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He knew Peter had a swearing problem that wouldn’t go away in 3 years—but He still said “Come”.

He knew Thomas had a doubting problem that wouldn’t go away in 3 years—but He still said “Come”.

He knew the Thunder Brothers (James and John) had ego problems that wouldn’t go away in 3 years—but He still said “Come”.

He knew Judas had a stealing problem and He knew Judas would betray Him in 3 years—but He still said “Come”.

He didn’t invite perfect people to follow Him.

He invited people.

He invited people, problems and all.

People who followed Him didn’t become perfect in a flash (or in weeks, months, years…).

Of course, many of them did change over time. That’s how God works. His grace changes everything.

His invitation, “Come,” isn’t exclusive to those who’ve already started changing.

He’s still inviting sinners and doubters and egomaniacs to follow Him.

He still says “Come”.

Our job is to sing the same tune, preach the same message, extend the same invitation…

“The Spirit and the bride (the church) say, Come! And let him who is listening say, Come!” (Revelation 22.17 AMP)

Jesus’ message is “come”.

He’s giving the green light.

“Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me. I will never turn away anyone who comes to me.” (John 6.37 GWT)

All too often, we’re sending “red light” messages: “don’t come,” or “not yet,” or “fix yourself up first, and then come”.

We need to align our message with Jesus’ message.

We need be giving the green light.

We need to be say “come”.

Come now.

Come as you are.

You won’t be turned away.

Remember the childhood playground game Red Light Green Light?

We might not be playing schoolyard games anymore, but we are sending red light, green light messages on a daily basis…

Grumpy face = red light.

Religious attitude = stop, back-up, get out of here.

Judgmental spirit = go away, never come back.

Joyful smile = green light.

Compassionate response = you are welcome here.

Giving grace = keep on coming, there’s always space for you.

Jesus is all about the green light.

When people brought their children to be blessed by Him, the disciples went all “red light” on them.

Jesus, however, said, “Let them come. Don’t stop them!”

He was all “green light” with them.

When blind Bartimaeus was yelling like a madman, trying to get Jesus’ attention, the crowd told him to shut up and go away—they gave him a red light message.

Jesus told Bartimaeus to come. That’s a green light message!

And here’s a pretty famous quote from Jesus: “Come to me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11.28 NLT)

Again, that’s clearly a green light message.

I want to be like Jesus.

I want to be all about the green light.

I want our church to unplug the red light and shine the green light perpetually.

Green light. Come.

Green light. Welcome.

Green light. You belong.

Green light. There will always be grace and space for you here.

It’s sad but true.

Sometimes the Jesus crowd keeps people from Jesus.

Maybe it’s our baptized in lemon juice attitudes and bitter beer face looks.

Maybe it’s our constant “no” messages (no hats, not skateboards, no food or drink in the sanctuary, no music written after 1980, no fun, no joy…)

Maybe it’s because we look down on people who don’t live like us, think like us or vote like us.

Maybe it’s because we’re heartless and cold toward those who are outside our group.

Maybe it’s because we are fake and hypocritical.

Maybe it’s our “holier than thou” swagger.

Mark chapter 10 describes how the Jesus crowd tried to keep people from Him…

First—parents brought their children to Jesus, asking Him to bless them. His disciples scolded them for “bothering” Jesus. Was Jesus bothered? Yes—but not by the children or their parents… He was upset with his disciples for trying to keep them away. He said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them!” (Mark 10.14)

Second—a blind man named Bartimaeus heard that Jesus was nearby and he started shouting to get his attention. The Jesus crowd yelled at him, telling him to be quiet. Blind Bart just got louder. When Jesus heard him shouting, he stopped and told Bart to come. Bartimaeus came to Jesus and was healed.

This has been going on for a long time…

The Jesus crowd keeps blocking the path of those who want to come.

Here’s the deal: Jesus doesn’t want the path blocked.

He’s not bothered by them at all.

If anything, He’s bothered by the path-blockers.

Jesus is saying, “Let them come to me. Don’t stop them!”

In the final chapter of the Bible, we’re reminded of God’s desire for everyone to come…

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life. (Revelation 22.17 NLT)

Let’s be in step with the Spirt of God—rather than blocking the path, we say “Come!”

I love the chapter in Paul Scanlon’s book (The 15 Revolution) where he talks about barking dogs…

Quoting from the book:

I don’t want to ‘bark’ at my city or the people in it. I want to appreciate it, love it and learn to live amongst the people of my city as a revolutionary for positive change.

Jesus was not known for what he was against.

He was not known as the ‘Pharisee hater’ or the ‘Tax Collector’s worst nightmare!’

Instead, he was famous for the good he did for people.

He was called the healer, the one who spoke with authority and wisdom, the great teacher.

But most notably, he was called the ‘friend of sinners’.
?What a reputation to have!

And we, Christ’s Body in the world today, should have the same reputation.

The church is not a resistance movement; it is a replacement movement.

God so loved the world that he didn’t send us an ultimatum but an alternative.

When the prodigal hit rock bottom, he decided to go home.

He left the pig farm and took the long “walk of shame.”

Broke, dirty, hungry, hungover and suffering from a migraine headache, he trudged home—rehearsing what to say.

His father—full of love and grace—was the first to see him coming.

His father ran out to meet him on the road.

