Is that what Jesus told you to do?

Jim, is this what Jesus told you guys to do? Who is Jim and why do you ask? What is going on? Why does this blog start with all these questions? Where is Kevin going with this? Oh, I could go on and on, but my fun at your expense should probably stop, it seems that it may be in poor sport. So, what is this blog about? (Did it again, HA HA!)

Jim, is a guy that wrote a book with the help of another guy named Casper. In fact, they called their book, simply enough, Jim and Casper Go To Church. The question was asked by Casper to Jim in the book they wrote together. A little back-story might help. See, Jim refers to himself as a “longtime Christian” and Casper is a self-proclaimed atheist. While it sounds like a premise for a Fox reality show, “Jim loves God, Casper hates God, let’s put them together and see what happens, next week following the Simpsons.” It is actually a very good book, granted with a catchy title. As the title “somewhat subtly” implies Jim and Casper go to many different churches in many different towns. Jim paid Casper to give him his honest opinion of what he thought. It is very interesting to read Casper’s impression of what he saw. In Casper’s defense, I am taking a little dramatic license with the Fox reality show title; Casper never says he hates God. He simply does not believe in God, which is the definition of atheist. Someone who hates god might be called a misotheist.

Any way, I tend to go on, back to point. Is this what Jesus told you guys to do? Excellent question! Especially coming from an atheist. You would really need to read the book to understand why Casper asks this question in the context of the book. I invite you to go buy the book; it’s a quick read. My intention here is not to review the book, but to discuss Casper’s question. I find it challenging. The church is an organization. Like all organizations, we have tendencies. We tend to propagate, when we are not careful (which is almost always), self-supporting subcultures. Which means that we sometimes find ourselves doing things that don’t really make sense when compared to what Jesus said do. I propose that we Christians don’t ask ourselves if what we do is what Jesus said do enough.

Would it be obvious to an atheist that we miss the point? Every week we do what we do at church. Every week we have a service, but what does it mean in the grand scheme of things? Do we honestly live a life that puts Christ first in all we do? Do we live out the example of sacrifice and service that we saw in Jesus’ life? Do we embrace the challenge of the example Jesus gave us? Are do we produce a form of clean well intentioned entertainment serving to make people feel better about who they are, as opposed to who they can be in Christ? People do not tend to embrace challenge when it can be avoided. Jesus, on the other hand, did not seem to avoid tuff situations.