Taking Shots Nothing New

As persons seek to reach people far from God through fresh expressions of the good news of Jesus Christ the good church Pharisees among us like to take their shots at the pioneers of faith. Ask guys like Gary Lamb and Perry Noble and quite a few others who have written publicly about their drubbing at the hands of some people. Anybody who has ever sought to express the age old and orthodox message of the good news of Jesus in a fresh way has been criticized often times by fellow Christ followers.

All this is nothing new under the sun though. As I have been reading through John Wesley's Journal it has been really interesting to see how people took shots at him all the time as he sought to be an innovator and bring Christ to the disenfranchised. He writes about going to a church and preaching and inevitably after every church he visits he writes, "And I was forbidden to go and preach there again."

Of course the one who took the most shots for challenging the religious establishment of his day was Jesus. It makes sense then as one follows Christ that they too will be shot at. That is what Jesus meant when he said "take up your cross." Following is not always about the benefits but also the hardships. Thankfully, his grace is sufficient. And, in the end he wins and so do we. Might those presenting Christ in fresh ways that are Christ centered and biblical for the sake of those far from God be "forbidden to go and preach there" all the more if it offends the 99 already in the fold.