Build-A-Bear Jesus
Please stand as we read our newest memory Scripture together …
2 Timothy 4:3-4
“The time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
“They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
And our memory refresher verse(s) for today is(are) …
Isaiah 9:6
“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder. And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
Please open your Bibles to: Matthew 11:25-30
(Prayer for help with today’s message)
Have you ever heard of Build-A-Bear?
At a Build-A-Bear store you can create a one-of-a-kind stuffed animal; a toy.
There is a huge variety of toys to choose from in all different sized and colors.
First you choose the type of bear you want to “build”. But when you get this bear it is only an empty bear shaped bag which you then stuff with material.
After you stuff the bear there are many accessories you can either add or ignore.
You can add; hats, eyewear, a stuffed hearing aid, a diabetes kit, a passport in case your bear wants to travel, wigs, purses and backpacks, a bear home or car.
You can record your voice for the bear to replay. You can add a heartbeat.
You can even buy stuffed toys for your stuffed bear to play with …
You can add all of these accessories or none of them.
Or … you could even claim that Build-A-Bears don’t even exist but that you have one anyway …
All of that is fine with building as toy bear but how does it apply to anything else?
Does anyone know what the word narcissistic means?
“Having an undue fascination with oneself; vain. Tending to derive gratification from admiration of one's own physical or mental attributes. Self-centered, self-involved, conceited, egotistic, stuck-up, vain, vainglorious, egotistical …
That’s the adjective form of the word. The noun form of the word is narcissism and the dictionary says that narcissism “a normal condition at the infantile level of personality development.”
If you think about it, what is the most extreme thought a narcissist could have?
I realize that there could and would be hundreds of opinions on this but for a person who claims to be a Christian, what would be the ultimate end of narcissism?
“I will make God/Jesus in any image I want to make Him!”
You might ask, “What on earth has brought this all about?”
As I drive through the small towns on our travels I keep seeing this sign on churches that says, “Jesus didn’t reject people and neither do we.”
Did Jesus come to reject people? No!
Luke 19:10 NLT says, “[Jesus] came to seek and to save those who are lost.”
Now, we know from Genesis that we were created in the image of God Himself.
Listen to this! I just love this little glimpse into the Trinitarian nature of God found in …
Genesis 1:26-27 where it says,
“Then God said, ‘Let Us make mankind in Our image, in Our likeness … so God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.”
So, you see, we are created in the image of God Himself. Wouldn’t it be the ultimate insult to God for a Christian to think that they can define Jesus, the Son of God, in any way they want to?
Wouldn’t it take a deluded narcissist to elevate themselves above the Lord God in that way?
Is Jesus like a “Build-A-Bear” where we get the shell and then we can stuff Him with anything we like? Is Jesus like a “Build-A-Bear” where we can add or remove characteristics according to our whims?
With that in mind let’s look at some of the characteristics of Jesus: Matthew 11:25-30
May God bless the reading of His Word …
What a beautiful image of our Lord and God, Jesus Christ!
Are you weary and burdened? Jesus will give you rest!
Jesus is gentle and humble in heart. You will find rest for your souls ….
Everyone loves that don’t they? I love that! I love HIM!!! I almost cannot even express in words my thankfulness for His mercy, forgiveness and love.
But many would have you think that Jesus is one dimensional.
That Jesus is just an easy going guy. No pressure.
After all, if Jesus is gentle and humble in heart He certainly will not make any demands on me!
What else do I really need to know about Jesus?
I call myself a Christian and that should be good enough, right?
A couple of years ago there was a video that came out with a group of young people who identified themselves as “Christian”. Here’s what they had to say …
I’m a Christian but ….
- I’m not homophobic
- I’m not close minded
- I’m not unaccepting
- I’m not uneducated
- I’m not judgmental
- I’m not conservative
- I’m not ignorant
- I don’t put myself on a pedestal
I’m a Christian even though … (Here is why they be distinguished from “other”
Christians)
- I am accepting
- I am queer
- I am gay
- I am a feminist
- I do believe in science
- I’m not afraid to talk about sex
- I LOVE wine
- I do go to church on Sundays
- I was a Young Life camp counselor
- I listen to Christian music
- I have friends in different religions and I love them all
What do people need to know about Christians?
