Jesus is Just Alright

We have the ability to actually have a relationship with the living God through His Son, who gave His life so that we can. And, He expects us to walk in obedience to His principles. 1st Peter chapter 1 states:
13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;
15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
16 because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy."

God is love and the embodiment of that love is seen through Jesus - how He interacted with people and acted in love by giving of Himself.  In this world today, there are efforts to separate Jesus, the Word who became flesh, from the rest of the Bible, but, you see, the entirety of the Scriptures testify of Him. The One who provided us an example of daily living calls us to a life of obedience: He isn't some sort of "life coach" or "self-help" motivational speaker who merely helps us to improve ourselves and become our "best self."  He calls us to die to self and live unto Him so we experience His life through us.

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In Titus 1, Paul calls out those who say that they know God, but do not follow Him...there is a disconnect between shallow affirmation and devoted application. We can read these words:
15 To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.
16 They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.

I'm calling it the "Jesus is Just Alright" survey, designated by the Doobie Brothers song that was also recorded by DC Talk. Seems like it's OK to talk about Jesus and how great He is in our culture today, and it's true - He has loved us so much that He gave His life so that we might be saved.  But, He also calls us to take up our cross, to sacrifice ourselves, and to follow Him.

Jesus loves us so much that He calls and empowers us to follow Him; but if we just stop at saying how nice and wonderful He is, we miss the bigger picture.

So, the Barna Group has partnered with other organizations to measure how teenagers perceive Jesus.  CBN.com reported on the findings.  The report on the Barna Group website states:

Data show it’s rare that teens think poorly of Jesus. Most teenagers around the world have a positive perception of him. About half of all teens, across faith groups, describe Jesus as “loving” (49%) and believe he offers hope to (46%) and cares about people (43%). The global impression of Jesus is that he is trustworthy, generous, wise, peaceful… and the glowing list goes on.

But, with all this talk about how wonderful Jesus is, you have to question how devoted these teenagers are to following Him.  Another part of the survey, according to CBN, has to do with how teens regard the Bible.  The article says:

The first group — “Bible engaged” — believed the Bible is God’s Word, is inspired by the Lord, and they read Scripture throughout the week. The “Bible open” group is less engaged with Scripture and has a neutral view of it, though they engage with the Bible more than three or four times a year.

The last group, “Bible unengaged,” clumps all the other teens together.

Eighty-four percent of “Bible-engaged” teens said Scripture teaches them about “living a meaningful life.” And in an era in which suicide and chaos rage, 84% said the Bible helps them understand their purpose...

However, when you look at the Barna survey summary, you find that only 38% of all teens and the same percentage of "Bible open" teenagers - 38% believe that the Bible shows a meaningful life. 

80% of "Bible engaged" teens agree that the Bible teaches about "Living wisely in today's society." But, only 34% of all teens and the same percentage of "Bible open" teens agree with that.

So, while there are many positive statements that appear in this survey about Jesus, it seems that teens aren't so keen on the Bible, which reflect His teachings.  I am reminded of the words of C.S. Lewis from his book, Mere Christianity, which we can find on the YouVersion website: "I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say..." He noted, "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher."  The choice is clear, "you can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher."

Perhaps one of the sad findings of the Barna Group survey is that only 23% of teens believe this statement: "He makes a real difference in the world today."

So, while it may be a positive indicator that teenagers regard Jesus highly, the real question is how they respond to Him.  And, that's the situation for all of us: we can say Jesus is a good teacher, which He is, but are we a disciple?  Do we follow Him?  Do we regard His Word as authoritative and applicable for our lives today?

Jesus said that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments.  We can say we love Him, but as the Bible says, by our works we can deny Him.  Modern-day portrayals and perceptions of Jesus will miss the mark if they are blended with the world's ideas, but we truly can get to know Him through our study of the Word and by building a relationship with Him.  To merely portray Him as some sort of "great moral teacher," a "self-help guru" who has come to give us a better life is totally selling Him short. 

He. Is. Lord.  And, He calls us to a life of obedience to Him.