I was listening to a musician's comment today about the bumper sticker, "What Would Jesus Do?" He said, "I don't know. I haven't seen him in awhile... but what would Love do?..."
Ouch! That really hurt my heart. It hurt because I know from personal experience that Love and Jesus...well, they are one in the same.
Jesus = Love.
But why does he believe differently? Why does that musician credit the capacity for being compassionate and genuine and unselfish with a moment of inspiration or a choice drawn from oneself as the source of this goodness? Why is Jesus eliminated from his equation?
I'll tell you why. Because Jesus has been given a "bad rap". He's been misrepresented.
I looked up the word represent and this is what it said:
rep·re·sent/ˌrepriˈzent/Verb
1. Be entitled or appointed to act or speak for (someone), esp. in an official capacity.
Yeah. So if I were Jesus...
I would not have chosen "people" to represent me because they get me wrong more than they get me right. But since I'm NOT Jesus - or God... I don't get to choose. :0)
I would not have chosen "people" to represent me because they get me wrong more than they get me right. But since I'm NOT Jesus - or God... I don't get to choose. :0)
On a daily basis so many religious people who "practice Christ's teachings" misrepresent the heart of who he really is...Love. Out of a sense of duty - whether by teachings that were passed down to them but never really understood or simply because it's easier to follow a set of heartless rules than to actually be vulnerable and have a relationship with a God you can't see with physical eyes - whatever the case, they re-present God to those around them and those around them reject this proselytizing for what it is... regurgitated rules inauthentic to the experience of those presenting them.
I asked Jesus why...
he doesn't stop them. Why does he allow such injustice? Why does he let people misrepresent him on a daily basis only to alienate the very world he came to love...and to save?
There's a world out there - a world of precious individuals - Wanting, no DESPERATE for something genuine and it's NOT the God who pats you on the back for memorizing his book or regurgitating his sayings. This world of people is looking for something genuine. They are watching for something real. They're not sure what it is, but they'll KNOW it when they really see it.
Who will show this world of invaluable people what is really real?
Then I ask myself... why, in my own daily life experience do I sometimes find it easier to exclude Jesus or reject inquiring for his input (aka, correction and love)? Why is it sometimes easier to just follow the program? And where did I receive this "programming" in the first place? Is it time to reevaluate the love that I'm experiencing with Jesus? Am I still fighting this old programming because it's easier to follow yesterday’s rules then to make myself vulnerable to him each day to create new habits - Letting him "in" to my messy life?
Yeah. Probably.
So...if I'm going to be one of the imperfect people to represent a perfect God...
& I truly believe that the capacity to really love has to come from outside of myself...
& that allowing Jesus "in" every day is a deliberate choice...
& that I CAN misrepresent Jesus without even realizing it when I don't take the time each day to clear out the cobwebs of the day before (like the attitude I got when that Subaru was going too slow in the fast lane or when the woman with the full grocery cart cut me off in the line at Costco) (b/c I believe that yucky behavior is the sum of days of yucky experiences not healed by God)...
& that Jesus IS Love - he doesn't just act loving - He is the very definition of Love...
I - and the world I live in - can only benefit when I live and respond - like Love lives IN me.
PS - To Micah, my first-born and amazing son, HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! I can’t wait to see what else God gives to you! I love you – Mom.
