DAY 13

BECOMING LIKE JESUS

DR. MIKE KITSKO, DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT EASTERN MICHIGAN DISTRICT CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE

Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee. He saw some ragtag boys. Something about them must have drawn Jesus’s attention. Jesus chose them when He said, “Come, follow me.” (Matthew 4:19a). They responded. No arguing. Simple trust. Complete obedience. The world was forever changed. Faithful followership producing fruit generation after generation. In our sin-sick world, where division, judgment, and ideological collisions regularly happen, can you imagine what Christ followership might do today? That followership was focused on Jesus Christ. He was the CENTER. As those first followers moved toward the CENTER, they became increasingly more like the CENTER. I want to clarify something here. Becoming more like the CENTER was not the goal. To understand the real goal, you need to answer the question: What is the goal of becoming like Jesus? The goal of becoming like Jesus is always for the benefit of other persons. It is for the neighbor. It is for the hurting. It is for the persons lost and lonely. It is for the persons on the margins. As we become like Jesus, we reflect Jesus into our world.

I was in an Uber with another district superintendent, a pastor, and a former higher education administrator. I know it sounds like the start to a bad joke. Our female driver called herself a hippy. She had beads and bracelets hanging from every imaginable spot in her “new” car. While driving us to the airport, she reflected on childhood frustrations with her parents...61 years ago.

She was a 12-year-old and wanted to go to a Beatles concert with a few of her friends. To this day, she is still distraught about her parents not letting her attend the concert. She could not wrap her mind around the idea that her parents thought a Beatles concert was not a good place for an unchaperoned 12-year-old.

She shared the following story. As she grew into adolescence, she decided to teach her parents a lesson. Her revenge was to bring hippy-looking guys home. If the guy had long, straggly hair, she invited him to her home. Laughingly she said, “My parents thought all my boyfriends looked like Jesus; so they were cool with who I dated.” Our driver did not know we were ministers. She described her Jesus-like dates with one quality: long hair. For her, long hair resembled Christlikeness. Because of long hair and the presumed similarity to Jesus’s hair, her parents supported her dating habits.

Scripture reveals how Christlikeness is rooted in substantively different categories than physical appearances. Think about it. Jesus sits at tables with sinners. Jesus enjoys fellowship with persons who are different. Jesus draws close to people who do not look like, believe like, or act like Him. In the art of drawing close, those persons to whom Jesus draws close are challenged to be changed. They are challenged not because of what Jesus looks like or says, but because of who He is.

I am glad we get to reflect the actual Jesus into a sin-sick, broken world. In our moving toward the CENTER, we learn to love the unlovable. We learn to walk alongside those who are far from Jesus. We learn to offer hope to many who have lost hope. Christlikeness is never about physical appearances. It is about our hearts becoming fully transformed, softened, made holy for the benefit of the other. It is about radiating humility and empathy to the people around us. It is about offering places of hospitality. It is about living differently in the sin-sick world. An essayist once wrote (my paraphrase):

“Christians follow a Holy Carpenter. Since we follow a Holy Carpenter, we should be building holy and good tables.”

Might we begin to build tables. Might we invite people who are unlike us to enjoy table fellowship with us. Might we reflect Jesus to those at our table. The Pharisees and Teachers of the Law criticized Jesus, “This man welcomes and eats with sinners....” (Luke 15:2).

In our moving toward the CENTER, might we become more like Jesus for the benefit of others. Might we be accused, “These people welcome and eat with sinners.” May it be so of us.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, as You called simple fishermen to follow You, help us respond with the same trust and obedience. In a world that is so divided and hurting, transform our hearts, not for ourselves, but for the benefit of others. Teach us to love, serve, and welcome all, reflecting Your grace and compassion. Use us to build tables of fellowship where Your love is shared with everyone. Amen.