Crucify Him

The Six Most "Un-Christlike" Things Christ Did

WWJD: What would Jesus do?

It’s a great question. Christians are of course supposed to follow the example of Christ.

There can be a problem, though, when the answers people give to the question are disconnected from Scripture. People can end up just taking whatever they would do and then claim Jesus probably would have done it, too. But the Jesus described in the New Testament does not fit well with many of our modern sensibilities.

Yes, Jesus taught love, mercy, and sacrifice. But these things, if viewed from a contemporary lens, can easily be reduced to a kind of hollow sentimentalism. The Jesus of the Gospels, on the other hand, was deeply serious – both about loving others, and about sin.

So here are 6 things Jesus did that many people today would probably brand as “unChrist-like.”

1) Called people names

You might just want to read all of chapter 23 in Matthew’s Gospel.

Jesus gives a long and detailed attack on the moral character of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, and he pulls no punches. Among the names he calls them are “snakes,” “brood of vipers,” “hypocrites,” and “blind guides.” Ouch.

2) Offended people without apology

In Matthew chapter 15, some Pharisees and teachers of the law challenge Jesus about why he and his disciples don’t keep a certain tradition of the elders. In response, Jesus ignores their question, calls them hypocrites, and points out how they contradict the law of God with some of their traditions.

Then Jesus’ disciples come to him and say, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

Jesus’ response? He offers no apology, no attempt at clarification, but continues his critique: “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

3) Warned against laughter

A lot of people have heard of the Beatitudes as they appear in Matthew chapter 5: “Blessed are the poor in spirit… blessed are those who mourn… blessed are the meek,” etc.

A similar set of blessings also appear in Luke chapter 6, except that they are also paired with corresponding warnings:

But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.
Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.
Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.

All four of these are challenging. But notice that the 3rd one is a warning against laughing. Imagine the headlines if Jesus had preached this today. He’s probably be branded as some sort of rigid, humorless archconservative.

4) Cleared the Temple with a whip

One of the times Jesus’ visited the Temple in Jerusalem, the Gospel of John says “he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money.” His response?

So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!”

It’s easy to read over these words quickly without grasping their full import. He made a whip, and used it to at least drive the animals out of the Temple, and possibly the people as well (there’s ambiguity with the word “all”). He flipped tables and scattered people’s money around, while he was also driving them out.

This was not just some nice request.

5) Was intentionally opaque in his teaching

Jesus had so many memorable parables. He told them because stories are easier for common people to understand and remember, right?

Actually, it’s the opposite.

In Matthew chapter 13, Jesus is asked point-blank: “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” And here’s his answer: Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.”
In other words, it appears that Jesus taught in parables to make it hard for the average person to understand. He then revealed the meaning of his parables secretly to his close disciples.

6) Preached graphic depictions of hell

Everyone knows that “fire and brimstone” preaching is ineffective and, in any case, antithetical to the spirit of the Gospel of love, right?

Then why did Jesus preach about hell so much?

Jesus gave horrifying descriptions of the place. Throughout the Gospels we find that Jesus describes hell as a place of “weeping and gnashing of teeth,” a place where “the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched,” a “blazing furnace,” “darkness,” “unquenchable fire,” and “the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Several of these descriptions he repeats several times.)

And he constantly warns people from doing things that would get them sent there. So maybe preaching about hell isn’t so bad?

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What Children's Confessions Reveal

This article is from Patheos.com and is authored by Father Anthony Gerber.

For the first couple years as a priest, I would go through the usual Lenten ritual of sitting in the confessional for hours at a time, hearing various parishes kids’ confessions during school—whether Day School or PSR/CCD. And every year, I would hear the same litany of sins: “I was mean to my brother; I lied; I didn’t do what my mom told me to do; I said a bad word; and… I didn’t go to Mass.”

As a young priest, I wasn’t yet jaded to simply chalk this up to the typical child’s confession. So, a little surprised that a child didn’t go, I asked a simple question: “Why didn’t you go to Mass?”

And the kids would answer in one of three ways: “Because I had a [sporting event/vacation]”; “Because we slept in”; or (and most frequently): “Because my parents don’t take me.”

“Because my parents don’t take me.”

I would hear that answer a lot. And what really struck me about this—what really shook me to the core—was not simply the frequency that this was said, but that most of the children were saying this with a deep sorrow in their heart and a deep longing to go to Mass. They knew they were supposed to be at Mass and they thought that they themselves were to blame for their not going. They didn’t yet realize that if their parents didn’t take them, then it wasn’t their (the kids’ fault), but the parents.

Quietly, there began to develop a righteous anger in me at the parents and a desire to “propose” certain questions to our parents, questions such as “Do you realize the impact you are having? Do you realize the sorrow that you are bringing to your child’s heart?”

But those questions I kept to myself. And the anger I brought to prayer and the tempering that experience would likely bring. Maybe I had an oversight; maybe I was being harsh and not compassionate. My anger subsided into a kind of pity for the whole situation.

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Prayer of St. Patrick

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of the sun,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea,
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me;
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's hosts to save me
Afar and anear,
Alone or in a multitude.

Christ shield me today
Against wounding
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through the mighty strength
Of the Lord of creation.

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‘The Confessional Is a Place of Victory’

BY JOSEPH PRONECHEN, NATIONAL CATHOLIC REGISTER

Father Mike Schmitz is the director of youth and young adult ministry for the Diocese of Duluth, Minn., the chaplain for Newman Catholic campus ministry at the University of Minnesota at Duluth and a popular speaker. As the chaplain, he makes the sacrament of reconciliation available every day and has written about this sacrament from his priestly perspective.

