What are young people really looking for when they turn to Jesus?

Many of today’s leading sociologists who focus their research efforts on this demographic of the population would suggest that a high percentage of young “believers” in North America today are not that interested in following the ways of Jesus as they are tapping in to a god who will make them feel good and make their life better.

And so, they make a critical decision that unknowingly moves them away from a Christ-centered (Christian) faith and moves them in the direction of a more self-centered moralistic therapeutic deism.

We had the chance to sit with Dr. Scot McKnight for one last time yesterday — and this was the focus of his message to our community.

The Christian faith — following Jesus — is not about us.

It’s not about what we can get from Jesus.

It doesn’t place anyone, or anything, at the center of life and faith other than Jesus.

But that version of Christianity doesn’t gel with the comfort-seeking, me-focused, money-obsessed, power-hungry way of life we find in North American culture.

McKnight began to lay it out, clear as day, as he walked through Jesus’ own words about what it meant to really follow him:

Luke 9:57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

59 He said to another man, “Follow me.”

But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”

62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

Don’t expect to be comfortable.

Make your priorities my priorities — Kingdom priorities — regardless of the cost.

Now is the time. Not later. Now!

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Jesus did not mix his words.

McKnight continued by flipping to Jesus’ first public address — the Sermon on the Mount — and picking a few examples (among many) to focus on:

Matthew 5:21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

In each instance Jesus wasn’t lowering the bar, but raising it, challenges those who would follow him to move beyond their black-and-white actions to consider what was happening in their hearts and minds — and calling them to purify and be perfect in ALL areas!

And that has not changed.

Jesus still demands — yes, demands — the same from those who choose to follow him today!

This kind of Christ-centered, self-sacrificing faith is foreign to many of our students — and simply too costly to a number of others.

Instead, they will opt for something else.

Something less.

Something made-up and more made-to-fit… which places them (whether they want to believe it or not) as the god in charge.

McKnight concluded with two challenges:

1. Count the cost!

Luke 14:25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

34 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.

“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

2. Pray the Jesus creed — every morning and every evening — and see if God doesn’t change you and your priorities:

29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[e] 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

Following is a life submitted to the authority and priorities of King Jesus.

We don’t get to pick and choose what we will follow — or when we will follow.

And while it’s quite possibly the most difficult life to choose — especially given the conditioning our students receive growing up in N. America — those desires that typically draw them in the direction of a Moral Therapeutic Deist can actually be fulfilled in choosing to wholeheartedly follow Jesus…

It will just look a little (or a lot) different from what they might have guessed.

I wonder:

• How do we identify students who are following the moral therapeutic deists — without offending them?
• How do we assist these students to move in the direction of truly following Jesus — and not some personalized made-up version of Jesus that looks nothing like the Jesus we see described in the bible?

To read the other posts inspired by Scot McKnight’s visit to campus click on:

• Are Your Students Universalists?
• Social Justice and the Church as 3rd Way
• Do College Students Walk Away From Their Faith Because of The Gospel They’ve Been Preached?