Changing Minds about Jesus
Matthew 21:7-11; Mark 15:6-15
April 5, 2009
NOTE: THE ME/WE/GOD/YOU/WE FORMAT IS FROM ANDY STANLEY’S BOOK, "COMMUNICATING FOR A CHANGE."
Me: One of the most challenging parts of being a pastor is confronting erroneous ideas about Jesus.
He’s just a nice spiritual teacher, or He’s a mystical guru who happened to get caught up in the politics of the time and got Himself killed by the political hacks in power at the time.
He’s seen as a failure by the Moonies, as the brother of Satan by many Mormons, and as the perfect example of a vegan by other vegans.
I guess they missed the part where He ate fish…
I come across these things all the time, whether it’s in my personal interactions with people, or in my research, or even just reading the paper.
If you want an education in what people think about Jesus sometime, just read the opinion page in the Aberdeen American News.
At times I’ve had to respond to some of those things because their erroneous ideas would lead others astray and keep them from find the truth about Jesus.
And believing a false idea about Jesus could mean that that person misses out on what it means to be forgiven and have a home in heaven.
In other words, believing the wrong things about Jesus can cost someone eternity in heaven.
And I don’t want that.
We: Obviously I’m not the only one in this room who has run into false ideas about Jesus.
I think all of us have, and we may not have even recognized it sometimes.
Some of the ideas about Jesus are subtle, and may kinda sneak under the radar.
But along with me, I hope that you’re concerned about how people see Jesus, because of how it can affect someone’s ability to put their faith in Him.
God: Our Scripture passage for today talks about how some people rejected truth for falsehood about Jesus.
Over the last week of His life, there was a major shift in opinion regarding Jesus, and who He really was.
This shift in opinion is indicative of how our world thinks about Jesus today.
Matthew 21:7-11 (pp. 697-698) –
7 They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
"Hosanna to the Son of David!"
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Hosanna in the highest!"
10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, "Who is this?"
11 The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."
You can just imagine the scene, can’t you? Cheering crowds, people throwing their coats and tree branches on the ground, people trying to get Jesus’ autograph…
But look at what the crowd was saying just five days later…
Mark 15:6-15 (p. 721) –
6 Now it was the custom at the Feast to release a prisoner whom the people requested. 7 A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. 8 The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.
9 "Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate, 10 knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.
12 "What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?" Pilate asked them.
13 "Crucify him!" they shouted.
14 "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"
15 Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
It took a space of only five days for the crowd to decide that their previous opinion of Jesus as the Messiah-King should be changed to Jesus as the common criminal.
Five days between the truth of Jesus as King and the falsehood of Jesus as criminal.
Five days between “We love you!” and “We hate you!”
Five days between “We want you” and “We want you dead.”
Five days.
If there had been an election on Sunday, Jesus would have been elected President or King, or whatever there was to be had.
On Friday He was being executed.
What’s the deal with that?
The deal is that at the end of the week, people had the wrong idea about Jesus.
And today, as I mentioned at the beginning of the message, people have all sorts of ideas about Jesus and what it means to follow Him, and few of them have any semblance of reality based on the Scriptures.
People today respond to their idea of Jesus, just like the crowd on that ugly Friday.
And if their perception of Jesus is wrong, then their response will be wrong, and it can affect where they spend eternity.
You: I think it’s high time for the Church to start working to bring the world’s opinion of Jesus back to where it should be.
In other words, helping people see Jesus for who He really is: the King.
One day all of creation will recognize Him as the King. But it’s only those who recognize Him as King during their early life who will be part of His kingdom and be with Him for all eternity in heaven.
Let’s look at some ways to help change minds about Jesus.
I’m actually going to start with #2, and finish with #1, because as I got to thinking about this, I thought it would stick better that way, okay?
So here are four ways to help change minds about Jesus, starting with #2:
Here’s another way to help people get the right idea about Jesus, and that is to…
2. Talk about Him more.
Especially about how He’s changing your life.
I’m not entirely sure why this is, but it seems that we live in a day and age where people are embarrassed to talk about Jesus.
It’s ironic, because we also live in a day and age where talking about spirituality is cool. It’s just not real cool to talk about Jesus for some reason.
Our society is a bit hypocritical about that. We should actually have more courage than ever to talk about Jesus nowadays.
I’m not talking about shoving Jesus down peoples’ throats. I did enough of that in college to know that doesn’t work out real well.
I could lead a support group for people who tried to find a way to work Jesus into every conversation.
“Hey, can I have the ketchup? Thanks. Wow, this stuff is as red as blood. Speaking of blood, did you know Jesus shed His blood on the cross for you?”
I’m just talking about talking about Him when it’s appropriate like when someone asks you about Him or asks your opinion about stuff.
If your opinions and convictions come from Scripture, tell people that’s where they come from.
Remember, you have just as much of a right to your opinions and convictions as the next guy, and you the right to express them as the next guy.
Again, I’m not saying be pushy or arrogant about it. But there’s no reason to be embarrassed or apologize for following Jesus.
I think that if more people started talking about Jesus, then even more people would start talking about Him, and pretty soon, more and more people are gonna learn who Jesus really is and what He’s really like.
And more people will come to Him for forgiveness of sins and a home in heaven.
Here’s a third way we can help people get the right idea of Jesus, and this one’s a bit more personal:
3. Act like He really is the Boss.
The Bible says that Jesus is the King, and if you are a believer in Jesus, He’s supposed to be your king as well.
