THE JESUS TYPE

#1 · June 28, 2004, 11:23 am

Quote from Forum Archives on June 28, 2004, 11:23 am
Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

THE JESUS TYPE
June 27, 2004

Text: Luke 9:51-62

As most of us no doubt know, the internet is an increasingly pervasive
part of our lives. What began as a means of research and information
sharing has grown into a lot more than these basics. Additional internet
services include online shopping, online job searches and resumé
services, online gaming, and online dating. Yes, searching for dates over
the internet has been catching on over the years - so much so that there
are now businesses that specialize in this service.

Many of us would no doubt think that seeking dates over the internet are
not quite right. There may be too much potential for disaster, so to
speak. After all, anyone will be able to say what they want about
themselves whether its true or not.

Well, maybe such deceptions are not so easy, after all. Online dating
services are becoming increasingly selective, so that they can offer
their customers quality candidates, "instead of just another loser who
fibbed about his age, weight and quantity of hair." According to Jane
Spencer of The Wall Street Journal, eHarmony.com, a leading online dating
service, says it specializes in finding "soul mates," and in order to
make these matches it has rejected 77,759 people since 1998. One of its
tools is a 19-question "lie scale," designed to eliminate applicants who
try to paint too rosy a picture of themselves. Folks who claim they
always obey the speed limit, never get angry, and always keep their house
picked up might get tagged as dishonest. In fact, it is surprising who
has been rejected.

One tall, blue-eyed, 25-year-old actor, a single guy who cooks, enjoys
sentimental movies, and always remembers birthdays, applied on
eHarmony.com. Sounds like a decent catch, right? Yet according to
eHarmony.com, when this eligible young man finished the matchmaker's
required 40-minute personality test, he was rejected. "I was stunned,"
said the actor to The Wall Street Journal. "Is that even possible?" He
assumed that an online dating service virtually guaranteed that you would
meet someone. Never in his wildest dreams did he think that he would be
rejected. So, when you go online in search of a date, be prepared for the
fact that you might not be the right type, even if you are tall,
blue-eyed and a sucker for sentimental movies. (Jane Spencer. "Online
Dating Gets Exclusive." The Wall Street Journal, July 30, 2003, D1)

But here's an even bigger question, one that is at the heart of today's
passage of Scripture: Are we Jesus' type? As Jesus completes his ministry
in the Galilee region and begins his long journey toward Jerusalem, he
encounters a variety of men and women, people of all types, and he begins
a process of elimination that is bound to strike us as rather severe -
even by the standards of eHarmony.com.

First, he enters a Samaritan village, and discovers that there is
absolutely no way that he is going to be able to develop a relationship
with anyone in the town. The Samaritans refuse to receive him because he
is heading toward Jerusalem - and this is the wrong city to be going to
or coming from if you want to feel the love from Samaritans. Their holy
place to worship was Mount Gerizim, not Jerusalem. Being a devout Jew in
Samaria was like going to a baseball game at Fenway Park, home of the
Boston Red Sox, wearing a New York Yankees cap and a "Yankees Rule"
T-shirt. Bottom line: these folks are absolutely incompatible. Not even
Jesus could always overcome such prejudice.

Along the way, Jesus encounters a man along the road, an Idealist, who
says to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." But Jesus senses that
he might have the wrong idea about the life of discipleship, and so he
administers this little test of expectations: "Foxes have holes, and
birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his
head."

We don't know exactly what this first would-be disciple is expecting, but
he might be thinking that Jesus the Messiah is going to be his way to
fame. After all, he has heard, maybe seen, the miracles. He knows how
popular Jesus is becoming among the people. To be the disciple of a
popular teacher could provide personal rewards. To such dreams of comfort
and affluence, Jesus gives a rude wake-up call: "You want a life of
luxury?" he seems to be asking. "You're looking in the wrong place".

A short time later, Jesus sees another potential disciple, this time a
Pragmatist, one who is responsible, reasonable and rational. Jesus
extends his simple the invitation, "Follow me." But the fellow says,
"Lord, first let me go and bury my father."

Is this an unreasonable demand? It doesn't seem to be at first. The duty
to bury the dead was taken very seriously by devout Jews. Its not like
this guy is saying, "Lord, first let me go and play the slot machines, or
first let me go and do some drugs." The guy is trying to be a solid
citizen and a decent catch, but Jesus isn't impressed.

