Here is a fun one from deconstructionist cartoonist @thenakedpastor that someone sent me. Let's break it down shall we?
First, let me affirm something. Jesus does indeed love us. He loves us immensely and He enjoys our fellowship with Him. He loves us enough to die for us and to raise us up and loves us enough to allow us to share eternity with Him. But does Jesus expect nothing from us? Truly? Even a cursory reading through the New Testament will show that Jesus indeed has expectations of us, great expectations.
He expects us to....
Forgive others - Matt 6:12, Matt 18:21-22
Make disciples - Matt 28:19
Obey His Commands - John 15:10
Love One Another - John 13:34-35
Take Up Our Cross and Follow Him -Matt 16:24, John 10:27
Seek his Kingdom and Righteousness Matt 6:33
Repent of Our Sins - Matt 4:17, Mark 1:15
Those are just a few verses. For the sake of my progressive friends, I just quoted the words of Jesus (can't let those pesky apostles have a say, amiright?). Jesus has great expectations of those who confess His name, those who are truly his disciples. He is our great Love, yes....as he is also our Creator, our Lord and Master. He deserves and expects our obedience and fidelity as much as he does our love. In fact, you can't separate those things from each other. And before anyone accuses me of legalism, let me tell you what other thing he expects from us: failure. We are human. We will screw up. But there is grace there. We repent and continue on.
The cartoon above put me in mind of this quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer (below). It's a good quote to end this post with.
“Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjacks' wares. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices....... Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.
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