Face Time with Jesus
“Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.” (Matthew 7:6)
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have Jesus visit your house, to sit down with Him at the dinner table and have a frank conversation about His view of what is going on in the world today? I am afraid the conversation would go quite differently than most people expect. The world has constructed a picture of Jesus that is much different than the one given in the Bible. This is quite odd since the only source we have of Jesus’ teachings is what has been preserved in the pages of Holy Scripture. If I handed you the only book in existence that recorded George Washington’s opinion of the American government, would you have any credibility if you changed his words to make them agree with your opinions? Certainly no serious historian would attempt to do so. And yet when it comes to the historical record of Jesus, no one seems to have a problem changing what He said.
One of the most common misconceptions about Jesus is that He was a very tolerant person. There was never an individual He wouldn’t embrace; there was never a lifestyle He wouldn’t accept; there was never a religious viewpoint that was not equally valid with His own. All we need do is read the real accounts to find out otherwise. Matthew 7:6 is one of many incidents in which Jesus rejected people. He had favorite words for some, among which were “dogs,” “swine,” “vipers,” “children of hell,” “hypocrites,” and the like.
He was no fan of sinful lifestyles. He called on people to repent of their sins or else they would perish. To the woman who was found to be adulterous He said, “Go and sin no more.” After healing an impotent man, He told the man to stop sinning or else something worse would happen to him. Neither was He tolerant of every religion. He said, “I am the way the truth and the life: no one comes to the Father but by me.” Jesus was very narrow and He even stated this as well. “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)
If you were able to sit down for a talk with Jesus, how much of what you do would He approve? How many of your friends would He be willing to chat with on Facebook? Would you be ashamed to have him read some of the things you have written? A little face time with Jesus would certainly alter the opinions of many people. Too bad many of them would claim to be Christians.
Pastor V. Mark Smith