My previous blog on the theme, Christianity is Dangerous, was primarily based on the idea that whatever Jesus said was dangerous. What He said was dangerous because His Words have the power to change a person’s mind and heart. His Words are also dangerous to the evil in our world because as the Scriptures teach:
1 John 3:8 He came to destroy the works of the devil.
He came to destroy the works of the devil and to provide a way of salvation for all mankind. His mission in those two areas alone was dangerous to our world. His mission was so dangerous that even Jesus said the world would hate you for believing in His name:
Matthew 10:22 You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
I suspect that no one likes to think of Jesus this way today. In fact, when Jesus said the Words that He came not to bring peace but a sword, which could be disturbing to some. You can quickly see that anyone who says these kinds of words would be considered dangerous to your family life:
Matthew 10 34Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36and one's foes will be members of one's own household.
Sounds like Jesus is setting up a Kingdom that separates people, doesn’t it? Luke adds a dimension of fire:
Luke 12 49I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! 51Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.
In Scripture, fire usually represents the presence of God. This could even mean the passion within a person being refined by the work of fire. The Holy Spirit is also described as the fire of God refining and reshaping the life of a believer.
All these descriptions point to a power that is indestructible and unstoppable. Jesus came to separate the light from the dark. The late David Wilkerson said in one of his sermons, that in the last days, light and darkness will be indistinguishable. There will be a gray tone to everyone and everything. There will be no distinction … good will be bad, bad will be good, all will blend and accepted. The Christ of the Bible came to make a distinction … He did not come to blend in and be a part of the clan of religious leaders. He came to conquer sin, defeat the devil and his works, and came to be the sole proprietor of salvation. There is no other like Him, no other can be above Him, and no system of belief can compete with Him. He rises above all and is the ultimate Savior and Lord, and what He says is dangerous to this world. Anyone who teaches this is dangerous:
Luke 12:5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.
I know we don’t equate God as dangerous in most churches, but I think we need to re-evaluate how we represent Him. Again, most pastors don’t want to represent Jesus in any other light than He loves people and has made promises to us that are undeniably eternal. I do understand that marketing plan, yet it’s not the whole story. We need to understand Jesus as the Savior of the world … that must come first in our messaging. Then we must represent Him as Lord, which includes the fact He will judge this world, and it will be this same Savior who will condemn people to hell. That is the message often ignored and often missed in our marketing plan of representing Jesus.
Because Jesus becomes the Judge and the One who brings justice to everyone who has ever lived … this is why I say Christianity is Dangerous. If we deny the claims of Christ, we will be in a dangerous position before this Judge. The danger is hell itself, the eternal place of punishment. Isn’t that a dangerous place? Isn’t the One who is judging the world and having the power to grant eternal life or eternal damnation a scenario where you want to be sure your sentence will be heaven and not hell? This is why the message of Christ is so dangerous. If you deny Him, He denies you. So, let’s say you deny Him, it means you are free to live as you please. Yes, that is true, yet if He denies you, you have just lost eternity because of your ignorance of God.
I am not getting cute in saying Christianity is Dangerous … I mean every word of it. It is a dangerous thing to deny Christ and live for yourself. Ignoring salvation is a dangerous proposition and will have eternal ramifications. Jesus came so we would not find ourselves standing before Him as the Judge and having no relationship with Him … because without knowing Him, He has no choice but to condemn you. This is not an easy message, yet it must be said. Jesus saves and He judges. One judgment gets us into heaven, the other condemns us to hell. It is that simple.
The other day, I read about being ‘a child of the resurrection,’ and that too is so simple. Do you believe Jesus is the Son of God who died for our sins and rose on the third day, as the conqueror of life and death? Salvation in Jesus Christ is free and open to all … denying it is dangerous.
Challenging the Culture with Truth … Larry Kutzler