What Made Jesus Mad?Sample

During the days of what we would now call “classic” rock in the late seventies and early eighties, a movement arouse within Christian circles warning of the dangers of rock music. This rock music battle that took place during my youth was a big deal in Christian culture. There were people traveling the country urging us to burn our devil music. It promoted a polarity between modern culture and the church. It felt like the church wanted me to choose between my Christian friends and my secular friends. 

My light is irrelevant if non-Christians can’t see it, and don’t know about it. Worse yet, they won’t want anything to do with it if it comes with a judgmental attitude. 

In Bible college I joined a group of people and picketed a rock concert one night. I’m not proud of what I did. I just remember holding signs and yelling at the people in line. Some kind of judgmental stuff like, ‘Jesus loves you, but it’s hard to hear that from my tone of voice right now, because I’m yelling at you!” I don’t know. I just remember thinking, This is not helping, and I’m never doing this again. 

This is the polarity of which I speak. The “run and hide” mentality that removes us from the very people we’re here to engage, accompanied by the attitude of superiority and disgust. If Christians merely have “light” parties all the time with their “light music” and their already lit friends (that probably doesn’t sound like I want it to, but you know what I mean), we’ve failed to be disciples of Jesus, reaching out to people like he did. 

How is God challenging you today to deal with the “polarity” between the church and those who need to hear about the love of Jesus? How is God inviting you to let your light shine brighter and brighter in the midst of that polarity?