The Jesus dilemma

“All the tax collectors and sinners were approaching to listen to Jesus.
And the Pharisees and scribes were complaining, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them!’” (Luke 15:1-2)

In those two brief verses, the entire ministry of Jesus can be summed up as well as the legacy of the church that has been tasked to follow after Him. While He was on earth, Jesus loved those who were far from God while the religious leaders of His day hated Him for it. Unfortunately, that pattern still holds true today.

Years ago, someone coined the phrase “What Would Jesus Do?” (WWJD) and from that spawned countless bracelets, t-shirts, and Wednesday messages from youth pastors. The idea was that if it was good enough for Jesus, then it should be good enough for us, too. And what exactly was good enough for Jesus? Luke 15:1 gives us the answer – He loved those who were far from God.

Today’s Christians – myself included – have too often chosen to take this idea of loving those who are far from God by sending the love of Jesus to far away places in the form of missions and charitable giving. This isn’t a bad idea because, after all, those places have lots of people who are far from God and if we take Jesus to them then maybe they will love Him too, right? Besides, we are going to give them and their kids lots of cool trinkets and hard-hitting gospel messages that will warn them of God’s wrath to come. And then, of course, we will pack up our stuff, drive or fly back home, and have an emotional Sunday service where participants wearing matching t-shirts share testimonies and slides illustrating just how much God did through them when they went to these faraway places to share His love to those who desperately needed it. Can I get an amen?!?

Before you send me hate mail for being so incredibly cynical about the short-term mission trips you have participated in, hear me out. The above illustration is only one example of the dilemma that Christians find themselves in when it comes to loving people like Jesus loved people. I don’t know that I have ever been around a group of believers who did NOT want to see people far from God come into a saving relationship through Jesus Christ. I have never heard a fellow Christian pray, “Lord, DON’T save this person and DON’T let them know the love of Jesus.” To say those things would be absolutely ridiculous, right?

Yet...

How easy it is for fellow Christians to act and sound more like the angry old man who demands that those punk kids stay off his lawn:

• “We can’t put more in the church budget for missions or charitable giving – we need to get this building paid off!”
• “I can’t believe that anyone would support an organization like Planned Parenthood! Those people have no value for human life! And while I’m at it, I hope they catch that immigrant who shot that woman. He should hang for his crime – he doesn’t deserve to live!”
•  “Let’s plan another fall festival for October. Maybe all those people from the neighborhood down the road will come this year so that we can finally reach out to them.”
• “I don’t think I have enough to time to volunteer at the homeless shelter. There is this new Bible study on Tuesday nights that I am in – it’s about loving your neighbor. And then I have choir rehearsal for Sunday morning and don’t forget Sunday night Bible study at the Martin’s house. Oh, and Wednesday we will be at the church leading the children in how to write letters of encouragement to missionaries overseas. Maybe I will have more time later to help out.”
• “Did you hear what that other church down the road is doing? They have members that are opening their home to immigrants who are being relocated to our town. How dangerous does that sound! I would never take the chance of putting my family at risk to help those people – Lord only knows what kind of criminal things they want to do in our country.”

If you have heard or experienced these same kinds of statements, then you can understand how we may be in far more danger of sounding and looking like the religious leaders in Luke 15:2 – complaining about others who are striving to live and love like Jesus did – than we are of actually living and loving like Jesus did.

It is not easy to be a follower of Jesus in the 21st Century. Jesus Himself even said that following Him would be difficult. But it is much more difficult to truly follow Him and love those who are far from God when we as His church have created so many boundaries and safe zones for ourselves that we never actually have to be in close contact with those people in the first place. When the life that Jesus lived every single day looks more like an isolated mission project to His followers, then we have indeed found ourselves in a most precarious dilemma.

There is no justice. At least not yet.

Have any of you seen the Netflix series called Making a Murderer? It's a fascinating 10-part documentary that follows the life and crimes of a man named Steven Avery, a man convicted in 1985 for a brutal sexual assault which, it turns out, he never even committed. After serving 18 years in prison, DNA evidence exonerated Steven Avery and he was released in 2003. But that's just when his story really got started.

