WOW Jason. I feel like I just got my ‘comeuppance’ as my Mom would have said. I’m guilty of invoking Jesus name as though he’s my warrior against all the wars and political atrocities going on today and it’s been eating at me because I knew in my heart it was wrong.
Thank you for opening my mind’s eye to see what my heart is saying.
Amen and Amen. When I am weak, he is more than able to give me strength. When I feel helpless, but he is more than able to help me. When fear threatens to overwhelm me, he is more than able to deliver me..Thank you for the word
It is shockingly easy to turn Jesus into a mascot.
Not because we intend to trivialize him—but because we care deeply about something. We care about justice, or peace, or truth, or the vulnerable. And we instinctively want Jesus on our side. So we invoke his name. We quote his teachings. We point to the Cross and say, “See? He’s with us.”
And sometimes he is.
But here’s the slippery part:
The moment we stop asking what he wants, and start assuming he backs what we want, we’re no longer following the Lord—we’re using a symbol.
It can happen to anyone:
• The activist who sees Christ in every protest sign.
• The politician who peppers speeches with Bible verses.
• The pastor who tailors sermons to the mood of the room.
• The patriot who merges faith with flag.
• Even the peacemaker who puts a dove on a lawn sign and forgets the dove descended at baptism, not at the ballot box.
The line between reverent witness and religious branding is thin—and we all cross it at times.
We’re not always trying to exploit Jesus.
More often, we’re trying to be faithful.
But in our haste to speak for him, we forget to listen to him.
And that’s how the Messiah quietly becomes a masco
So the question is not whether Jesus cares about the causes we care about.
He surely does.
The real question is:
Have I let Jesus speak for himself?
Or have I made him speak for me?
Where, in my own life, have I assumed Jesus agrees with me—
WOW Jason. I feel like I just got my ‘comeuppance’ as my Mom would have said. I’m guilty of invoking Jesus name as though he’s my warrior against all the wars and political atrocities going on today and it’s been eating at me because I knew in my heart it was wrong.
Thank you for opening my mind’s eye to see what my heart is saying.
Amen
Thank you 🙏
Thank you for this, Jason.
Amen and Amen. When I am weak, he is more than able to give me strength. When I feel helpless, but he is more than able to help me. When fear threatens to overwhelm me, he is more than able to deliver me..Thank you for the word
It is shockingly easy to turn Jesus into a mascot.
Not because we intend to trivialize him—but because we care deeply about something. We care about justice, or peace, or truth, or the vulnerable. And we instinctively want Jesus on our side. So we invoke his name. We quote his teachings. We point to the Cross and say, “See? He’s with us.”
And sometimes he is.
But here’s the slippery part:
The moment we stop asking what he wants, and start assuming he backs what we want, we’re no longer following the Lord—we’re using a symbol.
It can happen to anyone:
• The activist who sees Christ in every protest sign.
• The politician who peppers speeches with Bible verses.
• The pastor who tailors sermons to the mood of the room.
• The patriot who merges faith with flag.
• Even the peacemaker who puts a dove on a lawn sign and forgets the dove descended at baptism, not at the ballot box.
The line between reverent witness and religious branding is thin—and we all cross it at times.
We’re not always trying to exploit Jesus.
More often, we’re trying to be faithful.
But in our haste to speak for him, we forget to listen to him.
And that’s how the Messiah quietly becomes a masco
So the question is not whether Jesus cares about the causes we care about.
He surely does.
The real question is:
Have I let Jesus speak for himself?
Or have I made him speak for me?
Where, in my own life, have I assumed Jesus agrees with me—
without stopping to ask what he’s really saying?
Yes, he is able! Praise God. Thanks for the message.