Yancey’s Three Questions
Yet behind the three questions stands a person who claims to have the explanation and the answer to these questions.
Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture
Yet behind the three questions stands a person who claims to have the explanation and the answer to these questions.
Jesus was not afraid to be seen with people of bad reputation. He was not afraid to get a little messy to bring home those he came to save. The only person that Jesus sought to please was his Heavenly Father.
This morning I read the story in Mark 11 of Jesus cleansing the Temple. He was angry with those who were using worship at the Temple for their own gain. Since most of us haven’t been guilty of selling birds or running a currency exchange in the back of the church, we are afforded the opportunity to smugly look down on those rascals that Jesus tossed out.
In the internet age there is so much information flying around that a news source has to be extremely sensational to get any attention. The easiest stories to sensationalize are negative ones, ones that show mankind at its worst. Wars, shootings, traffic fatalities, child neglect and abuse, government failure and general stupidity are regularly featured.
Perhaps my reader cannot relate to this, but I often feel that I am foolish and slow of heart to believe. In fact, I know that I am. Like those travelers to Emmaus, I can feel that God’s plan has been derailed and I can often think that I am the villain that derailed it. It is sometimes difficult to look past my failures to see God.
I haven’t seen one in a while, but bracelets with the letters WWJD had some popularity at one time. The acronym stands for “what would Jesus do?” and was a reminder to follow Jesus in responding to a particular situation or question. I think that this is a worthy question to ask in any situation.
My problem is not with the theory behind the question, it is with the implementation. The problem lies in really understanding what Jesus would do.
“Jesus knew that He would die. But He was in perfect command of the situation. He knew that the death He was dying was the worst that the forces of evil could do to Him, and He knew that He would rise triumphant. He said that He would rise, and He made His words good. … Read more
While growing up in the church, I did not grasp the radical nature of Jesus as he encountered the world in which he lived. Jesus defies all of our categories and calls us to something new.