The Holy Spirit makes me cry... happy or sad. If I'm hardcore worshipping, I probably have tears in my eyes. God just likes to touch the emotions in my heart and I'm perfectly fine with that.
But one thing that can make my heart weep and my eyes well-up with tears the most (if I'm not at work and constantly having to greet people with a smile on my face) is when my Jesus is misrepresented.
And I'm not as much angry about it as I am terribly, terribly hurt.
Because clearly, the point has been missed.
There has been a situation that happened recently, but I've felt this way for quite some time with other similar situations.
Evangelists.
Yeah, the ones that yell at you on your college campus, on your television screens, and on street corners proclaiming damnation on "you sinners". I don't find these tactics very loving.
The word 'evangelism' is derived from the Greek word euaggelion , meaning “gospel” or “good news.” I don't know about you, but damnation is not good news. I already knew I was a sinner before Jesus saved me. I didn't need to hear it from anybody else.
Here is what good news is to me (You can find this in Luke 7:36-48 in that Bible the evangelist just threw at you... or you can just read it here)
When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
“Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii,[c] and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Her tears for her own sins turned her into a saint.
Father, may we find the tears we need for our sins. Forgive much so that we can love much. Help us to treat each other in this way.
The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Her tears for her own sins turned her into a saint.
Father, may we find the tears we need for our sins. Forgive much so that we can love much. Help us to treat each other in this way.
