JESUS.FOR.YOU. Give me Jesus. Only Jesus! By Rev. Paul Mumme
It’s one of the latest Christian fads.
You see it on social media, church websites, and bumper stickers. You occasionally pass someone wearing it on his t-shirt. There’s even a “program” behind it. So what is this latest fad and the slogan (creed!) that accompanies it?
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I have no doubt that those who believe these words are well intentioned. Nor do I question that they have faith in someone or something. I do, however, question this slogan and the arrogance it conveys: “God, I thank You that I am not like other people—not like that spiritual infant who is still being fed with spiritual milk, not like that individual who struggles against but occasionally gives in to his sinful desires, or even not like that lowly ‘fan’ of Yours. I am a completely committed follower. A. COMPLETELY. COMMITTED. FOLLOWER. (One with swagger who punctuates important words.)” The problem with this fad is simple. There’s no Jesus in those words. No forgiveness. No mercy. No grace. Only condescension. Arrogance. Haughtiness. Superiority. Conceit. Pride. (So that’s what it is like to Punctuate. Important. Words!) Our Lord Jesus Christ faced the same type of “I’m-more-committed-thanothers” attitude in His day. He even addressed the danger and emptiness of such an attitude in a parable: [Jesus] also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The
