I don’t know if it annoys you or not, but the “Like Jesus” button on Facebook really irritates me… It looks more like a picture of a fair-haired hippy than Jesus…
But I think it is safe to say that most Christians aspire to live “like Jesus” they try not to do bad things and in fact try to do “good things” or “right things”. But just exactly what those “right” and “good” things are don’t always seem to be so clear.
If you have attended church for a while you might feel like you have a pretty good idea of what Jesus expects of you. You might even feel confident that in most situations you know what He would want you to do… WWJD…after all… But if you look at the 3 billion plus people who claim to be his followers you can see that there are some differences of opinion…
Now here are what I consider to be often overlooked teachings of Jesus.
• The Samaritan woman at the well (John 4)
• The prostitute that washed his feet with her hair (Luke 7)
• The woman caught in the act of adultery (John 8)
The main reason that they are overlooked, I believe, is that they are sections of the Gospel where he taught by his actions and not so much with his words.
Romans 8: 29 Says: For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become *like* his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters… (NLT)
How do we become “Like” Jesus…?
Obey: Jesus on many occasions’ commands his disciples to obey his teaching.
Matthew 7:26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish…
John 14:23 … Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching…
Matthew 28:20 (the great commission) Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
What is often over looked by churches and preachers is when Jesus taught through his actions. If you study the accounts in the Gospels where Jesus taught by example you see that these examples had a profound impact on his disciples.
However, for us, the impact of these teachings can get lost in the two dimensional print and cultural translation
We will miss aspects of Jesus’ teaching if we don’t come to understand what he was trying to communicate in these parts of scripture. For these teachings are at the core of the mission of Jesus and how he wants his followers to act towards…others… the down and outers and marginalized of society
In fact I believe that because of ignorance regarding these teachings, many “Christians” over the years have acted more like his enemies …the very people that put him to death; rather than acting “like Jesus”
