Something’s always bothered me about Jesus and the Gospel.
Well, not the REAL Jesus and not the REAL Gospel. It’s the Jesus and the Gospel
you find in the modern church, in the media, in movies and paintings and little
statues and songs. It’s the long haired hippy looking metrosexual Jesus wearing
a perfectly pressed white robe cuddling a lamb in one arm, flashing a peace
sign with his other hand while spouting comforting, politically correct
platitudes with just the hint of an aristocratic British accent. It’s a gutless
Gospel failing to confront and offering only comfort – an “I’m okay, you’re
okay” self-help, self-aggrandizing, selfish Gospel more about me than HIM. It’s
Dr. Phil and a comfy couch with a lot of positive affirmation psycho-babble
instead of a tough as nails Savior getting nailed on a cross and bleeding out in
brutal agony to atone for sins I committed. It’s a “Bobby McFerrin” Jesus
skipping along singing “Don’t worry, be happy” instead of a fiery eyed
iconoclast shouting, “You snakes! You brood of vipers!” at the religious
leaders of his day.
In all of this we have lost a key element of the narrative –
Jesus. Had. GUTS.
He was a man. Not just any man, but the God-man. Fully God.
Fully man. Crazy right? He left the pain free, tear free, glorious, magnificent
perfection of heaven to step foot into the painful, tear stained, horrific,
grimy, fallen world we call home. Why? “No pain, no gain.” He chose to suffer
in my place, in your place, for my sin and your sin so that we might gain
salvation, mercy, grace, eternal life and one day experience the glory of his
home. You know what that takes? GUTS!
Think about it. When he took the journey from heaven to
earth he knew his destination was the cross. He knew he would experience the
most incredibly sadistic form of execution ever devised by man. It was so
devastating and painful that the etymology of the word “excruciating” traces
its origins back to the Latin word the Romans coined to describe its
overwhelming intensity. He volunteered for it! He manned up and said, “I’ll
take the cross. I’ll take the nails. I’ll suffer incredible agony willingly.”
And get this, why did he do it? Well that’s the most manly, gutsy, macho reason
of all. Because he loves ME. Because he loves YOU. It takes a REAL man to show
REAL love.
We get it wrong all the time. We think “real men” don’t go
around talking about love and forgiveness and other “sissy” stuff. It takes a
real man to look somebody in the eye and say, “I love you.” It takes a real man
to fix an unblinking stare on his most vile enemy and say, “I love you. I
forgive you.” You know what that is? Guts. It’s a Savior and Messiah and King
with guts preaching a Gospel full of guts to a bunch of gutless people blinded
to the truth by their own self-righteousness. That’s why the Gutless Gospel
offends me so much – it is the absolute antithesis of what Jesus taught and
preached.
I want to take a journey with you through the pages of
Scripture and look at some of the gutsiest things the Lord Jesus Christ ever
did. I want to shred the pages of the Gutless Gospel and burn them until only
ashes remain. I want to explore the true Gospel of the gutsy Jesus and find
hope, inspiration and courage from its timeless narrative. Will you join me?
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