"The Jesus of the gospels is the great Nonconformist. Even a very cursory reading makes it plain that Jesus was always being criticized for His failure to conform to the expected pattern. He was, in the opinion of the people of His day, extremely unconventional. Why does He hobnob with the riff-raff and disreputable people (Mk 2:16)? Why do they feast instead of fasting (2:18)? Why are they so casual about keeping the details of the Law (2:24)? He had answers for all these questions, but neither His answers nor His reasons seem always to have been understood.
He was accused not only of being unconventional, but also of being a fanatic [I think radical is a better word]. They did not use that word, but the words they used were intended to wound and hurt...It seems that He was not moderate. He was not the kind of colourless character about whom nobody has any bad word to say, or good word either. He was not out to please people by compromising in order to avoid offence. He insisted that the new wine of the new covenant could not be contained in the old legalistic bottles; the accepted forms were inadequate and unable to serve the new kingdom.
He seems to have been rather an uncomfortable person to be with, but when He differs from the customs of His time we can see that He is right to differ, and that it is our thinking which has been wrong. There is a perfection and an order and a sanity about all that He says and does. Here is One who does all things well, who is full of grace and truth, and out of whose mouth proceed gracious words, and indeed nobody else ever spoke as wonderfully as He spoke (Mk. 7:37; Jn. 1:14; Lk. 4:22; Jn. 7:46). His claims seem to be extreme and absolute, and the authority He claims is supreme. His own dedication is to finish the work (Jn. 4 34; 5:36) which His Father has given Him to do, and His meat and drink is to do the will of God. He has a tremendous sense of being hemmed in, constrained (Lk. 12:50), until it is accomplished. Here is a man with His face steadfastly set to go to Jerusalem (Lk. 9:51), so much so that those who followed were frightened by the intensity of His Purpose (Mk. 10:32ff.). Is this an attitude of moderation, of not taking things too far? Here is One in Gethsemane, calling on God with strong crying and tears (Heb. 5:7, AV), going on to death, even the shameful death of the cross. Is this moderation?" (Take My Life, Micheal Griffiths, Inter-Varsity Press, pg. 22-23, brackets added)
Jesus Christ is a strong example of how a person should be in their own life. Radical not moderate. The choice is yours.
Radical not Moderate
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
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