Fluffy Entertainment?
After a few introductory words, the preacher began his sermon (and I paraphrase slightly):
I’m not here to entertain you. I’m not here to give you a feel good sermon where I say nice things and we all go home feeling better. “Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.” The time we live in doesn’t allow for this kind fluffy entertainment. We have serious things to talk about….
The preacher proceeded to give an inspirational sermon on one of the key tenets of his denomination. But I was stuck at the beginning with a question that wouldn’t go away.
Jesus loves me this I know is fluff? I remember a story my Dad told me about watching television. He said that the first time he saw someone killed on television it was as if something died inside of him. He was, of course, speaking of the loss of innocence as a result of observing violence. This weekend I felt the same way. When I hear comments like this, it’s as if some little part of the church dies as well.
The way I see it, Jesus loves me this I know is not some fluffy sentence that we say in order to make us feel better (although I hope it does). It’s not some entertaining remark to pass the time. Jesus loves me this I know is not some casual remark with no meaning. This statement is the core of the Christian message. Of course, it is not a complete picture and there are details and additions and clarifications that fill this statement with additional maturity and meaning. But without Jesus loves me, everything else is only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
When we talk about the plan of salvation, the idea that God died so that we could be saved, the message is Jesus loves me, this I know. When we talk about Justification, the idea that Jesus takes our place — that we are judged on Jesus’ merits instead of our own — we understand that Jesus loves me this I know. When we talk about the weekly cycle, worship, work, rest and the appropriate times prescribed by God, these only make sense if we know that Jesus loves me. When we discuss the idea that the world is not my home, that God himself is coming back to earth to rescue His people, the message resonates with the trumpets of 2 Corinthians, Jesus loves me this I know! When we read about the resurection — that at the second coming all who have died in Christ will be raised up in a twinkling of an eye, the message shines through, Jesus loves me this I know!
Every morning when we wake up and thank God being alive, every day when we ask God to lead in our lives, every evening when we pray for our families and friends who are sick or going through difficulties, every day of our Christian experience only makes sense if Jesus loves me this I know.
So I am left with only two options: Either the preacher was sorely mistaken, or I need a new definition for “fluffy entertainment.” Because if this is how fluffy entertainment is defined then I need more of it in my life.