Jesus Friend of sinners we have strayed so far away
We cut down people in your name but the sword was never ours to swing
Jesus friend of sinners the truth's become so hard to see
The world is on their way to You but they're tripping over me
Always looking around but never looking up I'm so double minded
A plank eyed saint with dirty hands and a heart divided
Oh Jesus friend of sinners
Open our eyes to world at the end of our pointing fingers
Let our hearts be led by mercy
Help us reach with open hearts and open doors
Oh Jesus friend of sinners break our hearts for what breaks yours
Jesus friend of sinners the one who's writing in the sand
Make the righteous turn away and the stones fall from their hands
Help us to remember we are all the least of these
Let the memory of Your mercy bring your people to their knees
Nobody knows what we're for only against when we judge the wounded
What if we put down our signs crossed over the lines and loved like You did
You love every lost cause; you reach for the outcast
For the leper and the lame; they're the reason that You came
Lord I was that lost cause and I was the outcast
But you died for sinners just like me a grateful leper at Your feet
'Cause You are good, You are good And Your love endures forever
And I was the lost cause and I was the outcast
Yeah...
You died for sinners just like me, a grateful leper at Your feet
Matthew West and Mark Hall
Okay I have to do it. For weeks this song has been playing on the radio and in my head and certain lines I can't move away from so today's quote is this song and particularly the highlighted portions.
Let's start at the top, shall we? "We cut down people in your name but the sword was never ours to swing." THANK YOU. Thank you Matthew West and Mark Hall for so perfectly stating a problem us Christians have in communicating with this world. People, quit drawing your swords and slaying people in the "name of Jesus". Wounding people in the "name of Jesus" is not something we were meant to do, that's not our calling so knock it off.
"The world is on its way to you but they're tripping over me." We are the biggest stumbling blocks to Christ when we wound with our words and actions in the "name of Jesus". Instead of showing people the way to Christ we are showing them the opposite way. Who wants to be a stumbling block in someones life - lacking love, grace, understanding, empathy, etc? I sure don't.
"Nobody knows what we're for only against when we judge the wounded. What if we put down our signs crossed over the lines and loved like you did." There's that saying, they will know us by our love. REALLY? Because these days all I see is believers drawing lines and letting this world know what "we" (please don't include me in this category) don't approve of. Ugh. It's so not the way. It's not what God asked us to do or what Jesus modeled for us. His way was so different and his way is supposed to be our model. Our self-righteousness is our biggest problem. Our doctrine, not God's, is our biggest problem.
You might not like what I've said today - that's okay. You don't have to like it in order to at least consider it. Consider carefully how you are communicating to the world. What are you communicating about God to others? Are they tripping over you trying to get to him or is their path clear to him because you are stepping to the side and walking alongside of them instead of trying to drag them?
We cut down people in your name but the sword was never ours to swing
Jesus friend of sinners the truth's become so hard to see
The world is on their way to You but they're tripping over me
Always looking around but never looking up I'm so double minded
A plank eyed saint with dirty hands and a heart divided
Oh Jesus friend of sinners
Open our eyes to world at the end of our pointing fingers
Let our hearts be led by mercy
Help us reach with open hearts and open doors
Oh Jesus friend of sinners break our hearts for what breaks yours
Jesus friend of sinners the one who's writing in the sand
Make the righteous turn away and the stones fall from their hands
Help us to remember we are all the least of these
Let the memory of Your mercy bring your people to their knees
Nobody knows what we're for only against when we judge the wounded
What if we put down our signs crossed over the lines and loved like You did
You love every lost cause; you reach for the outcast
For the leper and the lame; they're the reason that You came
Lord I was that lost cause and I was the outcast
But you died for sinners just like me a grateful leper at Your feet
'Cause You are good, You are good And Your love endures forever
And I was the lost cause and I was the outcast
Yeah...
You died for sinners just like me, a grateful leper at Your feet
Matthew West and Mark Hall
Okay I have to do it. For weeks this song has been playing on the radio and in my head and certain lines I can't move away from so today's quote is this song and particularly the highlighted portions.
Let's start at the top, shall we? "We cut down people in your name but the sword was never ours to swing." THANK YOU. Thank you Matthew West and Mark Hall for so perfectly stating a problem us Christians have in communicating with this world. People, quit drawing your swords and slaying people in the "name of Jesus". Wounding people in the "name of Jesus" is not something we were meant to do, that's not our calling so knock it off.
"The world is on its way to you but they're tripping over me." We are the biggest stumbling blocks to Christ when we wound with our words and actions in the "name of Jesus". Instead of showing people the way to Christ we are showing them the opposite way. Who wants to be a stumbling block in someones life - lacking love, grace, understanding, empathy, etc? I sure don't.
"Nobody knows what we're for only against when we judge the wounded. What if we put down our signs crossed over the lines and loved like you did." There's that saying, they will know us by our love. REALLY? Because these days all I see is believers drawing lines and letting this world know what "we" (please don't include me in this category) don't approve of. Ugh. It's so not the way. It's not what God asked us to do or what Jesus modeled for us. His way was so different and his way is supposed to be our model. Our self-righteousness is our biggest problem. Our doctrine, not God's, is our biggest problem.
You might not like what I've said today - that's okay. You don't have to like it in order to at least consider it. Consider carefully how you are communicating to the world. What are you communicating about God to others? Are they tripping over you trying to get to him or is their path clear to him because you are stepping to the side and walking alongside of them instead of trying to drag them?
Here's the song if you want to listen in. :)
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