What Jesus Didn’t Say

I woke up with this on my mind today.  Not sure why, but thought I would share.

Luke 23:39-43

³⁹One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”

⁴⁰But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? ⁴¹We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

⁴²Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.^[f]“

⁴³Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

All Jesus said was , “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”  He didn’t say, “You’ve got to be pretty messed up to be here.  Before I know you’re really with me and not against me I must know…”

• “…where you stand politically. Red or Blue?”
• “…how you feel about the gay community.”
• “…if you said “The Salvation Prayer” repeating someone word for word.”
• “…whether or not you believe in creationism or evolution.”
• “…if you are going to commit to a ‘body of believers.’”
• “…,what is your stance on abortion?”
• “…that you line up with all of my core beliefs.”
• “…how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.”

Point being that most of our questions have nothing to do with what truly matters when it comes to grace and salvation.  Not only is God bigger than our sins and our jaded pasts (and present), but God is bigger than our politics, our cultural belief systems, our Christian denominations.  All of these things are valid and important to us as a society and within our own convictions… one way or another.  But Christians come in many shapes, sizes and belief systems.  I think this tends to get lost.  One Christian might hang their head or shake their finger at another Christian because they’re obviously “off track” (or, say, part of a different denomination) when that person is where God has wanted them to be.

The way I see it is Faith is a journey… and he’s much too creative to make us all take the same one and end up in the same place.