Would the Man Jesus Be Accepted Today in Our Churches?

We’ve often heard stories about whether or not Jesus would be accepted in our churches today.

If He walked down the center aisle and found a place to sit among one of us, how would we respond?

Would many of us turn our heads in disgust as the sandaled man slowly ambled through the center of the church?

Would our eyes fall upon his earthy, brown leather robe, and ragged appearance; or would we instead choose to look beyond these things, and behold a timeless, reverential wisdom and compassion that was cast from His eyes?

I truly wonder and I say these things, because of how many of us think that a suit, a tie, and a polished pair of black shoes is a sign of righteousness and good character.

What a shallow way of looking at things! How many of us are like the white-washed Pharisees who boasted of their deeds and yet, turned their heads in repulsion when they saw a street person pushing a cart with all their belongings in it?

So many sing their favorite songs, and dress in the finest of clothes, but turn a deaf ear to the needy and the down-trodden. So many are repulsed or alarmed, when they see a man with unkempt hair and beard and yet, what are the very things that Jesus has asked of us?

The Parable of the Great Banquet

“He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” Luke 14:12-14.

Jesus has said that,

“And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me,” Matthew 25:40.

The ragged man or woman on the street may well be one of the least of these.

Perhaps even stranger to the minds of many of us is the simple fact that some of us were at one time like those who walked the streets, without a home, and had very little that they could call their own.

God has chosen the despised things of this world so that He would show forth His glory to the world. He was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

And yet, He has given us a place such as kings and queens. We are as a royal family and priesthood, but we don’t wear the kingly robes of velvet and silk, but our clothing is in the garb of His character.

“For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence,” 1 Corinthians 1:26-29.

 

Selah,
~ Stephen Hanson

---

Stephen Hanson of In His Truth Ministries came to the LORD is a special way in 1975 and has prophesied regularly since. In these end-time birthing pangs we are reminded that judgment must first begin with the household of God. Will we be prepared and ready?

Back to Top