Pastor Lindell Ballenger

This is a repost of a blog from Joel Stockstill, Pastor of Bethany World Prayer Center North, Baton Rouge, LA.

Isa. 53:2b-3 declares “There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected–a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.

There is a trend in the Church of today that would try to give Jesus a “make-over.” This trend would do everything possible to make Jesus relevant and desirable. Is this right??? According to this verse (which is from arguably the most powerful and important chapter in the OT and Bible as a whole) there was nothing about him that was beautiful or desirable. Does this mean we should try to make things difficult for those outside of the Kingdom? By no means no! But we better be very careful in pursuing anything that does not reflect the true nature and heart of our Crucified Messiah.

There seems to be more and more “acceptance” and less and less “despised and rejected.” There seems to be an ever-widening path to eternal life and less mention of the narrow way that Jesus spoke of in Matt. 7:13-14. The Church has gone from persecuted and martyred to celebrated and celebrity. When was the last time we felt the sting of rejection? When is the last time a church was persecuted for telling the truth? In the age of the megachurch, we see churches seeming to explode with limitless growth and ease while around the world the Church is being persecuted like never before. Is this a season of favor or a straying from the trouble Jesus promised would be ours in this world (Jn. 16:33)?

I believe, according to the Word of God, that we as pastors, leaders, and believers should be very careful in trying to make Jesus more appealing to the masses. I’m all for utilizing technology and saying things in a diplomatic way but there has to be some balance of truth. From the stretching of grace to fit any and all compromise of lifestyle to the blatant acceptance of abominable sins such as fornication and homosexuality, the Church of today must return to the hard core truth of the Word.

If Jesus gave nothing to the world that would attract them to Him, then why should His Body? OUCH :)

1 Thess. 1:6 So you received the message with joy from the Holy spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you. in this way, you imitated BOTH US AND THE LORD.