Too many Christians are stuck in the kiddie pool, afraid to go deeper. If it doesn’t fit on a bumper sticker, it’s too much work to memorize or think through. So we throw our theology onto bumper stickers and cutesy t-shirts, and usually end up butchering the message of the Cross in the process. I have never seen a bumper sticker that honored God as ultimate. But I have seen hundreds of them that make God look lame and cheesy and not worthy of honor, and cheesy god is not the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present, sovereign God that I know.
Man Christians can be arrogant. I mean seriously, what genuine Christ follower would say something like “follow me to eternity”? And more than that, what kind of church would use that as some kind of lame advertising campaign?
I know it might seem like I am blowing this out of proportion, but I think that if you truly understand the gospel and who Jesus is, you would not see yourself as the person to follow to eternity, but Jesus. I mean really, are we that arrogant as Christians that we think our lives are so holy that other people would gain eternity by imitating them? Do we really think we are that good?
I think if you meet Jesus, you will be shown who you really are. For example, because of Jesus, I know me. I know my sin. I know that I am not the guy for anyone to follow. I know that my sin would make people stumble. I know that my sin does not lead to eternity. But I know He does. I know Jesus. I know His perfection. I know that He is the one to follow. I know that, in Him, I cannot fail. I know that, in Jesus, I have eternity.
OK, wimpy Christianity aside, isn’t it strange to have that kind of sticker on your car and be sitting in the parking lot of Albertson’s? I mean, should I have waited around for the car’s owner to get done shopping and return to their car only to follow them to their heaven on earth (err um home)? And sit and wait around on Sunday for them to leave and then followed them to their social club (I mean, church)? And what if I saw them on the street and followed them, hoping for eternity, and ended up at Albertson’s, man would I be disappointed. Eternity stinks if it is full of broken down self-check-out machines and people who won’t catch the hint that you don’t want any french bread today (even for a dollar).
