What's Wrong With Jesus?

So what's wrong with Jesus? I mean, I've often wondered, is there a specific issue? Is there a real problem? Is there a major obstacle? It seems to me that so many keep a distance from Him, are estranged to Him, are at odds with Him, Jesus.

It's not the same way with God. What's that? It appears that He, God, has more respect, easier access, and greater acceptance. I mean, most of us know we can talk about God, but if you talk about Jesus, something happens, and that thing that happens? It's as if in the world right now, so many want to censor, they want to guard, they want to protect, the world, from, “Jesus.” Jesus?

Even for a few, if I say “Jesus Christ,” your world has so been tainted that for some, that's a curse word? I was so disappointed. I'm looking up a movie for my son, just checking one of those “Plugged-In, Screen-It”… What kind of language? Is there a lot of violence? There are three “D” words in this review. There are three “S” words in this review and oh, don't forget, in this movie, they’ll use four “J.C.'s.” My Savior's name, right alongside other cusswords--cussword?

What is it about Jesus? What would make the folks at “American Idol,” year 2008; invite all the singers to close the show with the song, “Shout to the Lord?” Now, there’s a risk. The American Idol singers, Season 8, “Shout to the Lord?” Oh, oh, oh, oh, they’re going to take a chance; it's a Christian song, but let's not take that big a chance. “Let's do this,” the producers decide, “that lyric that goes, ‘My Jesus, my Savior,’ can’t do that. Let’s instead have them sing, ‘my Shepherd, my Savior.’” Why? “Well, I mean, we don’t mind them singing a Christian song, but it’s that name, it’s that word, it’s that, you know… I--I don’t know that we want to say ‘Jesus.’ Do we?”

We have to guard people, shelter people, protect people from…? Well, it goes a little further and you know this happens all the time. “Praying in Jesus’ name controversy reaches General Assembly in North Carolina.” Now it happens in cities, it happens in counties all the time but the whole idea behind a Christian pastor saying, “Hey, can I pray in the name of Jesus?” Now the rub to me is, if he is an imam, if he’s someone who has a clerical collar from the Muslimic—from the Islamic tradition, I think he's allowed to say Allah, but am I allowed to say, Jesus? Well in this case you can't.

Here's another one. “Christians arrested for giving out the Gospel in Detroit Michigan.” What? At a Muslim festival, a handful of guys decide, “Hey, we want to outreach to Muslims.” No, they’re actually arrested for it. Move a little further. Police shut down a scary Easter crucifixion? “A re-enactment on a stage outside an Australian shopping center has been shut down after police said it caused public distress.” What was the public distress? Well it’s a festival, a Christian festival, but when it came to hanging a half-naked, bloody man on a cross? “Shut it down, we—we don't want to see that!”

Now, again, it would be one thing if we were living in a world that was just so you know, under communistic control and didn't just censor religious things but it censored everything, but that's not the case at all. Of the world that I live or the world that you live in, I mean, it may sound a little PG-13, I apologize if they're younger kids here, but have you like me had to try to explain your kids why it is that an erection will last more than four hours? “Bob, I can't believe you said that. Oh I can’t…” I’m saying you’ve already heard that line. If you have never heard that line, well then you don't own a television set because your advertisers have been showing your children, distributing these messages. And I'm thinking it is one thing, if the world says no to all but it’s a whole other thing if the world just says no to--to Jesus?

Move a little further, Florida community college imposes a ban on the “Passion of the Christ?” A group of college students at the Indian River Community College, they say, “Hey, we want to show the Passion of the Christ.” They go, “No, no, no, it’s rated R.” They said, “Yeah but you already showed an R-rated movie just last month.” “Well, uh--uh, we don't allow that here on this campus, that kind of language?” That was their objection, language? “Yeah, about Jesus.” Well, no, no, no, that's not true, guys, you’ve got this No Shame theater and they perform plays with graphic language including a piece entitled, and the title for the piece I can't repeat because it's a curse word for Jesus. Curse word for Jesus? We have a theater group called the No Shame theater group and they can have a play about Jesus and even make fun of Him but--but you can't have the “Passion of the Christ” on the same college campus. You can’t do that.