Hello,
A couple of weeks ago one of my facebook “friends” posted a list that
someone came up with: “10 Reasons To Go To Church”. I don’t remember the first nine, but the top reason was
this, “Jesus is there, and Jesus is cool.”
Is Jesus cool?
I suppose that the definition of cool is a matter of debate, but the
“cool” people that I have known, especially in my high school years were the
ones who had the most stylish clothes, who got the latest haircuts, who were a
bit rebellious (smoked, drank), had a nice car, hung out with the popular
crowd, had a great physique, played sports, were stoic, and a bit aloof. Fonzi-like. The cool kids always seemed to have a lot of friends, and
why not, because it seemed that to call a cool kid your friend made you cool,
too.
Of course, “coolness” is not only confined to the younger years of
life. Ask any one of any generation,
and they will be able to point out their cool peers. Although some characteristics of being cool vary with age,
it seems to me that there is a remarkable consistency of what makes a person
cool no matter what the age, and most of them don’t have a lot of depth to
them….pretty shallow when you take a sensible look at them.
So, is Jesus cool?
Did Jesus care about having stylish clothes? Did Jesus care about having prestigious friends? Did Jesus eye others with an air of
callous care? Did Jesus attract
the popular crowd? Did Jesus
preoccupy himself with the things that lie at the surface of life?
No.
It seems clear to me, that by any definition of cool, Jesus was not cool
and is not cool. Jesus ate with
outcasts and sinners, the worst outcast and the worst sinners. Jesus bumped heads with the popular
crowd, temple leaders and Pharisees.
Jesus showed that he could have cared less about clothing style, sending
his disciples out into the world with the sparsest of wardrobes. Money meant little to him, telling
people to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. His best friends had few social
credentials.
No. Jesus is not cool….and
if you ask me, that is the top reason to go to church. Why go to church? 1) Jesus is there, and Jesus is not cool.
Social standing…clothing choice….personal appearance and hygiene…degree
of success….degree of education…respect of the community…bank account
balance…dancing ability…model of car……none of these “cool” things matter to
Jesus. The only thing that matters
to him is you, no matter how “cool”
or “uncoil” you might be.
So much do you matter to him, that he gave his life so that he might
have you as his friend forever.
So, when you come to church this Sunday, and I hope you will, don’t be
surprised if you see quite a conglomeration of people, spanning the cool-uncool
continuum. And that is the way that
Jesus wants his church to be, because that way you’ll know that you have a
place among those gathered around Jesus, who is not cool.
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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