Stop carrying Jesus
The deep compassion of a friend is something that lasts for a lifetime. When a friend reaches out to you when you are struggling, it doesn’t necessarily change the situation but it does bring peace and relief. There are even moments when I struggle to process what is going on around me and my friends have to step in and help. Sometimes we have to borrow one another’s faith when ours is running low. Sometimes we have to be the friend full of faith that others can borrow from freely.
Do you struggle with the paragraph above and ones just like it? Do you read or hear something like that and want to shout, “BUT HOW?!?!?!” You are not alone! The lies of the enemy mixed with my sinful nature can create a cocktail of confusion and fog.
If anyone ever answers your faith questions with any answer other than something that points you to the feet of Jesus, RUN! That is a friend trying to carry you in their own strength, in their own faith, in themselves. If you have been around church or the Bible much, you no doubt have heard the story of the 4 friends carrying their paralyzed buddy to Jesus.
18 And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus,19 but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. 20 And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” 21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22 When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 25 And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God.
There is so much here with the roof, the Pharisees taking up the space, and Jesus reading their thoughts! But it is what is not here that I feel God has used to impact me recently. How silly would it have been for these friends to have carried Jesus to their paralyzed friend?
All throughout the New Testament there are tons of teachings, challenges, and commands for us to take the gospel to the nations. Of course that means both next door and to the next continent but something in our depraved nature has caused us to attempt this in a mass-marketing, one-size-fits-all, assembly line kind of way. We attempt to pick up the Creator of the world in human form, carry Him to our friends, and drop Him off, like He needed to bum a ride with us to get there. We must stop carrying Jesus. You see I can not really interact with Him or even have a real relationship with the Father if I just drop Him off in my neighbors’ kitchen and then leave.
Unfortunately, I have been in many situations where death was near. In those hospital rooms, houses, and funeral homes there are two types of environments - both very hard. One is where the one who has died was sick for a long time and the friends and family are running on fumes, beyond empty because of the emotional and physical toll. The other is when a tragic accident or fast-moving sickness takes over in an unexpected way. The friends and families of this situation are trying to process and are often struggling to comprehend. Both are hard, but I have learned that to be able to prepare for death with someone who is terminally sick seems to help bring closure. In the other situation, people generally need some type of help to grasp such an abrupt end to a beloved life. But I have discovered that those who have a family member or friend who is terminally ill still struggle to embrace the reality of death when it finally comes.
Death is a reality. Healing is a reality. But these are not mutually exclusive. All of the people that Jesus brought back to life again (minus Himself) eventually died again. With everything in me, I believe that sickness and death can be methods for me to grow closer to the Father because they always bring me to the feet of Jesus. So when someone is sick, even to the point of death, I will still pray for healing and have faith to see God provide restoration. If that doesn’t happen my faith usually isn’t rattled because I trust Him. Also, in my prayer for healing I was asking for what I want, but still having a full understanding that I genuinely want what He wants; I can’t see what He is doing so my “request” is and will almost always be for healing.
Over the past few months I feel like I am watching this “terminally sick” thing in the middle of our church culture and I have genuinely been praying for the healing. The sickness I see is in this ideology of taking Jesus places and dropping Him off there. But this is one of those times I feel like God is doing something I don’t understand.
Growing up I have always loved the nations and held in high regard those serving in missions. I have given money, gone on trips, preached about the nations, and even sent others. But this underlying thought has been in my heart from a very early age: “Is this it? Is this the way?” I am willing to admit I let a critical spirit into my heart too much, but this is an unsettledness that I believe is Spirit-filled. And now when I look at this “dropping off Jesus” missions model, I feel like I am standing over a dear friend that has been sick for a long time and the Lord is calling them home. In my heart is a prayer for healing, but deeper in my spirit, I find God graciously telling me to let go.
Let me further define the systemic cancer that has brought us to a terminal point.
Our evangelism and mission strategies have not been altered or really adapted since the early 1900’s. The assembly line was developed and we brought that approach into the church. When we section off evangelism and missions as something different from an intimate relationship with God, we create a space for the enemy to create a divide. When that divide grows to a certain point, evangelism, missions, and my intimate relationship with the Father can co-exist fully separated from one another. I can evangelize and serve in missions without living in an intimate relationship with God. I am not able to carry my friends into a relationship that doesn’t exist, so I alter it. But at that point, I carry Jesus to others without actually interacting with Jesus myself.
So what do we do if the international and local “mission” of the church dies? What do we do with all the “to the nations” or “of all nations” or “of every tribe and tongue” passages in scripture? (Let me even state that these are more than passages, but rather commands.) Practically, here is how I feel like the Spirit of God is leading me in this new reality of “Post-Mission/Evangelism Programs”:
Focus on my time with the Father
Let His love fill me up
Love other well with this love
Carry my friends to Jesus with this love
Pray that God would give me more to carry to Him in love
Trust that God is the Chief strategist for the Church
Listen to Him for opportunities to declare the Gospel of Jesus and the love of The Father to the nations
I can change the world by giving God space in my own life to pour His perfect love into me. This doesn’t mean I sit back and put no effort forth. It just means that my focus is on my intimate, transparent relationship with the King of Kings. That is when others around me begin to experience the Father’s love that I have received through my intimate relationship with Him. In that way, I carry my friends to the Friend of Sinners and He brings them into that same intimacy.