Jesus never ran for
public office. Good
thing, as he often
violated the hidden
rules for smooth-talking,
get-along-with-everyone,
slick politicians.
In fact, some of the
statements Jesus made
would cause a campaign
manager to pull out
his hair in frustration.
Just imagine Jesus
speaking on the campaign
trail. “You
have seen me and still
you do not believe”
(John 6:36). “This
is why I told you
that no one can come
to me unless the Father
has enabled them”
(John 6:65). “Very
truly I tell you,
unless you eat the
flesh of the Son of
Man and drink his
blood, you have no
life in you”
(John 6:53). None
of these statements
seem politically correct,
do they? Certainly,
none could serve as
a catchy campaign
slogan.
So why did Jesus
say these things?
Didn’t he want
people to follow him?
Why would he deliberately
say things to offend
people and turn them
away?
The simple conclusion
seems to be that Jesus
cared far more about
the quality of his
disciples than about
their quantity. If
he cared only about
increasing the size
of the crowds following
him, he could easily
have fed them more
bread or performed
more miracles. Or
he could have toned
down some of his “hard
teaching” (John
6:60).
But Jesus already
knew who didn’t
believe (see John
6:64). He knew that
some of the people
following him wanted
only free food (see
John 6:26) or a flashy
sign from God (see
John 6:30). Jesus
didn’t want
preoccupied followers.
He wanted disciples
who would proclaim,
“Lord, to whom
shall we go? You have
the words of eternal
life” (John
6:68).
The same holds true
today. Jesus wants
us to follow him,
but he still desires
quality disciples.
That level of commitment
might mean living,
saying and doing things
that ruffle some feathers.
As evangelist Billy
Graham notes, “It
is unnatural for Christianity
to be popular.”
To Take Away