"Lord, first let me go and bury my father" turns out to be a red flag on
the discipleship survey. "Let the dead bury their own dead," insists
Jesus; "but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Jesus sounds
harsh here, and more than a little insensitive. But what he's trying to
say is this: if you want to be my type, you have to focus on life, not
death. Put your energy into proclaiming the kingdom of God, not into
digging holes for dead bodies. Jesus certainly knows that corpses need to
be put in the ground, but he assumes that there are many spiritually dead
non-disciples that can do this particular duty. If you want to be a
disciple, your focus has to be on the kingdom and nothing else.

Finally, another applicant, this time a Procrastinator, approaches Jesus
and says, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to
those at my home." Jesus hits the reject button with the words, "No one
who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of
God." Jesus will not allow anyone to turn from the path that he is
calling them to follow. He expects radical commitment, total intensity,
complete focus. Anything less than 100 percent devotion simply will not
allow a discipleship match to be made.

As it turns out, none of these people is Jesus' type. Not the Idealist,
the Pragmatist, or the Procrastinator. So, where does this leave us?

Are we willing to turn our backs on comfort and duty and family in order
to follow Jesus on the path to the kingdom of God? Jesus is not trying to
lure us into a dysfunctional and destructive relationship. What Jesus is
offering us is a life of joy, fulfillment, and love. It's just that Jesus
needs to put us through a rather serious screening to see if we're
serious about this kind of relationship with him.

Today's Scripture teaches that joy will come if we are compatible with
Jesus in several important ways. First, we need to share his
determination to travel to Jerusalem. This means seeing our final goal as
resurrection life with God. If we focus entirely on Wall Street or
Capitol Hill or Silicon Valley or Hollywood, if we end up putting all our
passion into places that promise us money or power or fame, then we will
find ourselves falling out of relationship with Jesus. It is only by
traveling with him to Jerusalem, and moving with him through sacrifice to
new life, that we will discover our deepest fulfillment as human beings.
Disciples are headed for Jerusalem - not Nazareth, or Jericho, or
Tiberius. They're headed for the cross, for commitment, for sacrifice,
but also for a meaningful life, fulfilling love, and compassionate
service.

Remember the popularity of The Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkinson. The
simple bestseller catapulted him to celebrity status in 2001. A criticism
of his book on the prayer of Jabez that came from some quarters was that
it was too worldly. Some people took the prayer to be one for increasing
worldly possessions.

Well, Gods Word has been abused many times over the centuries, but
apparently Wilkinson is not one of those who has set out to misapply and
abuse Scripture. He has moved to Africa, to work on racial reconciliation
and HIV/AIDS. "God ripped open our chest, took out our heart, dug a hole
in Africa, put it in, covered it with soil and said, `Now, follow your
heart and move down to Africa,'" he told Christianity Today. (November
2003) Sounds like the Wilkersons are Jesus' type.

Next, we are asked to put our faith in Jesus, rather than in any of the
creature comforts of this world. We are challenged to trust Jesus to give
our lives meaning and balance and security - not our bank accounts,
pension funds, home entertainment centers, and other luxuries. One of the
not-so-surprising discoveries of life in the 21st century is that true
satisfaction doesn't come through a high standard of living and an
endless array of attractive luxury items. It didnt work in the 20th
century, why should it in the 21st? Inner peace comes through a life that
has meaning - meaning that can be found by following Jesus.

Finally, we are challenged to look ahead, not back. It is so tempting to
gaze to the past and wonder why our lives turned out the way they did.
Its not hard to second-guess ourselves and play "what-if" games with the
choices we have made. Jesus says that no one who "looks back" is fit for
the kingdom of God, and he calls us to focus forward on the life that God
has in store for us. Any joy we experience is going to come from looking
ahead, with hope. Any fulfillment we feel is going to come from moving
forward, with faith. Any love we enjoy is going to come not from new
friends or new spouses or new relatives, but instead from building a new
future with our existing friends and spouses and relatives.

This personality test forces us to look inward, and discover what kind of
persons we want to be. It reminds us that we have the power to make
ourselves compatible with Jesus, and through this compatibility we can
enjoy the abundant life he offers. If we walk in his way, and focus on
his goals, we'll find ourselves experiencing levels of joy, fulfillment,
and love that we never dreamed possible. Accept Jesus invitation to
follow him; thats what will make us Jesus' type.

