If you're gonna give Jesus a bad name...

...at least do it for the right reasons!

In today's culture, the name of Jesus turns people off, and is disliked or even hated by people. There are many reasons for that, and most of the reasons aren't the reason why Jesus' name is supposed to be offensive.

Sometimes it's because Christians go around acting as the moral police of the world. Jesus is represented by some Christians as one who is against people and who is their condemning judge. Rather than putting their arms around "sinners" and embracing them, as Jesus did, they (figuratively) pick up stones to throw at them. Rather than eating and drinking with them - and I mean literally going to them where they're at and intentionally loving them unconditionally - they wait for them to get their acts together and come to their church and start behaving like they behave.  And sadly, many times, rather than being agents of reconciliation and forgiveness, they go around protesting the sins of the world and everything else they're against.

If you're gonna give Jesus bad name... please, at least do it for the right reasons!  And please offend the right people! Stop giving Jesus a bad name by acting as the moral enforcers of the world and instead identify yourself with people who don't believe as you do. Meet them right where they're at. Accept them just as they are, putting your arms around them, listening to them, loving them unconditionally. Eat with them and drink with them.  Drop your self-righteous stone throwing!

The people who should be offended by Jesus are not "sinners."  Do we really get this?  While sinners flocked to Jesus, it was the Pharisee-types, the duty-driven, finger-pointing, behavior-based people who couldn't stand Him.

The self-righteous performance-based religious people are the ones who should rightly have a problem with the unconditional-lover of the world.  If we're gonna turn anyone off, let's do it the way it should be... by loving and accepting others and showing them how God loves and accepts them, thereby offending the ones who truly should be offended by the gospel!