I love Jesus. I love showing Jesus to others. But sometimes Christians annoy the heck out of me.
Yeah yeah yeah. Go ahead…judge me. But it’s true.
We live a couple blocks from the beach in the coolest little downtown area. When we walk to the beach, there are lots of “entertainers” at the pier doing their thing. There’s this group of break dancers, they’re actually pretty good. There are some really good artists, my favorite is a guy that paints a beautiful picture using cans of spray paint. Very impressive.
Then there’s always that guy.
The guy standing up on his soapbox (literally), telling everyone they’re going to hell. He stands there, condemns and tells everyone what they’re doing is wrong. Part of it is true, we are all sinners. We all fall short.
But is this really the way to let people know it? Are lost people really drawn to this fanatic lifestyle?
What always gets me, is that people stop and listen. The crowds really gather. As I read the stories of Jesus’ ministry, the crowds gathered for Him too. What hurts my heart, is that typically these soapbox preachers aren’t showing the true love of Jesus.
Jesus was real. He met people where they were, and showed them love no matter what. He spoke of hope and forgiveness. He didn’t rub it in their faces, he was simply there and almighty.
Why can’t we be more like Jesus? I know I want to be.
I encourage you to be REAL and reflect Christ for who He is. Your thoughts?
kkjames.wordpress.com 
AMEN to that! I have said the same thing many times. I love Jesus…but I want to kick some of his peeps sometimes!
Being an authentic follower of Jesus looks so much different than being religious – and we so quickly forget that Jesus hated religious too!
I haven’t got the authentic follower of Jesus thing down perfectly yet…but I’m working on it. And I’m trying my HARDEST to stay away from being religious in the meantime. I happen to think it’s more fun that way anyway!
Glad to have found your blog and twitter through the Compassion India blogger trip. I’m married to a pastor/church planter too (although we are pre-church plant right now, just waiting for the Lord to line stuff up!)
I have two words for you….Preacher Bob!!! Do you remember him, and how mean he was?
@ali… you bet I do! I almost wrote about him and then decided to not go there or I would just get angry!
Amen. I have to hold my tongue as I smile, walk by and shake my head… if they only KNEW the bad impression they are giving the lost. WWJD??? NOT yell and belittle people, that is for sure! Show some love!
Oh sister, ditto on the annoying Christian thing. And thanks for the blog love!
I don’t know about the soapbox guy, but that van is flippin’ sweet…
WOW! i totally agree with you about this! Our faith is marked by people who just do not get the real power and purpose. GRACE, FAITH, and LOVE…
And if I saw that van, I would maybe pray about popping a tire….just saying.
I need to come up with an effective message to share with soapbox preachers. They probably wouldn’t listen but it should be at least as fun as arguing with the guys holdings “jesus isn’t coming back” signs (really, that is the most effective use of your time?”
Sound like he does not know what he is talking about. 🙂