Brian Orme talks about the difference between the outside Jesus and the inside Jesus – and why we need to get back to the outside.
There are two aspects of Jesus’ life and mission: His inside ministry and his outside ministry. His inside ministry was focused on his life with the disciples, those close to him, and his work within the religious structures of his day—inside the synagogue and the Temple. His outside ministry was comprised of his connection with the everyday people, often those on the margins, those forbidden entry into the righteous circles, the heavy drinkers, the sexually immoral and the tax collectors. Most of this facet of Jesus’ life was also literally outside, in the marketplaces, on the hillsides, by pools, in porticos and at parties.
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Why have we forgotten the passion of the Son of Man for life on the outside, beyond corrugated roofs and sky-piercing steeples? It’s easy to exchange the unknown and the uncomfortable for the amenities of life on the inside. In today’s church we like the inside Jesus. It’s comfortable to lean to a Savior that’s easy; a Messiah that feels at home in the warm shelter of the four-walled church. The Jesus of Sunday school classes, small groups and deep-dish potlucks. The only problem is that wasn’t where the Jesus of the Gospels stayed for very long. Instead, he was building a reputation, rubbing shoulders with the world of the sexually immoral, the impoverished, with the suffering.
This reminds me of song by Todd Agnew called My Jesus.
Particularly that last half:
Who is this that You follow
This picture of the American dream
If Jesus was here would you walk right by on the other side
Or fall down and worship at His holy feetPretty blue eyes and curly brown hair and a clear complexion
Is how you see Him as He dies for Your sins
But the Word says He was battered and scarred
Or did you miss that part
Sometimes I doubt we’d recognize Him Cause my Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and the least of these
He loved the poor and accosted the comfortable
So which one do you want to be?Cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church
The blood and dirt on His feet might stain the carpet
But He reaches for the hurting and despises the proud
I think He’d prefer Beale St. to the stained glass crowd
And I know that He can hear me if I cry out loudI want to be like my JesusNot a posterchild for American prosperity, but like my Jesus
You see I’m tired of living for success and popularity
I want to be like my Jesus but I’m not sure what that means to be like You Jesus
Cause You said to live like You, love like You but then You died for me
That’s why the end of Brian’s article resonates with me:
Perhaps it’s time for the church to become undomesticated, to go deep into the world and identify with the sinner, the poor and the oppressed, once again, for the mission of Christ. And the only way this will happen is if the church steps outside itself and blazes a path for a brave new culture to follow, one that, like Jesus, may not have a place to lay one’s head.
