A friend of mine commented on a blog entry I wrote recently called Bipolar Christians. She made an interesting point that I want to highlight this morning. Kara basically talked about people not being "bipolar" enough. There are too many people who are lukewarm about their faith. They walk around apathetic about Jesus. As Kara said, "Most people today aren’t disturbed by Jesus". And Jesus should disturb you. If Jesus does not then you might not be listening hard enough.
There is a cool blog entry you need to check out at Unlikely Conversation: A Lectionary Blog called Easter and Evangelism. This author talks about Christians having the best story in the world to tell; and I couldn’t agree more. Actually I would say we have an AWESOME story to tell. But my question is this: Why don’t more people get more excited about this story? We share good news with each other about our kids, promotions or about losing 20lbs but why not THE Good News? Well…I think the simple answer is that people are not disturbed by Jesus (as Kara boldly puts it). We take more joy in our kid’s accomplishments or in our "success" at work or in our body image than in the radical Good News of the cross. We worry more about our position on the social ladder or how much influence we have or how much money we have saved than in the wild forgiveness God shows us in Jesus Christ.
Maybe the problem is that too many churches don’t get feisty enough about their faith (if you knew my friend Kara, you would know the "feisty" I am talking about). Maybe there is too much "Minnesota Nice" coming out in our proclamation (a problem my internship supervisor pointed out in me). Maybe we, as the church, are not taking a definitive enough of a stand against injustices and issues in the world. I mean think about…we have the best story in the world to tell and there is still a large number of unchurched people in our communities. There are too many churches satisfied with maintenance (status quo) than in evangelism. Secular attacks on the Christian faith go widely unchallenged by Christians ("The Di Vinci Code" & "The Lost Tomb of Jesus"). We need to be more feisty.
"Kill the ‘old Adam’", "Sell all you have and follow me", "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you". If those statements by Jesus do not disturb you, then read them again…He is talk to you.
Let’s get more feisty about our faith and A LOT MORE bold about sharing the best story in the world. We cannot afford to be "lukewarm Christians". Thank you, Kara, for making me think more and thank you for being "feisty". If only more people followed your example. -edh-
The Heart of a Pastor 
Eric
Hi 🙂
“”Most people today aren’t disturbed by Jesus””. Very Good,
As a D+ student and the stupid, lazy one in my family growing up, peer approval has always been huge for me. In 1993 I went to a Protestant Cursillo weekend sponsored by Pastor Herb Kitzman, My friend. After that and a few years being on the team and then working in Prison Ministry I became a child of God.
When the Passion movie came out I had to see it ASAP and then the next week at our Kiwanis meeting four of us were talking about it. Two were very respected members of my community, and both agreed it was the most brutal, gory, sickening movie they ever saw. Knowing I am a church goer they asked me my thoughts. I told them it was the most beautiful Love story ever filmed.
THAT got the discussion off to a start and so I witnessed to them about How, out of Love for us, Jesus died on the cross. I wasn’t afraid of what they thought of me, I stand for Christ. So YES! Not enough church goers even admit to knowing the Christ.
I think what you said “”Maybe the problem is that too many churches don’t get feisty enough about their faith””. Is right on the head, We have been kicking this around in Lay Ministry school for three years, Should the Pastor proclaim the Hard Truth or do you tone it down to not offend anyone, so you can bring them along with baby steps. It is a razors edge!
Love your writing
God Bless
Rick
You said:
Secular attacks on the Christian faith go widely unchallenged by Christians (“The Di Vinci Code” & “The Lost Tomb of Jesus”).
I say:
I would disagree with the statement to the extent that because of the DaVinci Code, a bunch of Xian books were published that went after the author’s claims. The Church did defend itself a bit, however, one many or may not have noticed depending on what is paid attention to.
People have attacked Christianity and Jesus for centuries. Most arguments are recycled for the next generation. That’s the way it goes.
It is not easy to continually be feisty about Jesus, and human nature tends to only care about what is new and exciting. For many, Jesus is old news.
I agree with you, Kevin, the Church does come out and defend itself. My experience is that too many individual Christians remain silent. I wish more people spoke out about their faith.
And unfortunately you are right when you say that people only care about what is new and exciting; that Jesus is old news. How do we make Jesus “new”? Maybe that is the question we need to consider.
Thanks for your thoughts.