Why do so many people think Jesus was never not nice?
He was always good, but was He always nice?
How did He talk to the social leaders, those people who hated Truth, who promoted injustice and oppressed people with misleading narratives about God?
He verbally eviscerated them. He character assassinated them. He literally told them their father was the devil, they were a brood of vipers, they were tombs with dirty decay inside but a clean coat of paint on the outside, and hypocrites.
Jesus wasn’t always nice.
He was “intolerant”. He told everybody that there was only one Way to God, one eternal Truth, and one Life: Him. He was so offensively exclusive He described Truth as a “narrow gate”. Truth is inherently exclusive of everything false.
He was very “judgemental”. He taught us to “Judge with righteous judgement.” He told the woman caught in sexual sin to stop her immoral behaviour.
But He also told the same woman that He didn’t condemn her. There’s a chasm of difference between condemning individuals and condemning ideas.
Jesus is universal in His invitation to enjoy that Truth, that narrow gate. You don’t get to negotiate Truth. There is no poll that can affect Truth. It’s not so flimsy or transient as to be subjective to culture or chronology.
Jesus warned believers to not be surprised when the world hates us, because they hated Him first. So I’m okay with that. I don’t like it, but it’s not a deal breaker.
If you want to have a political conversation with a Christian, don’t expect them to be pastoral with you. That’s a different conversation.
If you want to debate me on the merits of the argument, go ahead. Go all day long. I’ll respond when and if I can, and if I deem it helpful use of my time.
But please don’t pretend to be qualified to criticise my Christianity in a transparent effort to bolster the merits of your argument.
Please don’t tell me I’m not being Christlike when I criticise some ideas, call certain behaviours wrong and unhelpful to society, and perhaps have some pointed words to say.
You’d be wrong, and simply conceding you don’t have a more intelligent response.
I’m not trying to offend anyone any more than Jesus ever did (and yet He certainly did, often). If Truth offends you, best close your ears and eyes now.
