Brother Jed...and other thoughts

The last couple days, I have spent a lot of hours hanging out at Speakers Circle listening to Brother Jed. For those of you who are not familiar with Brother Jed, here is a quick summary of what he does:

Brother Jed is a Christian preacher who travels around and speaks out in the open at college campuses around the country. His methods are very controversial and confrontational, and full of provocative phrases that will draw a crowd. Many Christians and non-Christians alike are offended by some of the things he says. That being said, most of his beliefs are in-line with the majority of protestant Christians.

When I first came to Mizzou, I was pretty offended by Brother Jed and his fellow preachers. They talked about how they could barely remember the last time they had sinned and routinely called the people who stuck around to listen things like "whores" or "masturbators." I would say things like, "They are preaching hate," and, "I don't agree with the way they are going about this. It's just making Christians look bad."

I have a pretty different view on all this now. I think what Brother Jed does is pretty awesome. I still don't think I would ever say some of the ridiculous things he says, and I certainly still disagree on a few things he says....but it's hard to be critical of someone who is preaching Christ when I'm ashamed about my faith so often.

If nothing else, it gets people talking. It is amazing how easy it is to strike up a conversation about God with people in the crowd listening to Jed. This week, I had some sweet talks with various folks and even made some connections with a few people who are interested in checking out the church I go to at Mizzou. Incredible. I wish I had done this more during my college career.


Something Brother Jed said to me Thursday evening has been on my mind a lot. He asked me if I had accepted Christ, and I told him that I had. He asked me when, and I told him it happened about 12 years ago. Then he pointed toward part of the crowd and said, "You need to be discipling these people."

I'm not sure why this hit me so hard. Sometimes, it's good to be told what to do.

This got me thinking a bit about college ministry...like I need more post-graduation options. I want to be a teacher, but I also want to talk to people about Jesus. I know these are not mutually exclusive, but still.

Anyway, if nothing else, Brother Jed's statement to me has renewed a sense of importance about telling people about a relationship with Jesus.

Because this relationship is it. This is it! This isn't a part of us, just an aspect of our lives. This is why we exist, how we exist, who we are, and what we need to focus on. This is everything. The rest is a pale counterfeit to what Christ can give us.

Earlier this semester, a pastor named Dave Megill said that God is not a "harsh master who cheats." I lost it during that talk because, subconsciously, I have viewed God as that cheating, harsh master. I viewed God as weak, lacking the power to bring real joy, real holiness, and real love. I viewed God as the bringer of salvation, but yet too weak to actually affect my life. But I don't believe that's true anymore.

I hear Christians talking all the time about how they will keep falling into sin despite their relationship with God. But I don't think it's supposed to be that way. God can and will help us break out of our sinful ways. I don't know that we'll ever stop sinning completely, but to view it as something that's going to happen no matter what is a terrible perspective.

Because holiness is possible! Joy is possible too! God does want us to be happy despite our circumstances. He can break us out of depression, out of lust, out of selfishness, out of hatred. He is real; He is powerful; He is not a harsh master; and He doesn't cheat us.

He wants us to have life more abundant, and that's what is waiting for us. We just need to believe it enough to throw away all the crap that's holding us back from the truth that we all feel.

I know this post is pretty random and disconnected. I want to put my thoughts down a bit more in-depth on some of these topics in the near-ish future. In the meantime, let's keep seeking the truth and throwing away those things holding us back....not to earn God's approval, but simply to know Him more and live the abundant life He wants us to have.

There are no half-naked girls dancing around the words of Jesus.

"So, I don't care if nobody loves me, nobody loves me, nobody loves me but you.
Because the truth is never sexy. So, it's not an easy sell. You can dress her like the culture, but she'll shock 'em just as well. But she don't need an apology for being who she is. And she don't need your help making enemies."

This quote is from a song by Derek Webb that I listened to today. The lyric "the truth is never sexy" really caught my attention.

So much about the truth from the Bible, especially the words of Jesus, are in no way sexy. If they were a commercial on TV, there would be no half-naked girls dancing around.

If it were marketed toward kids, there would be no mothers to approve it. There would be no smiling, retired, old people.

There would be respected law-abiding citizens telling the audience to stay away. That it's going to ruin everything you've worked toward. It could make you sick or move away from your family or give all your money away or quit your job or lose your dignity or be killed. It would be like those commercial for new drugs, where most of the commercial would a list of bad side-effects.

But it's still the truth. And it's just as good as the preacher in church says it will be. It's just as breathtaking and exhilarating as you hope it could be. As you want it to be. It's that.

Unfortunately for a lot of us, we want the exhilaration without the side-effects. But it doesn't work that way. God requires nothing from us for His love. But we're not going to feel his love unless we do what He commands us, with disregard to what people and culture say.

Do you want to feel God's joy? That happiness that stays despite your circumstances?

Do you want to be holy? Set apart and victorious over the temptation of sin?

Do you want to feel God's love? To be special and wanted and loved, knowing God's commitment to you and His joy from being with you?

I believe those things are all possible and real. I think the key to all of them is to really believe the things Jesus tells us.

So, when Jesus says to love our enemies, let's not gossip about them. When he says to sell stuff we have (or buy fewer things) so we have money to give to the poor, let's actually give money away. When he says that it's hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven, let's make it easy on ourselves and become poor. When Jesus spends all his time with the losers, the disabled, the sick, the poor, let's spend time with those people too and become their friend and love them.

And when we do these things, we will joyous, holy, and overwhelmed by God's love. And if we don't do these things, then we're probably just faking it.