The apostle Peter proclaims that Jesus is the Christ, the anointed one, the Holy One of Israel sent from God. Jesus immediately tells Peter and the other disciples that he will soon suffer and die, at which point Peter takes the Lord aside and rebukes him. What a confusing confession. Jesus, you are the Christ, you are the Lord, you are in charge, as long as you can be flexible.

What was Peter expecting when he pulled Jesus aside? Had he really thought that through? What was Jesus going to say?

Oh, thank you, Peter! You’re right! I must have lost my head back there, I don’t know what I was thinking! You don’t have to die if you don’t want to. It’s your call. We can do this another way, an easier way. We can do it your way, Peter. Thank you! I am so blessed to have such a wise follower like you to help me see things more clearly. I don’t think I could be the Messiah without you!

Some churches are guilty of this confusing confession.

Jesus is Lord as long as he’s okay with us continuing to restrict women where the Bible never does.
Jesus is in charge as long he lets us keep showing favoritism to long-time members and rich people.

Is your confession confusing?

I know Jesus says turn the other cheek, but this is a different situation.
I know I’m supposed to forgive her, but she never said she was sorry.
I’ll follow Jesus as long as he looks past my sketchy behavior at work.
I’ll follow Jesus as long as he tolerates my addiction to pornography.

Following Jesus is not like watching TV. I can’t lay on the couch with the remote in my hand and change the channel every time something unpleasant or uncomfortable or demanding comes on the screen.

The Christian confession is not confusing. Jesus is Lord. Period. He is the Christ.

“If anyone would come behind me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the Gospel will save it.” ~Mark 8:34-35

Peace,

Allan

At Caesarea Philippi, Peter declares Jesus as the Christ, Jesus immediately tells his followers that he is going to suffer and die, then Peter takes Jesus aside and rebukes him. He tells the One he just proclaimed as the Christ that he is not going to die, that they’re going to change the world in other ways. It seems confusing, doesn’t it? Peter tells Jesus he is the Christ and then in the very next breath tells him that he’s not the one making the decisions.

In essence, Peter is telling Jesus, you are the Christ as long as it’s comfortable. As long as you don’t push me outside my comfort zone, as long as you don’t challenge me, as long as whatever you’re calling me to doesn’t stretch me or hurt me, we’re good. You are the Lord.

Jesus says, “I want you to give more.”
Give more? If I do that, I’m going to have to cut back on something!

Jesus says, “I need you to lead a small group.”
In my house?! I’ll be vacuuming every Sunday afternoon! When will I take my nap?!

Jesus says, “I’d like you to volunteer with the children’s ministry.”
Teach the little kids?! Hey, I did my time there! That’s somebody else’s job!

Churches do things like this, too. Some churches make the comfort of their members too big of a priority. In some churches, all anybody has to say is “I’m uncomfortable with that,” –whatever it is– “That makes me uncomfortable,” and the elders rush in and shut whatever it is down. That’s why we put big crosses in our Worship Centers, to remind Christians, and their elders and ministers, that the divine call to follow Christ has absolutely nothing to do with being comfortable!

Peter says Jesus is the Christ as long as he’s comfortable. Is your confession confusing like that?

Peace,

Allan

“What about you? Who do you say I am?” ~Mark 8:29

I imagine the apostle Peter answers Jesus’ question immediately. Peter doesn’t do dead air. He’s going to speak first, think later. Ready-fire-aim! — that’s Peter. Always jumping in, always shooting off his mouth. But, here, he gives the exact right answer:

“You are the Christ!” ~Mark 8:29

You are the Anointed One, the Messiah. You are the Holy One of Israel. You’re the one who was prophesied about, the one we’ve been praying for our whole lives, the one we’ve been waiting for for generations. You’re the one, Jesus! You are the Christ! You are the Lord!

“He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this…” ~Mark 8:31-32

The other Gospel writers tell us this was the first time Jesus had mentioned to them that he was going to die. He spoke plainly about it.

“And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.” ~Mark 8:32

Peter’s very first words in this story are, “You are the Christ.” But his very next actions say, “No, you’re really not.”

“You are the Christ” means “You are the boss.” You are Lord. You are the sovereign ruler over all the earth and you are the sovereign ruler over me. Whatever you say, goes. That’s what it means to say Jesus is the Christ. But Peter follows up his declaration by telling Jesus they were not going to do what he said needed to happen. He began to rebuke the one he called Christ. “Nobody is dying here, Jesus–not you, not me, not any of us.” It was a very confusing confession.

“‘Get behind me, Satan!’ Jesus said. ‘You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of people!'” ~Mark 8:33

Peter, you are more worried about what people say than what God says. You’re trusting your own feelings and instincts more than you’re trusting the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth.

Peter seems perfectly fine with Jesus being Lord as long as Jesus is sensible. Peter is good with declaring Jesus as the Christ, the Lord of his life. But as soon as Jesus steps out of sensible? Well, that’s when Peter takes over.

Turn the other cheek? Jesus, seriously? Give up my shirt and my coat? Refuse to retaliate? Jesus, if I do that, I’ll be taken advantage of. People are going to walk all over me. Give up wealth and power and force in exchange for love and mercy and grace? I know that’s what we talk about in church, but that’s not how the real world works, Jesus. You’re out of touch. Protect the outsiders? Give up my rights? Jesus, did I hear you right? Love my enemies? I don’t even like my friends! If you’re not sensible, you’re no longer my authority. You are not my Christ.

That’s a confusing confession.

Some churches do this.

Lord, we know you said give freedom to prisoners and release the captives from their bondage, but you want our church to pay off people’s debt? Their medical debt? Their school cafeteria debt? But we’ve never met these people! How will they know it’s us? How many of these people will come to our church? What kind of return are we getting on our money? It doesn’t make sense.

Jesus healed ten lepers and only one of them even said “Thank you.” But the Gospel point of that story is not that you’d better be extra cautious about how much of God’s grace you dole out to strangers.

You are the Christ as long as you’re sensible.

I wonder if that kind of behavior confuses Jesus.

What’s the deal, Peter? Have I lost my mind? Because you’re with me when I say love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength. You’re with me when I say be faithful to your spouse and don’t forsake the assembly. But when I tell you to lend to those who ask, suddenly I’m not making sense? Your commitment, Peter, is not to my lordship, it’s to your own logic. Your obedience is to the values of the world instead of the values of the Kingdom of God.

There’s a difference between following Jesus because it makes sense and following Jesus because he is the Christ.

How confusing is your confession?

Peace,

Allan