They Love Your Works. They Hate Your Jesus.

I prayed at a dinner we had a while back. Nothing fancy. Just talking to God over a meal.

Afterward, a few people came up and said, “Man, that was a really nice prayer.”

And I stood there thinking, that’s a weird thing to say, isn’t it? I was just talking to God. I didn’t write a speech. I didn’t rehearse it. You’re basically saying, “Hey, you talk good.” What does that even mean?

But here’s the thing. That moment exposed a trap I think we all fall into. We start wanting the compliment. We start performing the prayer. We start doing the good works so people will notice and say nice things about us.

And the culture is totally fine with that. If you just do nice things, hand out free meals, organize a community clean-up here in Carter County, run a generic non-profit, and everyone loves you. The city will give you a plaque.

But the second you attach the exclusive name of Jesus to those works, the whole energy shifts.

The Applause is a Trap

In John 10, Jesus makes a statement that shifts the entire atmosphere. He looks at the religious leaders and says, “The Father and I are one.”

Immediately, they pick up stones to kill Him.

Jesus stops them and asks a very specific question: “For which of the good works that I’ve done are you going to stone me?”

Their response reveals everything you need to know about the world we live in. They reply: “We aren’t stoning you for your good works. We are stoning you for blasphemy, because you claim to be God.”

The culture has zero problem with humanitarian effort. You can run a food pantry or build a community center, and the world will cheer. But the second you declare that Jesus isn’t just a good teacher but the actual, exclusive God of the universe? They pick up stones.

Do Not Dilute the Gospel

Because we naturally hate being persecuted, you and I face a massive temptation every single day. Drop the Name to keep the applause.

The enemy whispers the lie that if we just tone down the “Jesus is God” rhetoric and focus strictly on doing nice things, we can win the world over. But if we drop the exclusive truth of Christ just to keep the culture happy, we cease to be the Church. We just become another secular non-profit.

A food bank cannot save a soul. A blanket cannot forgive a sin. Only the resurrected Christ can do that.

Hold the Line

Mission This Week: Do the good works. Serve your neighbors. Help the broken in your path. But don’t apologize for the Name you do it under. When someone asks why you do what you do, don’t give them a generic answer about giving back. Tell them it’s because of the resurrected Christ. Don’t dilute the gospel to avoid the stones.

See you Sunday,
Pastor Jeremy