Reflecting on Mark 7:31-37“But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it.” (Mark 7:36)
As a Jesus follower, I cannot stop thinking and speaking about Jesus.
I am compelled by Jesus, and enjoy talking to others about Him.
I try not to be annoying or pushy, but to me He is so relevant.
For years now I have been reflecting on the life and teaching of Jesus.
And the more I read His stories, the more I keep discovering.
One reason is that reading His stories challenges me, in a good way.
He stands out to me as one that lives and loves well.
I admire His compassion and commitment to the least, the lost and the unloved.
His humility and grace resonate deeply with me too.
I know I am not like that, but it is how I want to be.
Jesus and the Jesus Way seem to me what our world desperately needs.
I meet people daily who also need to experience His humble, gracious love.
Another way He challenges me is in my churchy, theological thinking.
The more I read about Jesus, the less He seems like what I was taught.
I’ve studied Jesus in seminary, and read many theological books about Him.
But there seems to me to be a disconnect between this teaching and Jesus.
I also see that disconnect in how many churches talk about Jesus.
The qualities of humility, grace and compassion are downplayed.
His message and method of humble, gracious love are sidelined.
Greater emphasis is placed on rightness, power, morality, truth.
Jesus comes across as more a warning than an invitation.
Fear and guilt are the primary tools for converting people to Jesus.
“He has done everything well.” (Mark 7:37)
The people saying this are not believers, not religious people.
They are from outside of Judea, in the Greek speaking region.
These are outsiders, what today we might call ‘non-christians’.
They are drawn to Jesus, overwhelmed and amazed by His goodness.
Sometimes when I talk to non-christians about Jesus, they respond well.
The humble, gracious and compassionate Jesus is unfamiliar to them.
Other non-christians don’t even want to hear about Jesus.
They associate Him too much with the negative side of churchianity.
The best way to help them meet this Jesus is to show them.
To be humble, gracious and compassionate to them in Jesus’s Name.
I really want people to meet and experience this Jesus.
Not to explain incarnation or atonement or hypostatic union.
Not to get them to say a prayer, or agree with my view of Jesus.
Just introduce them to this Jesus, and let Jesus compel them.
I will keep talking about this Jesus, because I believe He is compelling.
Jesus has been attracting followers throughout the centuries.
Jesus has been wooing and winning hearts with humble gracious love.
Even if people do not respond, the good seed of His Name is planted.
But along with this I need to prepare and work the soil.
Not by arguments or judgments or apologetics, but by love.
Soften hardened soil with kindness, break down walls with gentleness.
I will keep imitating this Jesus, because I believe His love is compelling.
The more they experience this Jesus, the more they will keep wondering about Him.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, use me to show and to share with others Your humble, gracious compassion. May people come away from conversations with me compelled, not condemned.
May non-christians speak well of You, because of what they have seen and heard through me.