Be honest.
Do you ever get the feeling that Jesus would never choose to hang out in the places we’ve built for him? Do you ever feel like Jesus’ message of radical love, mercy and forgiveness has been drowned out by the voices of judgment, condemnation, and stagnant ritualistic religion? Do you ever get the sense that the church was never meant to be about helping itself, but about helping the world? Do you ever get the nagging feeling that Jesus never intended the church to be comfortable and controlled, but instead an untamable movement that challenges the way things have always been done? Have you ever longed to be a part of a community that isn’t afraid to experience God in new and creative ways? (Yeah, us too.)
11 comments:
Oh, man. The gospels HAVE to be the Word of God. How else can there be SO MUCH packed into 35 little verses. Where do I start. Well, first, the author starts to tell us something new about Jesus in Ch. 3. He's still reaffirming Jesus as the Son of God, but he shows us something else. Jesus is human. He feels anger and frustration, just like we do. What sets Him apart is what He does with that frustration. After watching Scott's video, I couldn't help but be reminded of the incident with the shriveled hand. To me, (and maybe I'm reading too much into it) there is a frustration behind your message, Scott. A life filled with instances of promises not followed through, of people talking the talk without walking the walk, of "Lazy Sunday" Christians (yeah, that's an SNL reference...what?), and faced with that frustration, Scott, looking as much like Jesus as possible, does what He does...inspires. That's some real food for thought for me as I'm faced with some major frustration @ my current directing job working with some wonderful people with less-than-optimal communication skills...
Moving on, I have to share what God spoke to my heart through the calling of the Apostles story. At first I thought, "Man, how sweet would it be if we could just stand on top of the Tally Hall parking structure and call for the people we need for the greenroom and they just came running?!" That's when it dawned on me that we don't have to. God is on the mountainside for us, and WE are the ones He wants. WE are being called together to do His work. God is calling us together in those strange, unspoken "coincidences" that force our paths to cross. But it's only if we take advantage of those "coincidences," those God given opportunities, that we can make a difference. So, even though I might (and probably will) be called CRAZY, just like Jesus was by His own family, I've got to do as Scott so lovingly inspires me to do...jump.
Love it! The anger and frustration Jesus must feel at times is sobering. The verse before He asks the pharisees a question "Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to SAVE a life or to KILL?" They kept silent. What???????? How much more in plain terms can it be, to save or to kill!! Growing up I don't recall ever being taught this about God. A question often in my head is this: What is the value of life? In order for a traffic light to be installed by the state government(road commission) in both the state of Michigan and Nevada, there must be at least 3 deaths on 3 seperate occasions. Could it be that some of our passions arise from certain angers. I was once asked the why in how angry and upset I was about something. This helped me put the situation in perspective. Then I was told to act on it, and don't just sit there do something about it. Jesus "grieved at their hardness of heart," healed the mans hand. Jesus did not sit in the anger very long at all He did good, and did not delay in it. So when I say thank you to all of you for inspiring me, I mean it genuinely, all of you are helping me see who our God is; just as the man in my story challenged me.
When I sit and stew in my anger or frustration I sin. I get confused, depressed, and most of all I lose passion to live my life.
gotta go! Sorry I can't comment on the rest. Hope you guys are enjoying the Michigan weather. Haha
Verses 20 and 21, after Jesus had selected His disciples and gave them authority. I see the disciples being very excited, kinda like being chosen first on the playground while we were kids. Sorry i often digress. Jesus and the disciples came home and could not even eat a meal. They came to Jesus and tried to take him from His work saying, "He has lost His senses." In other words are the disciples implying they need to save Jesus, or we need to help Him, He has gone off the deep end. Or maybe they have a better judgement of needs. I don't think anyone would agree with my last statement in hindsight. The disciples were in the moment and possibly feeling empty, physically and spiritually when they said this.
Scott I love the story you started with. It got me. I got all big headed, I graduated the 1st grade; 2 frogs. A decision is only a portion of that which Jesus has called us to do. If I stop at the decision I am a hypocrite; and this is not something desire to be.
