Clean Jesus

Mark 8:27
Jesus and His disciples left Galilee and went up to the village near Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, He asked them, "Who do people say I am?"

We want a clean Jesus....
We want a Jesus whose hair is always in place, even when the wind is blowing.
We want a Jesus whose clothes are always neat and clean, without wrinkle or tear.
Whose feet are never dusty....
Whose eyes have never shed tears....
Whose hands are well kept, manicured....not hard and calloused.
We want the perfect Jesus....
We want the church Jesus like in the paintings....
The Jesus who looks European....white....frail and thin.....

Not me...
I want the real deal Jesus....
I want the Jesus who started out as a carpenter's son, and now lives as the risen, glorified Lord.
I want the Jesus who stood up to the religious system and overturned tables in the Temple.
That Jesus will overturn my life if I ever becomes blinded by religion.
I want the Jesus who will go off and make a whip of cords, returning with the declaration that the temple was His Father's house, and what was suppose to be a house of prayer had long since been turned into a den of thieves. 
A Den?
Yes...a den. A place to hide out in. A place where truth would not be received and the need to make money out weighed the need to be God's own people.
That's the Jesus I want. one who was zealous for His Father's House.

It's funny how religion and religious people are offended by truth...
I mean the dirty kind of truth...
The kind that exists in back alley's and in dark places.
Truth that proclaims God's love for those that no one else would ever love.
Oh, we talk about loving the whore and the pimp...
We speak of the addict and drunk...
We speak of the love of God for those who are covered in tattoo's....
those who do not look like we do...
Those who smell because they do not have the means to bathe every day...
Somehow I think maybe God has a special love for those who have fallen through the crack of society's  care.
If we got really honest, we'd whisper that we only want to love those that look like us, dress like us and sound like us.
Aren't you glad that God's love is for THE WORLD, and not just specific socio-economic groups?
I am....
I don't know if I'd make the cut or not if God loved in any other way than the one He does.

What I have written is not intended to be an indictment against the church...
Just against the human heart that hides in the church.
It is a wonderful thing when the church comes together and gives of their finances to take care of people.
But what about during the week when you see other's in need?
What does God expect of me when I see someone in need?
Am I suppose to help them right then and there?
Or do I make a mental note and bring up when I return to church next Sunday....
Well let me ask you something.
Have you ever prayed because you were hurting or had a need that you did not know how it would be taken care of?
Did you ask God to take care of it next Sunday?
Or did you want relief today?
I want relief as soon a possible. I want an answer to my prayer as soon as possible.
Well, what if we are that answer to someone else who has been crying out to God?
They want an answer, just like we do, today....because they are hurting.

Maybe we should be TODAY people.
People who are always listening for God's direction on who to serve and help.
I like that...
We should be a TODAY people.
Something to chew on....

God on you...
Michael b.