Would you like a side of fries with your Jesus?

If you want to dip your toe into the shallow end of American culture, pick up the Parade Magazine found in most Sunday papers.  You won't make it to the base of the nail before you touch bottom. 

This last weekend, Miley Cyrus treated us to her pole-dancing version of Christianity.

Let me make it clear, though—I am a Christian. Jesus is who saved me.

Okay. Sounds good, but 90% of America would consider themselves in that same canoe. Could you give us a little more?

He’s what keeps me full and whole.

Hmmm.  Cheeseburgers keep me full and my skin keeps me whole, but that statement plumbs the same depths as Parade.  Anything else?

But everyone is entitled to what they believe and what keeps them full...it is not my job to tell people what they are doing wrong.*

There it is!  The Burger King Jesus of 2010.  Have it your way!  Aren't your shorts a bit short?  You're too uptight.  But a Christian doing a pole dance?  It was right for the song.  Change the channel.  But aren't you a role model?  Well, Christians don't live in the dark.  I have to participate in life.

Ah, but what does Jesus say, Ms. Cyrus?  (Cricket...cricket...)  Ms. Cyrus?  So, suddenly I'm a slut (her words) because I wear short shorts.  That's so old school.

You could chalk her responses up to adolescent immaturity except that the theology of Miley Cyrus mirrors that of most of America.  We want a palatable Jesus.  We want a modern Jesus.  We want a Jesus whose waistband doesn't bind.  When people start to describe Jesus today, they do not cite the biblical evidence.  They cite what they feel.  That way I can morph him comfortably into my image.

A few weeks back I wrote a post about the unconstitutional mess that is the pending health care law (here).  On Facebook, an individual avered that Jesus would certainly support the legislation.  I countered that the government was stealing by taking money from one people group and giving it to another people.  They do it under the auspices of legislation, but it was nonetheless stealing (Fredric Bastiat termed it "legal plunder").  Since Christ could not act contrary to his nature, he being the source of "Thou shalt not steal," he could in no way support the legislation.  The individual attempted to return volley with "Well, oh yeah!"  She suggested that a) we already redistribute wealth, so what's a little more gonna hurt, and b) "I think Jesus would agree with me."  No support.  No chapter.  Not a verse.  Not even, "I think it says somewhere..."

The Jesus of the Bible is not the soft, fuzzy image held by so many.  No, he was quite prickly.  And quite real.  And quite intolerant.

I had the honor these past months of listening to one who knows articulate the clarity of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.**  Here are a couple of uncomfortable statements from said discourse:

• "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."

By Jesus' own words, many are on the highway to destruction but few on the way that leads to life.  The former is easy.  The latter, not so much.  Many on that easy way.  How many in America think we are in like Flint?  Many. 

Number two:

• "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves."

They look good.  They don't disturb the water.  They blend in nicely.  They intend destruction and Jesus suggests that their end is "the fire."  Oh, how their words salve our delicate ears. 

Last and perhaps most sobering:

• "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'

Ouch.  How many today will say they believe in Jesus?  James, Jesus' brother, went so far as to say the demons believe in God, too, and tremble (James 2:19).  It's not just recognizing Jesus for who he is.  The message isn't just positive and encouraging.  Many who believe Jesus to be the Son of God will hear from his lips, "I never knew you; depart from me."  There will be no return for the one who hears those words.  No words can capture the agony of that horrifying moment.

While Jesus walked the earth, he poured his lavish grace upon those who were broken in spirit, upon those convicted by the foulness of their sin before a holy God (John 4:1-42, John 8:2-11, Luke 13:9-14), but to those giddy because they set their own mark and hit it every time, he was most uncompromising (Matthew 19:16-23, Matthew 23).

Jesus knew that many people said many things about him.  What they thought did matter, but it went beyond what they thought.  Jesus confronted his twelve.  "Who do you say that I am?"  They answered, Peter actually, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  That was the correct answer but one of them, the son of perdition, ended up betraying Jesus. 

What are we to do with Jesus?  Do we live the Miley Cyrus life, partying on the broad highway and pole-dancing our way to our own destruction?  Or do we believe the pages of the Bible, falling broken in repentance upon the Rock rejected by men and thereby entering into the narrow gate?  Will we have it our way or will we have it his way?

It's time to consider.  It is the Easter season after all.
--------------------------------------------------------
*The rest of her insight into things of Christ reflects that same equivocating, tepid mumbo-jumbo.  You can read the interview here if you'd like; my sons couldn't stomach it.

**You can access an excellent teaching series on the Sermon on the Mount here and under Sermon Series filter "Sermon on the Mount."  If you'd like to access the messages directly, click on the two paths, the false teachers, or "Lord, Lord."