Why do you think people are afraid of the confessional or neglect it today?

First, it means admitting to someone that you’ve messed up. We live in a world afraid of showing weakness, a world where we’re afraid admitting we failed. Living in such a culture makes it hard and scary, admitting my performance didn’t measure up.

We have a tendency to really doubt our worth. But I have to admit my worth isn’t dependent upon my performance.

Then there’s a lot of suspicion and these fears — will the priest get mad at me or think poorly of me later on?

This is not about making you feel as bad as you can feel, but it’s about helping you be healed as much as you can be healed. The priest is there showing how. The Catechism shows the priest is the servant of the sacrament and meant to be a minister of healing.

Once people get that, then confession takes on a whole new dimension.

What do you say about those who think, “I don’t have to go to confession because I haven’t done anything really bad”?

There’s a misunderstanding of what sin is and who God is. Sin is a certain kind of decision, but most have a second grade understanding of that, like “Did you pull your sister’s hair?” Then the teenager thinks, “Hitler was bad, and I’m not as bad as that.”

When it comes to relationship, you can describe sin as this: You’re saying to God, “God, I know what you want me to do, but I don’t care: I want to do what I want to do.” There’s a certain sense of rebellion. It’s saying, “I will not serve — I have other things I want to do.”

Even if I put the word “rebellion” to that, people say, “No, I just don’t care.” The problem becomes not only you don’t know what sin is, but you don’t understand who God is. God is not just “some people” or “other people.” He’s not just some guy who I can or cannot obey.

If people understand that, they have a more mature understanding of what sin is.

Do most Catholics have this understanding?

Most Catholics in our culture have about a second grade level of their faith. I mean that not as an insult — that’s a description. Ask them: “What are the Ten Commandments?” The vast majority can’t name the Ten Commandments.

So the examination of conscience is still a second-grade exam — “Did I pull my sister’s hair or disobey my parents?” It should be: “How am I treating my co-workers? Do I tell white lies on daily basis? Have I harbored grudges or forgiven people? How do I treat my wife?”

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ICYC Reaction

I passionately believe in the power of God moving through retreat ministry. Why? Here is reaction from teens and chaperones from OLV after ICYC:

In Adoration tonight the hand of teens were raised, the tears flowed, healing spread, and the King of the Universe was revealed in the disguise of bread and wine. Thank you for making this experience possible. A few of our youth were awakened to a possible call to the religious life and each one of the 51 that attended created new friendships, experienced the young church, and encountered Christ in a fresh and profound way.

It was such a beautiful weekend and really invigorated my faith journey. As a youth leader, I could see all youth benefitted from attending.

With your help I understand more about God and why he died for our sins.

This weekend was amazing, and I never felt this happy in me knowing that God is actually with us.

Thank you so much for your generous gift. I got the honor to chaperone the teens from our parish but ended up being blessed to see the Holy Spirit work in their lives. I believe our parish has a bright future.

My favorite part was when they brought out God to us [in Adoration]. It was a very emotional moment, and I usually hate emotional moments, but it was extremely amazing. I felt happy and willing to change.

I was touched by the stories and testimonies of teens as they felt Christ’s presence this weekend. This was a very spiritual and touching experience. We experienced Christ through Adoration and the music playing. Without your help we wouldn’t have the amazing opportunity.

 

It was a great experience we didn’t just make a better bond with God but with ourselves. We also realized that there is so much out there to life than just friends and family and more. There’s God there for us and even if we make a mistake we aren’t a mistake.

In better understanding the saints and in getting closer to my God I feel that I am ready to finish my Confirmation journey.

ICYC helped me in my journey of becoming an adult.

I really enjoyed ICYC. Not only was it fun but I connected to God more than I ever have!

I have become a better person and will continue to be a servant of Jesus Christ. The ladies workshop showed me what true beauty is. Sr. Miriam made me look at life with a new perspective.

To be honest I was always kind of skeptical about my faith, but this weekend has helped to solidify my beliefs.

You’ve helped someone enjoy and witness God and the Holy Spirit. Maybe that is what they needed, and there are not enough thank yous in the world.

Without your help many wouldn’t been able to experience the power of God’s love. That is something you can’t compare to anything else. Thank you for helping guide many to a righteous path by the side of God.

I’ve never seen so many people come together and pray and bond.

I have been with the youth this weekend as they have grown deeper in their faith. Christ is totally present in their hearts.

This experience is one I will never forget for the speakers touched my heart and opened my mind. During Adoration I felt my soul touched by the Holy Spirit in such a way that I feel like I will never be the same again. Words cannot describe the gratitude I feel for being able to have come to ICYC.

The 40 Film

This is an urgent message from our parishioner Jennifer Loutzenhiser:
A local Catholic, Dustie, purchased the license for a documentary called "40" which is a documentary on the affect 40 years of legalized abortion has had on America. The owner of the Overland Park Cinema donated the use of his theater located at: 7051 W. Overland Rd, Boise. We are showing the film this Sunday at 2:15 and again the following Wednesday (18th) at 6pm. 

This film is completely appropriate for all audiences. It doesn't show gross images or anything like that. It shows pro-abortion people stating their stance and then prominent pro-life people give theirs. It's been shown on EWTN several times.

We have had problems getting places that will allow us to sell or advertise the movie and now we're just a few days away and have a lot of tickets on our hands. If you, anyone from your youth group, staff, volunteers... are interested in tickets please let me know and I'll have them for you at will call for free. While it's unfortunate that we weren't able to sell tickets, it's really most important to us that people see this film.