by Jeff Bethke
The concept of this video started to formulate a few months ago. I was really struck by just how many passages Jesus makes taking care of the sick, poor, and orphan an ultimate sign of whether we are a christian or not.
Personally, I'd read those passages and tremble. I know I'm saved by grace through faith but I started to realize that if that grace has really touched my life I'm going to look different. I also realized how concerned I am with people thinking I'm a Christian rather than just living a messy gospel filled life for Jesus. Even God Himself was accused of being a drunkard and a glutton. Isn't that weird?
He didn't argue, He didn't say, "no I'm not!" He didn't say, "well if people want to think I'm a good Christian I better not be able to be accused of this." Now we know He wasn't but He was still accused of being those things because He was on the front lines in the areas the religious people wouldn't go. He would associate with the prostitutes, the drunks, the homeless, the poor, the downtrodden.
So my question to all the WM readers is this: is that us? Are we willing to associate ourselves with the ones who are messy? Because the great promise of the Gospel is that Jesus was willing to associate with us, even when we were messy.
Can you relate to what Jeff's talking about? How so?
P.S. If you like Jeff's video and want to see more of his awesome work, you can check out the rest of his videos here. We love the way he's using his God-given strengths to share the powerful truth about Christ, don't you?
Some of these videos are really good, would be better if they presented a balanced viewpoint or named it something related (calling it 'the unforgivable sin' may get views but causes confusion to the viewer since Jesus only referred to one truly unforgivable sin - blasphemy of HS). I like other YouTube channels that present a more cover-the-whole-topic approach that doesn't cause regret in their future (crossallegiance and truthortradition are both excellent, why not cover those?)
ReplyDeleteThe message in this video really reiterated thoughts that have crossed my mind over this past year. I identify as someone surrounded and raised by christians that take concern over "rules" and legalistic opinions, yet do not experience the empathy or hold the desire to help the homeless and show God's love towards those that Jesus loved but society or even christians do not. So glad I watched this, its great to hear and learn that there is a significance to the feelings that the Holy Spirit has brought upon me this past year. : )
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