Not Listening In Church

In some political joking lately, comic Stephen Cobert stated that Obama couldn't have known what his preacher said because "we all know no one pays attention in church!" This is humorous simply because there is some truth to it. As I have read some of the accounts of Jesus after he rose from the tomb, it was apparent that his disciples had not really paid attention to all Jesus had told them earlier. I find it interesting that the disciples did not even recognize Jesus in their first encounters with the risen Lord. To Mary Magdalen, he looked like a gardener. To the the disciples on their way to Emmaus, he was simply a traveler. To Peter and others who were fishing in a boat, he was simply a spectator on the shore. Unfortunately, many of us have mistaken Jesus for someone or something other than what he truly is.

I have had some conversations with some folks lately that reject Christianity. Our discussions revealed they have vast misunderstandings of Christianity and Christ. They appealed to misinformed historical perspectives and presuppositions about God that were more comfortable than true. They worked from feeling and experience and shunned thought and beliefs. Their descriptions of Christianity was based on the abuses of those who call themselves Christians and not based on Christ. Unfortunately, they had not paid attention to the truth, but only to bad experiences or cliches. Like the first disciples immediately after the resurrection, it did not seem plausible to them. But thank God, the disciples figured out that the most sensational news possible is the truth. Thank God that they passed on this Good News and it spread throughout the world. 

I pray that we will not let our misunderstandings of Christ guide our lives this year. Mary recognized the gardener to be Christ when He spoke her name. The Emmaus-bound disciples recognized the traveler to be Christ when He broke bread with them. Peter recognized the spectator on the shore to be Christ when He told them where the fish were. If he had only been a gardener, traveler, or spectator and not Christ, then Jesus would have been a footnote in history at best. Instead, he is who he said he is; the risen Lord. When the disciples had a personal encounter with him, it changed everything. I pray that we all have that personal encounter with Christ to see past our misunderstandings to find the truth. The truth that it was Christ, not a moral code or religion, that died for our sins on a cross and rose from the dead.