What strikes me about this chapter in Mark is the action Pharisees and Jesus' response.
The Pharisees, as we know, were holier than thou protectors of the Law. They did NOT look like Jesus. They scolded him for healing someone, for relieving someone's physical suffering. This is another classic example of religion MISSING THE POINT!
I hate to bring politics into this discussion and my illustration isn't meant to spark a political debate, nor to state what my personal opinion is, but as Scott pointed out on facebook, the healthcare debates seem to have become a "Christian" issue. I have to think, what is so un-Godly about healing? We have a lot of modern day Pharisees making a fuss about this, forgetting that the whole point of it is relieving someone's physical suffering!
Politics aside, my point is that for The Green Room, this means that in order to look like Jesus, we'll be forced to go against the grain. We must not let what the religious people are saying is right affect our actions as a church, but rather seek understanding of God with all our hearts and act according to that. I know this is so obvious, but Mark 3 drives this home!
Again, I am not trying to stir up a political conversation, but rather ask using this as an example, if public healthcare is what Jesus would stand for, are we willing to stand for it too or are we going to side with the Pharisees?
"Joelle Stirs the Pot"
NICE!
You reminded me of something I recently heard about a local organization feeding the homeless. They wouldn't feed someone unless they declared Jesus Christ as their Savior first. Really?! It's this kind of hypocrisy that turns people away from the healing message of Christ. They refuse to take part in a narrow-minded, exclusive, holier-than-thou club. I don't want us to ever be afraid to shake things up, especially amongst ourselves. Thanks, Joelle, for shining a path straight to Him!
Great conversations! Keep it up!
Wow, Aral! I hope that sstory was not accurate, because that is SAD. Well put guys and gals! Looking at what Jesus stated "who is My mother, who is My brother?" Could it be Jesus is asking us to think the same way. You guys rock!
Greg. Great thought. If our desire is to be like Jesus, we should be looking at those who try to live out the Kingdom of God as a part of our family.
It amazes me how intense the opposition was toward Jesus. In our culture today, people express their opposition toward politicians, for example, but rarely does it result in death. Verse six makes it clear that Jesus was such a threat that they began to plot "how they might kill Jesus."
Verse seven reveals a real conundrum. Jesus withdrew—and a large crowd...followed. He could run but He could not hide!
Jesus not only called and appointed "those He wanted" to follow Him, but He had a clear purpose/mission in mind for them to be sent out to preach and drive out demons. These men were to do more than merely follow and watch. They were committing themselves to action, whether they realized it fully or not.
It's hard to imagine Jesus' fame, unable to even eat in a house (20). He was clearly an early rock star—and He didn't need an agent, a website, tabloids, or Twitter to attract people. Then again, He offered the ultimate health care reform!
Finally, His teaching was amazing. He rocked the religious world and even upset the institution of the family, somewhat. In our culture, it is easy for us to make the family our idol, yet Jesus elevated obedience to God above any nuclear relationship.
Following Jesus requires EVERYTHING, not just an hour on Sunday (or Monday!) but everything! Radical.
We're only on Mark 3 and already there seems to be a common theme. Jesus was way more radical than we may have ever thought – Definitely more radial than we've made him out to be. And he asks nothing less of those who choose to follow him. Why do you think that Jesus' radicalism is downplayed by the church today? I mean, seriously, if THIS Jesus came back today, we probably wouldn't let him step foot in our churches. He'd have no respect for our traditions, our property, our security, our rights...
Again, why would God tell people they must keep the Sabbath (it's even one of the ten commandments!) and then beat up on people for taking him seriously? Didn't they righteously stone a guy in Numbers 15 for gathering wood on the Sabbath?
It's not that Jesus wants people to just stop doing what God obviously commanded them to do. There's not a lot of regulations in the bible for how to keep the Sabbath. The Jews added a lot of restrictions that they said were just as binding as the ones in bible. Those are the restrictions that would probably keep someone from saving a life or killing, not so much the restrictions in the bible.
Jesus doesn't want people to start disobeying God.
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