Rev. Charles A. Layne, pastor, First Baptist Church, Bunker Hill, IN

________________________________________________________________
The best thing to hit the Internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
Surf the Web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!
Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

THE JESUS TYPE
June 27, 2004

Text: Luke 9:51-62

As most of us no doubt know, the internet is an increasingly pervasive
part of our lives. What began as a means of research and information
sharing has grown into a lot more than these basics. Additional internet
services include online shopping, online job searches and resumé
services, online gaming, and online dating. Yes, searching for dates over
the internet has been catching on over the years - so much so that there
are now businesses that specialize in this service.

Many of us would no doubt think that seeking dates over the internet are
not quite right. There may be too much potential for disaster, so to
speak. After all, anyone will be able to say what they want about
themselves whether its true or not.

Well, maybe such deceptions are not so easy, after all. Online dating
services are becoming increasingly selective, so that they can offer
their customers quality candidates, "instead of just another loser who
fibbed about his age, weight and quantity of hair." According to Jane
Spencer of The Wall Street Journal, eHarmony.com, a leading online dating
service, says it specializes in finding "soul mates," and in order to
make these matches it has rejected 77,759 people since 1998. One of its
tools is a 19-question "lie scale," designed to eliminate applicants who
try to paint too rosy a picture of themselves. Folks who claim they
always obey the speed limit, never get angry, and always keep their house
picked up might get tagged as dishonest. In fact, it is surprising who
has been rejected.

One tall, blue-eyed, 25-year-old actor, a single guy who cooks, enjoys
sentimental movies, and always remembers birthdays, applied on
eHarmony.com. Sounds like a decent catch, right? Yet according to
eHarmony.com, when this eligible young man finished the matchmaker's
required 40-minute personality test, he was rejected. "I was stunned,"
said the actor to The Wall Street Journal. "Is that even possible?" He
assumed that an online dating service virtually guaranteed that you would
meet someone. Never in his wildest dreams did he think that he would be
rejected. So, when you go online in search of a date, be prepared for the
fact that you might not be the right type, even if you are tall,
blue-eyed and a sucker for sentimental movies. (Jane Spencer. "Online
Dating Gets Exclusive." The Wall Street Journal, July 30, 2003, D1)

But here's an even bigger question, one that is at the heart of today's
passage of Scripture: Are we Jesus' type? As Jesus completes his ministry
in the Galilee region and begins his long journey toward Jerusalem, he
encounters a variety of men and women, people of all types, and he begins
a process of elimination that is bound to strike us as rather severe -
even by the standards of eHarmony.com.

First, he enters a Samaritan village, and discovers that there is
absolutely no way that he is going to be able to develop a relationship
with anyone in the town. The Samaritans refuse to receive him because he
is heading toward Jerusalem - and this is the wrong city to be going to
or coming from if you want to feel the love from Samaritans. Their holy
place to worship was Mount Gerizim, not Jerusalem. Being a devout Jew in
Samaria was like going to a baseball game at Fenway Park, home of the
Boston Red Sox, wearing a New York Yankees cap and a "Yankees Rule"
T-shirt. Bottom line: these folks are absolutely incompatible. Not even
Jesus could always overcome such prejudice.

Along the way, Jesus encounters a man along the road, an Idealist, who
says to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." But Jesus senses that
he might have the wrong idea about the life of discipleship, and so he
administers this little test of expectations: "Foxes have holes, and
birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his
head."

We don't know exactly what this first would-be disciple is expecting, but
he might be thinking that Jesus the Messiah is going to be his way to
fame. After all, he has heard, maybe seen, the miracles. He knows how
popular Jesus is becoming among the people. To be the disciple of a
popular teacher could provide personal rewards. To such dreams of comfort
and affluence, Jesus gives a rude wake-up call: "You want a life of
luxury?" he seems to be asking. "You're looking in the wrong place".

A short time later, Jesus sees another potential disciple, this time a
Pragmatist, one who is responsible, reasonable and rational. Jesus
extends his simple the invitation, "Follow me." But the fellow says,
"Lord, first let me go and bury my father."

Is this an unreasonable demand? It doesn't seem to be at first. The duty
to bury the dead was taken very seriously by devout Jews. Its not like
this guy is saying, "Lord, first let me go and play the slot machines, or
first let me go and do some drugs." The guy is trying to be a solid
citizen and a decent catch, but Jesus isn't impressed.

