Wednesday, December 16, 2015
“To what can I compare the people of this generation?”
Jesus asked. “How can I describe
them? They are like children playing a
game in the public square. They complain
to their friends,
‘We played wedding songs, and
you didn’t dance,
so we played funeral songs, and you didn’t weep.’
For John the Baptist didn’t spend his time eating
bread or drinking wine, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and
drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors
and other sinners!’ But wisdom is shown
to be right by the lives of those who follow it.” Luke 7:31-35 (NLT)
People
complained about Jesus, the radical.
Jesus returned the sentiment; he said the people of his generation were
like children who complained they couldn’t get him to play nice. And then he pointed to his cousin, John the
Baptist. John lived the esthetic, austere
lifestyle of a monk in the wilderness, preaching and baptizing – so the
religious leaders suspected he was possessed.
Jesus spent time with people at their houses and parties, and the
religious leaders accused him of overindulgence and having bad friends.
You
just can’t please some people.
The
real fact of why they complained had nothing at all to do with parties or not
partying; the real reason was because Jesus made them nervous. Holiness makes people uncomfortably aware of
their own shortcomings; and they don’t like it at all!
I
read a news story[2]
years ago about Billy Graham playing golf with a couple of PGA
professionals. After the round a
reporter asked one of the pros how it was to pay golf with Dr. Billy Graham, “America’s
Pastor”. His reply was that it was OK,
except he didn’t like having religion shoved down his throat. One of the other pros privately told the
reporter that Mr. Graham had not even mentioned God a single time the whole
day.
A
guilty conscience will always react the same way when in the presence of somebody
who models Godly living – with anger and vengeance. Jesus, the original “radical” lover of men’s
souls caused that kind of reaction.
John
the Baptist wanted nothing to do with the gluttonous, drunken culture. Jesus wanted to be in the center of that
culture to bring healing for their downward spiral of life choices.
Both
Jesus and John were motivated by holy love, a radical, God-kind of love that genuinely
cares for their fellow humans…and both were killed for it!
To
those who would follow Jesus, the idea that you will always be liked and
admired, is an idea that you would do well to shed and leave behind. A holy and radical God-kind of love will more
often be rejected just because you’ve always got Adam and Eve in the
equation…mankind’s fallen nature runs, hides, and grabs the nearest fig leaf to
conceal true motives.
But
if you follow Jesus…you love them anyway!
For You Today
What’s
your motivation for what you do for others?
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