People need to know that …
- Christians are not all crazy
- Christians should not be judged by other Christians … all Christians are different … we should have a chance to explain ourselves
- Other Christians tend to put themselves on a higher pedestal
- Christianity is about love and acceptance and being a good neighbor
- Just because we prescribe [sic] to a religion that has some real terrible people in, it does not make us all terrible
- Christians should not judge people for what they do
- We are all on a path to wherever we are going
Did anyone notice who is not mentioned even once in any of the testimonies?
Jesus or even God in any aspect of the Trinity – never mentioned …
What was said about sin? Nothing …
What was said about our eternal destinies? Well, at least this had one statement …
“We are all on a path to wherever we are going ….”
Jesus was never mentioned but when I have spoken to people who believe the same as these young people, their image of God is one of endless, non-judgmental love.
People of Crossroads, this should make us weep! These young people are lost!
They apparently do not know the Scriptures or have rejected the Bible for what it plainly says.
Yes! Yes!! Yes!!! Jesus is the God of love! His sacrifice is so enormous that we cannot even superficially comprehend it! That is how much He loves us!
But … He is also the God of Justice!
Earlier we read Matthew 11:25-30 which said that Jesus will come along side us when we are weary from carrying a heavy load of sin and that He is gentle and humble and will give us rest for our souls! That is wonderful. That is a good and loving God!
But, did Jesus ever reject anyone?
Jesus chased merchants out of the Temple by turning over their tables and chasing them with a whip! (John 2:15)
Jesus called the Pharisees; blind guides, greedy and self-indulgent, full of hypocrisy and wickedness, snakes and vipers! Jesus even asked them how they would escape being condemned to hell? (Matthew 23:16-36)
But now listen to Matthew 11:20-24
There is a day of Judgment coming and Jesus will be the judge.
That doesn’t really fit with the Build-A-Bear Jesus of the “Jesus didn’t reject anyone” crowd, does it?
Often when people read the Bible they think of the God of the Old Testament as being a mean and vengeful God; full of fury and judgment but void of love and compassion.
Then they think of Jesus as being the kind, patient, loving God of the New Testament with not one judgmental bone in His body!
This, of course, is a mischaracterization and this is taught is many churches or the Old Testament is ignored completely!
Here is a truth that surprises many people; Jesus IS the same God as the God of the Old Testament!
Let me read just a portion of the Athanasian Creed which labors lovingly to capture the wonder of the Triune Godhead.
“Now this is the true faith:
“That we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity, neither blending their persons nor dividing their essence.
“For the person of the Father is a distinct person, the person of the Son is another, and that of the Holy Spirit still another. But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.
“What quality the Father has, the Son has, and the Holy Spirit has.
The Father is uncreated, the Son is uncreated, the Holy Spirit is uncreated.
“The Father is immeasurable, the Son is immeasurable, the Holy Spirit is immeasurable.
“The Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, the Holy Spirit is eternal.
“And yet there are not three eternal beings; there is but one eternal being.
So too there are not three uncreated or immeasurable beings; there is but one uncreated and immeasurable being.
“Similarly, the Father is almighty, the Son is almighty, the Holy Spirit is almighty.
Yet there are not three almighty beings; there is but one almighty being.
“Thus the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God.
Yet there are not three gods; there is but one God.
“Thus the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord.
Yet there are not three lords; there is but one Lord.
“Just as Christian truth compels us to confess each person individually as both God and Lord, so true religion forbids us to say that there are three gods or lords.”
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The Lord does not play good cop, bad cop, or in this case, Good God, Bad God.
He is God!
Let me just speak briefly about the Trinity.
In the following examples I will be using the Biblical name of the Lord which is Yahweh.
Yahweh has been previous translated as Jehovah.
Yahweh is the name of God in the Old Testament but when you read it in the Old Testament it has been rendered as LORD because they thought the name was too holy to write or say.
So, when we speak of the Trinity we often say God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. This could very well lead someone to think that there ARE three Gods.
