No Airbrushed Jesus

ALL – Psalm 44:1-7
ALL – Proverbs 22:10-12
OT – Job 34:1-36:33
NT – 2 Corinthians 4:1-12

Interesting passage for the day: We do not try to trick people into believing—we are not interested in fooling anyone. We never try to get anyone to believe that the Bible teaches what it doesn’t. All such shameful methods we forego. We stand in the presence of God as we speak and so we tell the truth, as all who know us will agree. – 2 Corinthians 4:2, The Living Bible

Thought: What would be the goal of tricking people into believing? What would be the benefit of fooling people into doing what we say? I can’t think of any positive reason to deceive people into agreeing with me.

I’m not saying that I can’t see any reason why tricking people could be fun, exciting, and even fulfilling. When people agree with me, it helps me feel better about my own perspectives. When people trust me so much that they don’t even question my thoughts, there could be a bit of a rush at the realization that I have the ability to lead them just about anywhere—at least for a while. And the more people who believe me and follow my lead, the more I would be able to pat myself on the back for being such a magnetic and charismatic leader. The experience of this kind of success might be like an ongoing shot of adrenaline. So there are reasons that tricking people into believing us could be an amazing experience.

But none of those reasons is positive. Especially not when we’re talking about Jesus Christ. Getting tons of people to follow me, thinking that I had led them to Jesus even though I had really just giving them pep talks with Jesus’ name liberally sprinkled throughout my inspiring speeches (perhaps a case of using Jesus’ name in vain?), would be useless for everyone involved. The people would not have actually come to know Jesus. I would have “gained the whole world and lost my soul.” And Jesus would look at me from His throne and ask, “How did you possibly think this would end well—stealing My glory for yourself?”

No, when we talk about Jesus, we want to be as straightforward and honest as possible. Sometimes—perhaps even often—we’ll draw smaller crowds. But our goal is to draw together worshipers for our great King Jesus, men and women who worship in spirit and truth. This kind of worship only happens when people really know who Jesus is. Let’s introduce Him honestly.

Question: What do you not like to tell people about Jesus and His Word? Let’s encourage one another to lovingly and honestly introduce people to Jesus Christ as He is.

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.