I Am When You Are

How far are you willing to press your mind into the experiences of other people to see how they see Jesus in them? Particularly those who are outcast, oppressed, and downtrodden in the world for whatever reason? We know that Jesus came to seek and save the lost. We know that Jesus spent his time with sinners. We know that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We know that, and we proclaim that for ourselves, but when it comes to proclaiming that for others, we often fall short.

We talked on Sunday about this idea that I am when you are. I am at my best when I am working for your best. We find abundant life in a life lived for Christ and for others. Yet in our culture it can be so difficult to escape ourselves, so when we hear that God loves all people, what we really hear is that God loves us and only those like us. But what are the implications of the fact that Jesus came to set the captives free? What are the implications of the fact that Jesus came to liberate the oppressed, whether it be social, economic, political, or spiritual? And what are we doing, what are the more than two billion Christians in this world doing for the cause of the oppressed and the hated?

James Cone, an African American professor at a Seminary in New York talks about a black theology which states that Jesus is black. Jesus is black in the sense that he identifies with the oppressed blacks in America in order to liberate them. The question I pose is, how far can we take this?

Can we understand that Jesus identifies with the suffering of those who are homeless and say, "Jesus is homeless"? Can we understand that Jesus identifies with the suffering of those who have aids and say, "Jesus has aids"? How far can we take this. Can we say that Jesus identifies with those who are hated and killed and outcast in society? And if so, can we say, "Jesus is gay"?

HEAR ME CLEARLY...obviously I am not speaking literally here. I do not believe that Jesus is gay. But if the Bible says that God so loved the world, then tell me who in the world God does not love. I believe that we can take a biblical stance against certain issues, but that should not change the way we love people and allow them to explore what it means to follow Jesus, as we do with every single person who enters into the doors of our churches each weekend who wrestle with all kinds of issues and sins, be it sexual or racial or whatever.

If we base love and acceptance on whether people are sinners or not, then we can't love or accept anybody, because everybody is a sinner. But if we see people as precious humans created in the image of God, we can love them without necessarily approving of what they do, whether it's drug addiction, pornography, alcoholism or anything else. And in that love, we can welcome them in to have an encounter with Jesus, and allow the Holy Spirit to do whatever work needs to be done in people's lives.

Jesus gave us the task of carrying on his ministry on earth. We find our best life when we are working for others to find their best life in Christ. I am when you are. We are when they are. I pray that we would be a community that is concerned with the hatred that exists in the world, whether it is due to factors that people can control or not. Social or economic issues, sin issues, race issues, whatever it may be, we have the responsibility to love people and lead people to Jesus Christ, who is the one with the power and authority to change people's lives for eternity.

God bless you all! It was a blessing to worship with you this weekend.

See you next week at the Gathering!

-Tim