And in my mind, when we say Yahweh the Father, Yahweh the Son and Yahweh the Holy Spirit we can see that all three Persons of the Trinity are indeed one God in Yahweh.
With that in mind we can see that Jesus is the same God in the Old Testament and the New Testament.
When the Lord moved the tiny clan of Israel into Egypt for their preservation it was not the God of the Old Testament in the way we would think of it.
It was actually Yahweh the Father, Yahweh the Son and Yahweh the Holy Spirit all agreeing in perfect unity and harmony. And we love to read that.
There are many instances in the Old Testament where we see Yahweh showing love and kindness.
But, what about the time when the Lord decided to destroy three entire clans of Israelites and their families and their children and their animals and all their belongings in Korah’s rebellion found in Numbers 16?
Wasn’t that just the mean God of the Old Testament?
No, it was Yahweh the Father, Yahweh the Son and Yahweh the Holy Spirit all agreeing in perfect unity and harmony.
Jesus was in on that as well. It wasn’t like Jesus said, “No, I’m the nice God but since you have your heart set on doing that, then go ahead but leave me out of it.”
No, the Holy Trinity is the God of love and mercy and forgiveness and He is also the God of justice.
When we read in John 3:16 that “God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son” to bring salvation, it wasn’t just the Father sending the Son. No, it was Yahweh the Father, Yahweh the Son and Yahweh the Holy Spirit all agreeing in perfect unity and harmony to send Yahweh the Son to be the perfect sacrifice for our sin and we love that, don’t we?
But, when we read in Matthew 25:41 where it says, “Then [Jesus the King] will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels’” then that sounds like something uncomfortable to hear.
It sounds like Jesus is rejecting someone.
And, that shakes our foundation when we have pictured Jesus as a one dimensional all-loving God. But in reality it will be Yahweh the Father, Yahweh the Son and Yahweh the Holy Spirit all agreeing in perfect unity and harmony as to the justice of His actions.
Does the Lord need to explain to us why some of the horrible things in the Old Testament happened such as the total destruction of the populations of entire cities at His command? No, He does not!
You see, we do NOT have a “Build-A-Bear” type of Savior in Jesus.
In Jesus we have the fullness of the Triune Godhead, perfect in every way.
We were ALL headed to an eternity in Hell; every one of us!
Romans 5:8 says,
“But [Yahweh the Father, Yahweh the Son and Yahweh the Holy Spirit] demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Did Jesus reject anyone?
Yes, He did, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
What is the most unloving thing a person could do?
The most unloving thing a person could do would be to know that someone is living a life of sin and headed to Hell and to tell them, “Don’t worry about it. We won’t reject you and neither will Jesus.”
Now, do we reject people here at Crossroads?
That is like asking, do you like dogs?
Yes, I like the friendly ones but the ones who want to rip my throat out, not so much!
If someone who is living in the grip of homosexual sin or any other sin comes to Crossroads seeking Jesus, salvation and the freedom from sin that is found in a life of serving Jesus, of course we would welcome them.
On the other hand if someone who is living in the grip of homosexual sin came to Crossroads and began working diligently to convince the people of Crossroads that homosexuality or any other sin was fine with Jesus and that they could even celebrate that sin then we would have some serious discussions about their continued presence at here Crossroads.
We see in the letters to the churches in the Bible that people who needed to be rescued from sin were always welcome. However, those who came into the church as “wolves among the sheep” were not welcome.
The statement of, “Jesus didn’t reject people and neither do we” is actually a deeply theological statement.
And, when we come to such a statement we must always ask …
- Will such a statement or the actions that go with such a statement glorify God and His Holiness or diminish His Glory in the eyes of the world
- Is it in alignment with the Holy Bible? That is our foundation, there is no other!
- Will this statement draw people to Christ or make them comfortable in their sin?
o This is NOT asking will it increase our attendance or not, that is secondary
- Will this statement properly reveal Jesus to those who are seeking Him or will it help them create a Build-A-Bear image of Jesus and lead to an eternal separation from the one true God forever in Hell?
Final comments and prayer