His father got there first.

Imagine if this story had played out differently…

Imagine if the prodigal’s older brother got there first.

Instead of being met by love and grace, the prodigal would have been met by anger, judgment and rejection.

Today, people all around us are taking the “walk of shame.”

We’re surrounded by the broken, dirty, hungry, hungover, suffering prodigals of our day.

Here’s the question: who will get to them first?

Will they be met by anger, judgment and rejection or will they be met by love and grace?

Maybe the answer to that question is up to us.

Maybe it’s our job to get there first with love and grace.

Quoting from Paul Scanlon’s book The 15 Revolution:

The 15 Revolution is a revolution of love, interest and compassion for people.

It is learning to live, as it were, with your head on “swivel” as you begin to notice the people who were always there…

Evangelism without compassion is a loveless duty and compassion is not fueled by duty, but God’s amazing grace.

The 15 Revolution is all about increasing our personal compassion quota.

Helping others in any sustained way has to be compassion-driven.

Duty, obligation and guilt can all motivate us, but they lack long-term sustainability.

Compassion keeps us going in the face of a poor response.

Being a Christian places us in the privileged category of those whom God has been compassionate—that reality should be all the motivation we ever need to help someone else.

Compassion is fueled by empathy, a sense of walking in another person’s shoes. That empathy-fueled compassion then thinks about how to make those shoes easier to walk in.

Increased compassion makes us better people.

Compassion notices things, spots opportunities to help and looks for ways to ease suffering.

Compassion increases by helping others and forgetting about ourselves.

The resulting condition is called Christianity.

It doesn’t matter if it’s dodgeball, basketball, football, paintball or steal the bacon…

Picking teams is all about selecting the right people—for your advantage.

We choose the biggest, fastest, strongest, most recognized, talented and experienced players to be on our teams.

But…

God’s kingdom doesn’t work this way.

He’s not interested in selecting people for His advantage.

He has selected us and welcomed us to His team—and this cost Him. It really cost Him.

It’s not as if we had something to offer Him—we don’t make Him victorious or more successful.

“Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you were called into this life.

I don’t see many of the ‘brightest and the best’ among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families.

Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that culture overlooks and exploits and abuses…

Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1.26-27, 30 MSG)

The 15 Revolution isn’t about selecting people for our advantage.

It’s not about surrounding ourselves with people who will help us “win”.

The 15 Revolution is about loving, welcoming, including, serving and blessing people—even when it costs a lot.

Neighbors are those nice people you trust and enjoy spending time with.

But what about all those people you don’t trust or enjoy spending time with?

They seem unfriendly.

They vote differently than you do.

They have loud parties when you’re trying to sleep.

Their dog thinks your yard is his bathroom.

Their lifestyle is… uh, “alternative.”

They don’t mow their lawn.

They are drunk. Often.

They don’t qualify as “neighbor” material, right?

The Bible says we must “Love God with everything you have, everything you are… and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10.27)

A religion scholar in Jesus’ day felt trapped by this command to love God and his neighbors…

Looking for a loophole, he asked, “And just how would you define neighbor?” (Luke 10.29 MSG)

In typical fashion, Jesus tells a story—this time about a “good Samaritan.”

In Jesus’ story, the guy who was robbed and beaten is Jewish.

The other guy—the only one who stopped and helped—is a Samaritan.

Jews and Samaritans were known for their unneighborly tendencies toward each other.

They generally hated each other.

They certainly didn’t hang out BBQing or celebrating the 4th of July together.

So, let’s get back to the question…

People we don’t trust or or enjoy spending time with don’t qualify as “neighbor” material, right?

Well, the question is wrong.

Because the onus (responsibility) of being neighborly isn’t on them.

It’s on us.

Yup.

It is our responsibility to love God and love people—regardless of their condition, behavior, lifestyle or attitude.

And we have lots of neighbors…

How we feel determines what we see.

Feeling fearful?
Suspicious movement in the shadows catch your attention.

Feeling hungry?
Everywhere you look, another fast food advertisement pops up.

Feeling confident?
Somehow, you catch all the admiring looks and smiles of approval.

Feeling arrogant?
You quickly notice how weak, inept and foolish these people are.

Feeling shy?
It’s obvious that everyone fits perfectly here—except you.

Feeling hopeful?
Opportunity is everywhere!

Feeling angry?
Each failure and act of incompetence plays out vividly before you.

Feeling happy?
You see beauty everywhere—the falling leaves, snow-capped mountains and fluffy clouds.

When Jesus saw crowds of people, he felt compassion for them.

How He felt determined what He saw.

He didn’t feel put-out, bothered, annoyed, superior, scared, disappointed, let-down…

He felt compassion.

He felt compassion and saw that people were hurting, confused, struggling, helpless—like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9.36)

Jesus, full of compassion for the crowds, turned to his disciples and said, “What a huge harvest! How few workers! On your knees and pray…” (Matthew 9.37, 38 MSG)

The harvest demands more workers who are motivated by compassion.

That’s right—we need more compassion workers!

The harvest is huge.

Hurting, confused, struggling, helpless people should never annoy us (not if we’re motivated by compassion).

How we feel determines what we see.

Let’s pray this simple prayer: God—help us to feel what you feel and see what you see!

#The15Revolution

http://www.15rev.com/