The Red Letters of Christ (by Jason Underwood)

This article comes to us from Pastor Jason Underwood. You can find this and more writing on his BLOG!

The Red Letters of Christ

Last week we started a series called Thats what He said.  We began looking at the Red letters of Christ.  The thing is when you begin to read the red letters you begin to see a theme.  Jesus cared for “The least of these” or the untouchables.

The church has just now begun to wake up to our role in the world, we are global citizens living in a very connected world.  We can not stand on the sidelines and remark on all that is going on around us without taking a stance.  I admit am a country boy at times with a small country mindset and thinking, I typically used to and sometimes still do refer to things in other countries as “over there” everything that is not in America is “over there” But I have become more understanding as I read what He said…that “over there” has a face, and a name…many times over there are “the least of these…the “untouchables” that Jesus talked so much about. “Over there” there is slavery, poverty, genocide, Aids and more The horrifying fact is that these diseases are preventable. Poverty is preventable. Slavery is preventable. Genocide is preventable. The HIV/AIDS pandemic is preventable. To live out the RED letters we need to see how we “see Jesus” He is not just a golden ticket to heaven Jesus is the example of how to live our lives. He lived and spoke of what real life with God should and could look like here on earth. He spoke, and loved those that no one else would even look at…the leppers, the prostitutes, the tax collectors, and even the crooked people in the church.
 When Jesus had seen the great crowds around him he gave orders for departure to the other side of the lake. But before they started, one of the scribes came up to Jesus and said to him, "Master, I will follow you wherever you go."8:20 - "Foxes have earths, birds in the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere that he can call his own," replied Jesus.8:21 - Another of his disciples said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."8:22 - But Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead."
The red letters tell us so much, in the end he says in His words, when you follow me, nothing in this world is more important, but do we really live that way for Him? So girlfriends and boy friends not as important…ok, Friends not as important…ok, School, Band, sports, TV, internet, even our own family…not as important than God but do we act that way? What you spend the most time doing? Whatever you spend the most time money and energy on shows what is most important to you…
Living out what He said…takes commitment
In the church at times we have turned it into a big show, or a hallmark movie to follow him, when all the while He has instructed that we are to let the dead bury the dead because we have work to do. Jesus came to die for the world…the whole world! Our job is to tell and more importantly “show” that to others.

I want to live a RED letter life.
I love you and there is nothing you can do about it!
Jason


I want to thank Jason for allowing us to share his story here on our website!

@jasonunderwood

I am a Husband, Father, Son, Brother, and a Pastor. I feel blessed with all God has trusted me with and I desire to serve Him to the best of my abilities in all

http://www.brentnazyouth.com