What Do People Think Of Your Jesus?

If you were to ask the typical person what they thought about those who follow Jesus today, what do you think would come to their minds?

1) Tel-a-vangelists – Hypocrites

2) Soap Box preachers, screaming the end is near – Lunatics

3) Those who've chosen to live in isolated communities – Reject this world

4) Ned Flanders – Homer Simpson’s condescending neighbor

These images and a thousand others have lead people all around the world to a rather distorted picture of what God is like. It’s not that God is a hypocrite, a lunatic, a separatist, or is condescending it’s just that those people who represent Him often are.

With that in mind I’d like to share what I think may be one of the greatest and at the same time saddest facts about being a disciple of Jesus:

“What people see in us becomes their understanding of who Jesus is!”

It’s great because God has trusted His followers enough to give them the awesome responsibility of being His representatives to this world. It’s scary because more often than not we don’t do a very good job of representing Him. The only way anyone can truly represent Jesus to this world is if they are willing to leave all those things that seem so important behind and allow Him to reshape us into his image so that we can truly represent Him

2 Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is. Rom 12:2 (NLT)

Most of the time when we hear that we have to leave everything behind we think of things like money, possessions, and stuff. But I think it’s a whole lot more than stuff: We have to be willing to leave behind our security, our self image, our reputation, our sense of purpose, and even our wills and be willing to allow Jesus to reshape us into His image. It is then and only then that we can truly become a follower of Jesus… You see there is a war going on and you and I are the objectives. Both sides (Jesus / satan) desire to shape us into their image, there is no middle ground people are either on one side or the other, and the only real choice any of us really have is who are we going to follow.

18 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers-- Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew-- fishing with a net, for they were commercial fishermen. 19 Jesus called out to them, "Come, be my disciples, and I will show you how to fish for people!" 20 And they left their nets at once and went with him. 8 21 A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, mending their nets. And he called them to come, too. 22 They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind. Matt 4:18-22 (NLT)

Jesus early followers left everything to follow Him, to learn from Him, and try to imitate Him. Not only did this surrender change them, but in turn it changed their world. The question I'd like to leave you with today; is when people examine your life what will they think of the Jesus you are showing them?

Pressing On:

Dale