused on a cause that we can do a lot of things for Jesus, but none of them with Jesus, which can also be dangerous.
When I was a university chaplain, I can remember sitting in a meeting with a group of student leaders who were in charge of one of the student churches that took place on campus every week. During the meeting, the question was asked, “What are we going to do this week that is really cutting edge?”
I quickly piped up because I strongly felt that they were asking the wrong question, even though it came from a good place. I said, “Isn’t it better to ask, ‘Where is Jesus leading us this weekend?’ Cause if he leads you to do something cutting edge, awesome, but if not, I guarantee you that you’ll feel better following him, than the whims of trying to be cutting edge or received well by your peers.”
Wherever we go, and whoever we advocate for, may we continue to do our best to make sure we’re following Jesus, instead of running ahead of him and hope he comes after us. I promise you, he will lead us into places that will challenge us and make us uncomfortable, but they will also change our lives.
- Have you ever found yourself in a season of doing a lot of things for Jesus, but not with Jesus? What was happening and did that ever change? If so, how?
- What are some practical ways we keep Jesus at the center as our one and only flag, following wherever he leads?
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