The king is the Boss. The Master. The one who calls the shots.
In the business world, when the boss says to do something, you usually do it, right?
One of the most painful lessons I had to learn in the workplace is that no matter what you have on your to-do list, if the boss comes to you do so something, that goes to the top of your to-do list, right? Unless your boss lets you finish the other stuff, his priorities become your priorities.
And if you don’t make his to-do list your to-do list, then pretty soon his to-do list is going to include, “Fire that guy.”
Well, if we claim to be a Christian, we have to understand that Jesus is the boss. His priorities need to be our priorities.
Basically, when Jesus says to do something, you do it. When He says to not do something, you don’t do it.
Pretty simple, for the most part.
This can be summed up in one word: obedience.
And you don’t have to wait for some mystical voice from heaven to tell you to do or not do something.
All you need to live in this world and live for Christ is all right here in the Bible. All we need.
If believers would actually take the time to read and study the Scriptures, they’d see how down-to-earth and practical the Bible really is, and they’d be more willing to obey what it says.
I think a lot of people, even a lot of believers, think the Bible is just a book of hard-to-understand teachings that don’t have a place in our lives today. But they’re wrong.
The Scriptures touch on every area of our living, and they give us great guidance on a practical level.
My point here is that if we’ll obey Jesus, applying the Scriptures to our lives and really acting like Jesus is the Boss in our lives, then people will take notice and want to know more about the truth of Jesus.
The fourth way I want to discuss about how to help people get the real idea about Jesus is to…
4. Start reflecting His life in your own.
One of the most important truths of the Christian life is that most people will make a judgment about Jesus by looking at you before they’ll actually look at Jesus through the Scriptures.
I’ve hammered on this before, but it’s so important to understand.
Most people will either reject Jesus outright or refuse to check him out if they see someone who claims to be a Christian but doesn’t live for Him.
On the other hand, when they see people who claim to be Christians and actually live like Jesus lived and speak like He spoke, then things can happen for them.
People start to see that Jesus was a real person who can meet them where they are, no matter who they are or what they’ve done.
People learn that Jesus isn’t what they see in the hypocrites, but He’s the One who makes a real difference in people’s lives.
But will they see Him in you? Will they look at you and see a love for God and others that can only come from Jesus Himself?
I hope so, because then people will start getting the right ideas about Jesus, and then they can believe in Him.
And here’s the fourth way to help people get the right ideas about Him, which is actually #1 in your note-taking guide, and which I believe would go a long way to helping:
1. Get rid of the “sissy-image” many people have of Him.
You look at some of the paintings of Jesus, especially some of the more popular ones over the ages, and you have to wonder: did these guys even read the gospels?
These paintings almost make Jesus look like a girl with a beard, right?
I’m sorry if I just insulted one of your pictures at home, but am I wrong about this?
They make Jesus look like a sissy, and we wonder why people, and especially guys don’t want to believe and follow Him.
This guy was a carpenter, for crying out loud! He had big, calloused hands. The guy could probably break the hand of anyone in this room with just a handshake.
He walked everywhere He went. Can you imagine the shape He must have been in? Between throwing wood around and walking everywhere, I’m guessing He was pretty ripped.
He was comfortable on fishing boats and the water.
He got in the face of the high religious muckety-mucks and shut them up.
He hung on a cross for six hours after taking a beating that would have killed a lot of guys, and not once did He ask to be taken down.
He kept His cool during His suffering and even took insults while He was dying for your sins and mine.
Does that sound like a sissy to you?
There was a phrase that was made famous on Saturday Night Live, and then Arnold Schwarzenegger made it even more famous.
Some of you know what I’m talking about, right? What is it? “Girly-man.”
It’s an insult toward those who don’t have guts.
Well, let me tell you something: Jesus is not a “girly-man!”
I think we need to be more intentional about showing people that Jesus is a man’s man.
No man here would be ashamed to have Jesus hang out with him.
So let’s get rid of the “sissy-image” of Jesus.
Here’s what I want to suggest to you to really contemplate over this next week:
Which of these four things shall I work on the most for now?
Pick one of these, asking God to show you how to put it into real-life application from this point on.
Just pick one. Not all four. Just one, asking God to make it real in your life.
We: Have you ever been in a situation where you had heard a lot about a person, and then when you meet them you find out that they’re nothing like what you were told?
It’s kind of embarrassing. But after you get to know that person better, you begin to see that they’re really a class act.
The more you hang out with that person, the better you get to know them, and the more you like them.
It’s the same way with Jesus.
People see and hear all sorts of stuff about Jesus, but a lot of it is wrong.
But when people see Jesus living in you, they’re more willing to learn about Him from the Scriptures.
And the Holy Spirit uses that to draw them to Christ so they can learn about Him even more, and finally put their faith in Him.
And then they can be part of the crowd that calls Him “King” and their lives can be changed by Him – their sins forgiven, guaranteed a place in heaven, and hope and help for life in the meantime.
Wouldn’t it be great if the majority of people you hang out with understood Jesus for who He really is?
Wouldn’t it be great if all the people in your sphere of influence were open to learning more about Jesus because of what they see in you?
It’s what I strive for, with the help of God. I hope it’s what you will strive for as well.
Jesus will never be real popular, according to Scripture. But at least people will be more likely to get the right ideas about Him, because they see Jesus in us.
Let’s pray.
