Radical - Part 2

Guest Blogger: T-Lesh

I’ve never been a huge fan of the label “Jesus Freak”. The title implies that I could be so crazy about Jesus that I scare people. Is this what Jesus wants? Some buddies of mine and I went to one of those walk through haunted houses one time when I was in college. We walked in with major swagger, like nothing could shake us. After a calm stroll through the first hallway things changed when everything went black. For the rest of the time we ran through the dark maze delirious. We were officially freaked.

As Christians should our lives freak people out? Scare them away? Or, turn them off to the message of Jesus?

I think many of us who follow Jesus now feel relieved because you don’t have this reputation and identity. But the harder question to answer is: do our lives turn people towards a relationship with Jesus, at all?

A couple posts ago Ryan dropped some knowledge about how there shouldn’t be any radical Christians. There shouldn’t be any “Jesus Freaks”. But, if we call ourselves Christians our lives should be radically different. There’s an author named Dallas Willard who has really shaped my perspective on the Christian life. He writes, “The disciple of Christ desires above all else to be like Him.” The ultimate goal of a Christian is to do what Jesus did and said. And He did some pretty radical things.

For instance, Jesus tells those who follow Him (Christians) in Luke 6:27, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” This contradicts everything our culture stands for. Our culture tells us to get revenge, withhold forgiveness, and reject those who reject you. But this isn’t the way of Jesus.

The way of Jesus is counter-cultural. The way of Jesus doesn’t make sense to the world. The way of Jesus is radical. If we actually did what Jesus commanded us to do, would people notice?

Who hates you? Who do you hate?

Love them, do good to them, bless them, and pray for them!

This is the way of Jesus. This way is radical. And when we desire to be like Him, our friends, enemies, and the world will notice and encounter Jesus.