The experience was definitely not a favorite: smoke, alcohol, dark and dingy, thugs and tecno. Not my typical scene, to say the least. But I'm learning that that's where Jesus was hanging out. He was not curled up with the disciples watching chick flicks or even having spiritual discussions every weekend. If He had done that, the Pharisees would not have had such a big problem with Him. No, no, no, no, no....Jesus was eating with tax collectors, letting promiscuous women wash His feet with their hair, crashing funerals, healing people on the day of rest, sending pigs over cliffs, talking to and protecting adulterous women, interrupting business in the Temple, and slipping in little comments like, "Oh, btw, I'm God."
He was not concerned with safety.
He was not concerned with the reactions of others to His actions.
He did not explain Himself.
It was not about Him; it was about His Father.
The glory, the will, the salvation, the reknown of the Lord God.
MJQ, underground club: not so safe.
Hanging out with girls who are drinking, many underage: not what most Christians want to see.
But it's not about me, praise the Lord! It is all about my Father's will and utmost glory. He's given me liberty: freedom from the law, from expectations, from the Enemy, freedom to love with reckless abandon. Not to "love the sinner, hate the sin." Just to love the sinner.
What joy in the freedom of Christ!
Katie
2 Corinthians 5:13-15
"If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised."
More on liberty from Chuck Swindoll:
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