"Lord, first let me go and bury my father" turns out to be a red flag on
the discipleship survey. "Let the dead bury their own dead," insists
Jesus; "but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Jesus sounds
harsh here, and more than a little insensitive. But what he's trying to
say is this: if you want to be my type, you have to focus on life, not
death. Put your energy into proclaiming the kingdom of God, not into
digging holes for dead bodies. Jesus certainly knows that corpses need to
be put in the ground, but he assumes that there are many spiritually dead
non-disciples that can do this particular duty. If you want to be a
disciple, your focus has to be on the kingdom and nothing else.

Finally, another applicant, this time a Procrastinator, approaches Jesus
and says, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to
those at my home." Jesus hits the reject button with the words, "No one
who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of
God." Jesus will not allow anyone to turn from the path that he is
calling them to follow. He expects radical commitment, total intensity,
complete focus. Anything less than 100 percent devotion simply will not
allow a discipleship match to be made.

As it turns out, none of these people is Jesus' type. Not the Idealist,
the Pragmatist, or the Procrastinator. So, where does this leave us?

Are we willing to turn our backs on comfort and duty and family in order
to follow Jesus on the path to the kingdom of God? Jesus is not trying to
lure us into a dysfunctional and destructive relationship. What Jesus is
offering us is a life of joy, fulfillment, and love. It's just that Jesus
needs to put us through a rather serious screening to see if we're
serious about this kind of relationship with him.

Today's Scripture teaches that joy will come if we are compatible with
Jesus in several important ways. First, we need to share his
determination to travel to Jerusalem. This means seeing our final goal as
resurrection life with God. If we focus entirely on Wall Street or
Capitol Hill or Silicon Valley or Hollywood, if we end up putting all our
passion into places that promise us money or power or fame, then we will
find ourselves falling out of relationship with Jesus. It is only by
traveling with him to Jerusalem, and moving with him through sacrifice to
new life, that we will discover our deepest fulfillment as human beings.
Disciples are headed for Jerusalem - not Nazareth, or Jericho, or
Tiberius. They're headed for the cross, for commitment, for sacrifice,
but also for a meaningful life, fulfilling love, and compassionate
service.

Remember the popularity of The Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkinson. The
simple bestseller catapulted him to celebrity status in 2001. A criticism
of his book on the prayer of Jabez that came from some quarters was that
it was too worldly. Some people took the prayer to be one for increasing
worldly possessions.

Well, Gods Word has been abused many times over the centuries, but
apparently Wilkinson is not one of those who has set out to misapply and
abuse Scripture. He has moved to Africa, to work on racial reconciliation
and HIV/AIDS. "God ripped open our chest, took out our heart, dug a hole
in Africa, put it in, covered it with soil and said, `Now, follow your
heart and move down to Africa,'" he told Christianity Today. (November
2003) Sounds like the Wilkersons are Jesus' type.

Next, we are asked to put our faith in Jesus, rather than in any of the
creature comforts of this world. We are challenged to trust Jesus to give
our lives meaning and balance and security - not our bank accounts,
pension funds, home entertainment centers, and other luxuries. One of the
not-so-surprising discoveries of life in the 21st century is that true
satisfaction doesn't come through a high standard of living and an
endless array of attractive luxury items. It didnt work in the 20th
century, why should it in the 21st? Inner peace comes through a life that
has meaning - meaning that can be found by following Jesus.

Finally, we are challenged to look ahead, not back. It is so tempting to
gaze to the past and wonder why our lives turned out the way they did.
Its not hard to second-guess ourselves and play "what-if" games with the
choices we have made. Jesus says that no one who "looks back" is fit for
the kingdom of God, and he calls us to focus forward on the life that God
has in store for us. Any joy we experience is going to come from looking
ahead, with hope. Any fulfillment we feel is going to come from moving
forward, with faith. Any love we enjoy is going to come not from new
friends or new spouses or new relatives, but instead from building a new
future with our existing friends and spouses and relatives.

This personality test forces us to look inward, and discover what kind of
persons we want to be. It reminds us that we have the power to make
ourselves compatible with Jesus, and through this compatibility we can
enjoy the abundant life he offers. If we walk in his way, and focus on
his goals, we'll find ourselves experiencing levels of joy, fulfillment,
and love that we never dreamed possible. Accept Jesus invitation to
follow him; thats what will make us Jesus' type.

Rev. Charles A. Layne, pastor, First Baptist Church, Bunker Hill, IN

________________________________________________________________
The best thing to hit the Internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
Surf the Web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!
Only $14.95/ month - visit http://www.juno.com to sign up today!