- What would Jesus do?
- Who would Jesus hate?
- Who would Jesus reject?
- What war would Jesus fight in?
- How would Jesus deal with social differences?
- How would Jesus deal with injustice? How would Jesus deal with sexism?
Questioner: Justine
Subject: Bible verses on living Christ-likeQuestion: Hi there
Your description caught my eye. I help lead a youth Bible ministry at my school, which, through the Holy Spirit, has resulted in a miraculous harvesting of souls for the Lord. Many teenagers have come to know Christ, and the already existing group of Christians have grown amazingly stronger and created a very special bond.
This coming week my lesson is entitled "Kool 2 B a Christian." It's a witty though no-nonsense lesson designed to reach out to teenagers with cliche analogies, common situations, and everyday events that are easy to relate to. The title mostly summarizes the point of the lesson. The planning and writing of the lesson has been a wonderful and even fun journey, but there's one thing I'm struggling with that I was hoping you could help with.
It may seem like such a simple question for a rather "novel" introduction, but I was wondering if you could direct me to a few solid verses on living Christ-like. I have so many verses in my head after years of repetition, but it's the references I tend to forget.
Thanks for your help, and any advice you can give on reaching out to teenagers would be delightfully great.
God bless,
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Justine
John of AllFaith's reply
Hi Justine,Thanks for the kind words.
Without knowing a bit more about your church and beliefs I'm a bit hesitant to respond however. The Christian Church is currently divided on many key points and what one person will deem a Christian virtue another will consider a weakness or worse.
In my opinion, many sincere Christians have bought into inaccurate doctrines that are harming them, the world and the Gospel in many ways. I believe the number one need in the Church today is love. The kids need to be shown and taught how and why to love others. Our culture is lacking in this as are a great many of our pulpits.
In my AllExperts.com heading which you mentioned I have the following:
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"Something controversial or provocative about this subject"
- Here's goes: John 3: 16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
17 "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."
The reason I believe this is controversial is that a great many Christians feel it to be their Christian duty to exclude and condemn others.
To this end I would share accounts such as Act chapter 10 where Peter is told, "...What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common." Point out that the unclean foods refer to different types of people. For Peter it was the Gentiles, but I believe it was more than that. I believe it was what I call the "fill in the blank people." In other words, all of those people society rejects. God rejects no one and nether should we.
Kids need to learn the wisdom of texts like, Eph 2:8
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"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
It is not by our goodness that God accepts us, but by His grace and mercy. This is vital to know because at this age they probably don't feel overly "holy." They are experiencing various urges, thoughts, temptations, and so on and knowing that if they slip up God will still be there for them is VERY important. Likewise, God is there for the fill in the blank people their friends may reject as well. Just as God loves us no matter what, so too does God love them. We should stand up and be counted, God love us all! We are one large family! As Christians we have no right to hate or discriminate against anyone.
In the same vain I'd point to Matthew 7
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1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
As Christians it is our job to love people, not to condemn them. Jesus said, Matt 9:11
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And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?
12 But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
I John 4:7
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Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and
every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
Love is the key to spiritual life. Love is the key to self acceptance. Love is the key to a happy life in the here and now.
Love for who? Mark 12:30
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And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
I would stress this point because in the current climate it is cool to hate. Its cool to hate based on religion, based on race, based on sexual orientation, based ability/disability, based on nationality, based on so many irrelevant things, and yet as Christians we are to love even as we are loved by God. Now That's cool!
My views here would be considered quite liberal by many Christians and I don't know yours views, so its hard for me to suggest to you. But if I were leading a youth group today I would really stress this point.
We are ambassadors of Christ: II Cor 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
I'd discuss questions like:
This should be our goal as ambassadors I think, to represent our King and His sublime goals of love.
Hope this helps,
Write back any time,
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John of AllFaith
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