Jesus' Love


"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." — Matthew 11:28-30

I've been reading a new book by Donald Miller called "Searching For God Knows What." It's interesting and challenging. It's basically an exploration of big theological ideas from someone who's like you and me.

In the middle of the book there is a chapter on the attributes of Jesus. Reading those, thinking about what we see of Jesus in the Bible and what we see of the emissaries of Jesus in the church, it's not hard to see why some people get turned off  by Christians. One of the things you see in Jesus' life and ministry is that He loved people and He loved to be with people. And not just the people that set up chairs or sang songs in church, but all people.

Think about that for a moment. Think about that in contrast with the modern church. Seems a little different than the people holding hate-filled signs on street corners, organizing protests, or proudly condemning people to Hell.

Don't get me wrong, some of the reasons they offer warnings have to do with the undeniable truth of the Scriptures. There are real reasons that we need to help people turn when they've stumbled off the path. Jesus talked about that throughout his Earthly ministry. The thing is, He did it in love. Often, we don't.

Jesus wasn't afraid to embrace and spend time with those who were on the wrong path. He trusted that His right message and His right example would have a powerful impact on turning people's hearts. And you know what we see in Scripture? It worked.

That, more than anything, is something the church needs to do a better job of modeling today.

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