Wait A Minute

Last night, a video surfaced all over the internet about a guy's poem saying how he loves Jesus but hates religion. While everyone seemed so blown away by what he said, I watched it a few more times and didn't really find myself all that fascinated. If you haven't seen it, here it is.

I give the guy props for what he did because I, for one, probably would never have the guts to make such a declaration in the fashion that he did. The poem was well written and you can tell he knows his stuff. So when I took a deeper look, this is what I've found.

First and foremost, I think the reason that any of us who relate to this is because we are Christians ourselves. Being Christians, it's very obvious, to a point where even "blind" see, that on a universal scale, we get thrown in with the rest of the "religions" in this world. And while everything in this video is quite true - yes, Christianity is quite different from most faiths - I didn't find it to be anything that profound. Well, you might be thinking "I just liked it because it's a good refresher, stop overreacting." I know quite well, and from experience, that things that you heard in this video will re-surface in time without you even knowing it. Anyways...

Jefferson Bethke, the man that wrote this, seems to be trying to separate Christianity with the rest of the world's religions. There's a lot of things in the video that Jefferson didn't address, so it's not safe for me to be assuming things like what caused him to write a poem like this; therefore, I can only speak from my own findings relating to what he said.

Many years ago, I was in this exact position that Jefferson is. I hated being called a "Christian" because I would look at the societies in this world and what sort of perceptions that arose if I told someone that I am a Christian. Not only with the way Christians are viewed, but I thought that people who didn't label themselves with any particular faith, they would probably just throw Christianity into a group with the rest of the religions in this world. So when people asked me, I told them that I am a follower of Jesus. As time progressed and as I grew older, I learned that being a follower of Jesus is really sketchy.

This character of Jesus defines what Christianity is, and at the same time it doesn't. What sets the boundaries for the different faiths is their view of who Jesus is and was. Most religions won't deny the existence of Jesus; the conflicts are found in who Jesus was. Some say that he was just a prophet, or a very influential person, a great teacher, etc. So by saying that I follow Jesus, what does that really mean? Because I could believe that Jesus was just a very influential person, nothing more, and still be a follower of him - much like if I was to say that I follow the teachings of Gandhi. Christianity sees Jesus as the one and only son of God, that he is one of the three persons in the Holy Trinity - fully God and fully human - and that he came to this earth to live a sin-free life and act as the sacrifice for our sins by dying on the cross in order for us to have a chance to be reunited with God. Three days after Jesus died, he rose again and ascended to the right hand of God. For simplicity's sake, I'm going to leave it there; but I think you should get the point of what I'm trying to say because for other religions, they won't agree with one or more of those points about who Jesus was.

So, coming back to this poem and video, this is why I don't think it's that mind blowing. Yes, it was very good and refreshing in helping us understand that we as Christians are different; but none of this should ever come as a surprise. For myself, I tried to distinguish myself as different when I was in this stage of my life because I didn't want to be put in the same category as those people that call themselves Christians and then go and sin left and right.

Then, when I started to read and study more of what the Bible says about our life as Christians, I began to learn that it's really no big deal - all of this is expected to happen. Jesus, himself, told his disciples that when they go do what Jesus commanded them to do, that they will be persecuted and mocked and every other bad thing you can find. As the Scriptures kept going, it was exactly what happened. And even further into the New Testament, there are some great passages that talk about this whole living as a Christian type of thing. In 1 Peter 4, there is a perfect example about being persecuted as a Christian:

¹² Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³ But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. ¹⁴ If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. ¹⁵ If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. ¹⁶ However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.

This all comes back to the fact that we don't like to be labeled as a "religion" that sprouts this want to be separated from all the other organized religions.

Anyways, I can go on and on but I don't want to take away from a good job done by Jefferson Bethke on this subject. It's very good to listen to, and to act as a reminder, about our faith in God because he basically gave us the essentials of what Christianity really means. I just wanted to state that it isn't really anything new and nothing that we shouldn't have heard before.

I'm done. Haha.