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A message from 1 John 2 : 6 from part of a sermon by Francis chan:
To love is to be vulnerable
You really really really really love Jesus
But if you are honest with yourself
Don't you really want to become like Him
You admire his humility
We all do
But do you really want to be so humble?
I mean: It's beautiful,
we all love it...
That the son of God wanted to get on his knees....
And went to wash the feet of His disciples.
We really like that. But is that really the goal in your life?
And is your life going in that direction of serving?
You are thankful that Jesus was spit on....
and that he was taken advantage of
And that He took all of that.
But you would never let that happen to yourself.
You love the fact that He gave up His rights
But you use your life to fight for yours
And defend them
You praise Him, you sing songs and you love Him
Because He loved you enough to suffer His whole life on earth for you
But you make sure you have fun while you're here
And that you have it right.
In short: You think Jesus is a great Savior, but not such a good role model.
And I say that because I often speak about the character of Jesus Christ
and the way we are expected to follow that character
And then I get the response, 'Hey, no.... I can have this and I can have that.'
I then just have to stop and ask the question:
'Wait a minute, is Jesus Christ your role model?'
Think this through. Is this your heart's desire:
That you are a servant and want to give your life for someone else?
The crazy thing about all this, is that in 1 John 2:6 it says:
"Those who say they are connected to God must themselves live as Jesus lived.
Let me read it again:
"Those who say they are connected to God must themselves live as Jesus lived.
It is not an option you can choose.
It is not optional to say, "Oh well, maybe I can be a Christian too...
And admire everything about Jesus, but my life doesn't have to look like it.
No. John correctly asserts that whoever claims to have Jesus in him must also live as Jesus.
You really really really really really like Jesus. But if you were honest with yourself, you don't really want to become like him. You admire his humility, we all do, but do you really want to be that humble? I mean you think it's beautiful. I think we all think it's beautiful that the son of God would get down on his knees and wash the feet of his disciples. We think that's beautiful, but is that really the goal or your life, and is your life headed in that direction of servanthood? You're thankful that Jesus was spit on, and abused, and that he took it, but you would never let that happen to you. You love the fact that he laid down his right, but you're going to spend your life fighting for yours and defending yours. You praise him, you sing songs, and you love him because he loved you enough to suffer his whole time on this earth for your sake, but you're gonna make sure you have fun while you're down here, and that you have a good time. In short, you think Jesus is a great savior, but he's not a great role model. And I say that because a lot of times I'll give messages, and its about the character of Jesus Christ and the way we ought to follow that character, and it's with this, "Hey no, I can have this, I can have that," and I just gotta stop and say, "Wait a second, is Jesus Christ your role model?" Think this through, is it the desire of your heart that you would be the servant that would lay down your life for someone else? The crazy thing about all of this is that 1 John 2:6 says, "Whoever claims to live in him, must walk as Jesus did." Let me read it again, "Whoever claims to live in him, must walk as Jesus did." It's not an optional thing. It's not this optional thing. Well maybe I can be a Christian and admire everything about Jesus but my life will look nothing like his. No John says no, "Whoever claims to live in him," whoever claims to have Jesus in him, "must walk as Jesus did."
