The Jesus Scepter

This week on my campus, there has been a group of people that have upset me so deeply I cannot even explain what I'm feeling.  They are standing outside of the Student Union Building and proclaiming they're message to passers-by in the name of Jesus Christ.  This would be a truly admirable thing to do were they actually doing the work of Christ.

My first impression of these people came as I was walking back to my dorm after class.  As I approached the SUB, I saw a man in a black suit holding a sort of staff.  It was a long pole with a cross on the top bearing the likeness of the crucified savior.  I have come to refer to this accessory as the Jesus Scepter.  As I passed this guy, I heard him yell out very loudly, "I don't know how prostitutes in this town can make a living when the girls are just giving it away!"  This was followed by several gasps from the people around me and several mutterings along the lines of "that's offensive."

Behind this man, walking around in the courtyard, were other people wearing shirts and sandwich boards proclaiming the need to turn from sin and repent or suffer the fires of eternal damnation.  Yeah, I thought it was an awful lot to cram onto a t-shirt too, but I guess they couldn't think of a catchier slogan.  They probably should have talked to the guy with the Jesus Scepter.

My first, and really only, interaction with one of them was later that day as I walked to one of my other classes.  I walked up to one of them and handed him a notecard with a list of verses telling him why what he was doing was wrong.  I wish I could remember which verses I had put on it, but alas, I cannot.

As I walked away, he turned and yelled at me, "Do you have sin in your heart?"

This question struck me so deeply, that I have since spent an unhealthy amount of time coming up with several good responses:

• "No. I have Jesus in my heart!"
• "Isn't that why you're here?"
• "Do YOU?"
• "No, sir! I have blood in my heart!"
• "[insert expletive of your choosing here] YOU!"

Ok, so maybe that last one isn't necessarily such a good response, but it better reflects my feelings at the time then my actual answer.  I thought about just continuing to walk away, but the way he asked me, I simply could not do that.  At the time the response I managed to come up with is, "We all do, sir."

That response may not have been very clever, but by the time I had handed the guy the notecard, there was already a large crowd surrounding the man with the Jesus Scepter, shouting back at him.  I'm hoping some of them had more clever things to say.

The Jesus Scepter has returned to campus twice more this week alone.

The whole experience shook me up so much, that I haven't really quit thinking about it.  How can someone go out and speak hatred in the name of Jesus?  How can anyone pervert the gospel and think that it will actually do good?

Today, during one of my frequent trips across the world wide web, I came across an article about this (which I will post a link to as soon as I can find it again).  The article talked about rickrolling.  If you haven't heard of it, here's a link that will explain it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?vdQw4w9WgXcQ

If you took that link, you just got rickrolled.  Basically, you dangle an interesting and enticing link in someone's face, and then when they take it, they find themselves lost in that video.

This article compared rickrolling to what it called religionrolling.  Same concept:  dangle something tantalizing in front of someone, then pull it away and smack them in the face with something they didn't really want or need.  Basically, to religionroll someone, you ask them, "Would you like to hear the good news of Jesus Christ?"  Then, when they reach for this good news, you smack them in the face with, "YOU ARE A SINNER!  Repent and turn from your wicked ways or you will BURN!!!"

That is NOT the good news of Jesus Christ!!!

"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."  John 3:17 (NKJV)

Jesus came to forgive us!  I'll admit that he spent a fair amount of time telling people what they were doing wrong, but look at who those people were.  The people Jesus spent the most time speaking against were the religious authorities of his day!

Who were Jesus' friends?  Prostitutes, con men, and terrorists.  Granted, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it puts things in perspective.  Mary Magdalene has been acknowledged for centuries as a harlot.  Matthew was a tax collector, the con men of Jesus' time.  Simon was a zealot, a terrorist in the eyes of the government.

Did Jesus spend his time on earth ruling over people with a scepter like a tyrannical king?  NO!  He spent his time on earth with those who needed his love most.  He spent his time on earth loving.

In passing I heard one of the people with the Jesus Scepter telling someone that we are called to be Christ-like.  Finally something we can agree on.  But being Christ-like is not telling people everything that they are doing wrong.  Being Christ-like is not ruling over people with your Jesus Scepter.

Christ is love.

Have you shared that love today?

UPDATE:  I found that article:

Rickrolling and Religionrolling