What would Jesus change?

 

Luke 8:11-18

There's a question I heard one pastor ask. Since I heard it several months ago, I've probably thought about it every day. The question centered on a hypothetical situation. If Jesus came and pastored your church, what would his ministry look like? Think about every aspect of your church's ministry. What would Jesus change about your order of worship? The place and time you worship? How would evangelism happen? What would the focus be for your church? Essentially, what would Jesus change about your church? Many pastors, apparently, affirmed Jesus would change everything. So, the question is, Then why won't you change even one thing? It'd be easy to use that example to embolden our leadership. But that's another example, perhaps, of what Jesus would change. He'd take our minds off the leadership industry so we can refocus on discipleship. Remember the parable of the sower? The sower, you'll recall, scattered seed. Some seed became bird feed. Some fell on rocky ground or among thorns and neither was good. But there was some that fell on good soil whose crop yielded "a hundred times more than was sown." Jesus concluded that parable by saying, "Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear" (Luke 8:8). But his disciples asked for an explanation. So, the Lord explained the meaning. After mentioning the absurdity of lighting a lamp and hiding it, he then told his disciples this: Consider carefully how you listen" (Luke 8:18). What we listen for is important. How we listen for it is significant, too. That's what I imagine Jesus would change in our churches today. Whatever is keeping us from carefully listening. Of course, there's a personal aspect to that. We often keep ourselves from listening. Our bad attitudes and stubbornness do the trick. But there's also a communal acceptance of the way things are, even if they aren't quite so holy. Quite frankly, modern day pastor Jesus would have a lot of changes to make. Unless we change them first. Stay blessed...john