The Divine Crash

Today we kept up the idea of popular myths within Christianity.  This week is the myth that Christians are supposed to be nice.   Being nice is dangerous.  Check the notes below to read about being a loving Christians instead of a nice Christian.  Also, you can listen to the audio at the bottom of the post or your can download the sermon as an iTunes podcast.

Matthew 23:13-33

Prayer:

Word of advice, this is no way to make friends.

Jesus steps out and calls out the Pharisees.  He is angry with what they are doing and how they are doing.  These are the people who proclaim to be good followers of God.

Notice something, no where in the gospel does Jesus apologize for his statements.

Jesus is unapologetically mean, rude, crass, and harsh.

There is a myth within popular Christianity that says Christians have to be nice, quiet, self-denial, and at the whim of everyone else.  In otherword’s the belief is that Christians are giant doormats for everyone to walk all over, wipe the junk off their feet and then walk away.  This is a dangerous belief.

This belief will ruin a marriage because neither of them will talk about the things wrong because they are trying to be nice.

This belief will ruin a church because everyone is trying to be nice and respectful of everyone else and we don’t share the gospel because it might offend someone.

This belief will ruin your wallet because everyone keeps asking for money and now you have none and are unable to pay your own bills.

This belief will destroy a pastor because they will attempt to please everyone in the congregation.

This belief will destroy your soul because you can only go for so long trying to make everyone else happy before your very soul dies.

This belief will destroy the ability to for Christians to have any influence because nice people always finish last.

Jesus was not a nice man.  Jesus broke the rules, got in fights, disrespected the leaders, did what he was told not to do, and even broke tradition.  Jesus is not nice, Jesus is dangerous and unpredictable.

If we are followers of Jesus then we should be the same.  When we walk into a polling place governments should shudder because Christians are dangerous and unpredictable.

unfortunately too many Christians have become nice.  Here is the symptom check if you are a nice Christian:

Do you agree to something to one person and something else to another, so as not to offend anyone? (vs 13)

Do you dismiss parts of the Bible that are difficult to understand? (vs 13)

Do you believe conflict and anger are sins?

Are you the person at church who never says no to anything even though it will damage important areas of your life? (vs 15)

Do you make others the emotional center of your life?

Do you smile even when what is happening is wrong, only to rant and fume about it later? (vs. 27)

Do you hide mistakes, even when the consequences are little or none? (vs 23)

Do you feel embarrassed when someone compliments you? (vs. 26)

Do you believe it is selfish to have needs and desires?

Do you get angry at people who have different beliefs than you? (vs. 24)

Do you think that serving others, making sure everyone likes you, and following social norms are the key to salvation? (vs 16)

If these symptoms are in your life then perhaps you have become a nice Christian.

This is a problem because Jesus was not nice.

Jesus tells the Pharisees that by being nice they are

Keeping people out of heaven (vs. 13)

The followers of the nice pharisees were even more likely to go to hell (vs. 15

Missing the most important thing about God, relationships to God.

Caring more about the little things than the things that do matter.

Clean on the outside but full of guilt and shame on the inside.

Throughout this Jesus tells the most telling issue with being nice.  They are hypocrites.

For Jesus being nice is being a hypocrite.

Instead Jesus says to follow him.

This means we can say No to people because Jesus did.

This means we can stand up for what is right because Jesus did.

This means it is okay to be angry when bad things happen because Jesus was.

This means we are allowed to want things because Jesus did.

This means we are allowed to not do everything asked of us because Jesus didn’t.

This means we can stand up to people and institutions that are stepping on our toes because Jesus did.

This means we can give our all to the only thing that really matters, a real life in relationship with God, because Jesus did.

Yet, it got Jesus killed.

We have often heard that the Christian thing to do is to sit down and keep our mouth shut and not rock the boat.  Jesus never did that.  It is actually more Christian to rock the boat of injustice.

So then, Christians aren’t called to be nice.  Christians are instead called to love.  Jesus gives this idea what Jesus says that the most important things in life are to love God and love your neighbor and then Jesus takes it one step further and says Love your enemies in Luke 6:27.

Paul picks up this idea when he says that the fruit of the spirit is love.  Joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self control are symptoms of love.

Sometimes love isn’t nice.

Love never keeps a record of wrong but sometimes love never sits down when wrongs happen.

Love suffers long but love will not suffer injustice

Love does not envy but love does not give in to oppression

Love is not puffed up but love will stand up to hatred and bigotry

Love does not boast, but love does speak the truth about a situation

Love is not rude, but love does not sugar coat which can make love look rude.

Love does not seek its own but love will seek justice for all

Love does not think evil, love will crush evil.

Love bears all things, but love will not let oppression stand.

Love believes all things, including that somethings are just wrong.

Love hopes all things, even that this world is not lost and that God is redeeming all things through Jesus Christ.

Sometimes love is harsh, crass, and even sarcastic.

There is a quote:

“Some days love takes the shape of forgiveness, some days love sounds like a dove.  But some days love can no longer tolerate the wickedness and gives birth to resistance.”  A resistance not just against men or organizations but against the darkness that surrounds us all against the sin inside us and the evil we drink in it begins in our hearts and isn’t done till light floods the streets.”

Sometimes, love isn’t nice it stands against the evil we see.

With the birth of Jesus, God looks at this world and declares “I love this world and I can no longer stand the injustice within it.”

and so the birth of Jesus is not a nice event it is a messy, painful, and earth shaking event that doesn’t stand and curse the darkness but lights a flamethrower into the midst of the utter blackness.

So then, if you are nice Jesus says stop being nice.

- Stand up for yourself

- Declare that things are wrong.

- Say no the next time someone asks you to do something, even if it is in the church.

- Focus on the things that matter even if you let someone down.

This myth of being nice will destroy you if you let it.  Stop being nice and destroy the myth of nice Christians.

Instead of being nice, love.  Not in a doormat kind of way but in a way that will change the world through acts of subversive compassion and counter-political love.

Sermon Audio

 

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