Knowing that he was wrongfully convicted, Steven Avery sought justice against the system that he believed negligently incarcerated him. As his attorneys were preparing to bring their lawsuit on behalf of Avery, another tragic event happened. Avery was accused, then tried, and then convicted of murdering a woman with the help of his nephew, who confessed and testified against Steven Avery. He is now serving life without parole for another despicable crime that again he claims he didn't do.

When crimes or committed or wrongs are done against us, we want justice and we want it now. Avery's case is classic example of injustice - a man serving 18 years for a crime he didn't commit. But then with his conviction on murder, the picture of justice gets more cloudy. Making a Murderer carries with it a slant toward Avery's innocence and many people, after watching all ten episodes, are convinced of his innocence and demanding a new trial.

So what does it take to get justice in our world? Better yet, what is justice in the first place? A layman's understanding of justice would mean that when someone is guilty of a crime, they do the time. Yet in our fast-paced, instant access culture, the ideas of innocence and guilty no longer appear to be so cut and dry.

Whether it is the Serial Season 1 podcast casting doubt on a high school senior's murder conviction or the Paradise Lost trilogy which actually resulted in the release of three men who were convicted of murdering three children in 1993, there is no consensus anymore on who is innocent or guilty or where justice truly lies. If you aren't convinced, watch a presidential debate and tell me afterward who told the whole truth!

As the great show The X Files used to proclaim, "The truth is out there!"

But where is it?

First, we have to understand that when we're dealing with human beings there will always be the potential for deception. That's because people lie. All the time. And they do so to cover their tracks, take unwarranted credit for success, or to deflect blame on someone else. This is what people do. I'm not condoning it at all, just explaining it as part of the process.

Second, people are never going to fully agree on innocent vs. guilty, true vs. false, even if the obvious evidence is right in front of their faces. We want to believe what we want to believe about certain people and nothing will change our minds. I'm sure there are many mothers of sons on death row who still believe that they are "good boys."

Finally, there is a solution. In fact, the truth IS out there and it's not far away at all. No, I'm not talking about uncovering hidden evidence that will either exonerate or implicate someone in a real-life crime. I'm talking about a much deeper truth that serves as a foundation to all of life. I'm talking about Jesus.

In John 14:6, Jesus dropped a bombshell on His disciples when He claimed, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No once comes to Father except through me." With those words Jesus wasn't claiming to deliver everything that we would need to solve future court cases. Instead, He made it very clear that if we would believe in who He said He was - the Son of God - and accept what He was about to do at that time - offer Himself for the sins of the world - then we would be embracing the truest true that man could possibly fathom.

This truth leads us to the reality that, no matter how hard we try, we can't save ourselves.

This truth leads us to the reality that, if we want to have a relationship with God, Jesus is the only way.

This truth leads us to the reality that we aren't here by some cosmic accident, but rather God has placed us here for a purpose - to know Jesus.

And this truth leads us to the reality that, while things in this world are messed up now and the good guys don't always win, there is coming a day when that will all change. Jesus is coming back, and when He does return all the evil and wickedness and injustice in the world will be abolished forever. And if you have a relationship with God that only faith in Jesus can provide, you will be forever wrapped up in that truth as well.

As time goes by, I will be interested to see follow ups on some of these now high profile crimes and how, when, and if they are resolved through our justice system. In the meantime, I anticipate that many more men and women will declare their innocence or we will declare their guilt. All of this makes for good entertainment but, unless we know all the facts - which we most certainly never do - we have to rely on what we are told to form our opinions.

Thankfully, your life in Christ never has to rely on such shaking footings. Your faith in Jesus doesn't guarantee that you will never be falsely accused or that our courts will fail to prosecute the right person. But your faith in Jesus does guarantee that while injustice may be elusive in your lifetime, after your time on earth is through you will spend eternity with the righteous King who will make all things new. No more crying, no more pain, no more injustice, just perfect peace.