"got Jesus?"

Perhaps you have seen this in an advertisement somewhere, either on a bumper sticker or on a large billboard: a black background with white text asking the question, "got Jesus?". The ad is an imitation of the dairy advertising campaign which asked people, "got milk?"

The person who thought of this advertising campaign is no doubt a sincere person who was attempting to find a way to talk about Christianity in a way that people in this country would understand. Unfortunately, the ad does not do good service to Jesus and the Kingdom of which He spoke in the Bible, since it represents Jesus as something to possess, "owning" Jesus like you would own a car or a house or some other such thing.

Why would anyone present Jesus as a possession? It makes sense when you think about the state of our society today. As it was said in a past decade, "we are living in a material world"! People work long hours in pursuit of owning things. Dreams and aspirations involve owning the nice house with two cars and all of the newest forms of technology.

Our lives tend to revolve around obtaining and using resources. Everything is about getting and using. Have you noticed how people spend more time at retail stores and restaurants, consuming various products near other people, and spend less time actually communicating with and enjoying the company of their fellow man? It is all too understandable how in a world of commodities, Jesus becomes just another thing for people to obtain and use.

This is not the way that our Creator intended for us to live. The Bible is very clear that there is much more to life than things (Matthew 6:26). We are more than the things we use!

Too many spend their lives following after things that will not endure. Peter indicates that everything in this physical universe will one day be destroyed with great heat (2 Peter 3:10-12). Does it make sense to spend all of our energy in our lives for things that cannot last? Can we truly find happiness in "things"?

The Bible charges us to no longer store up treasures on earth, but store up treasure in Heaven (Matthew 6:19-21, 1 Timothy 6:17-19). We obtain this treasure by doing God's will-- loving our neighbor, helping the poor, showing kindness and mercy, and so on (Romans 13:9, Galatians 6:10, Luke 10:25-37). Things may be destroyed, but our obedience to God and love for people will endure!

Should we "get" Jesus? Let no one be deceived: Jesus is Lord (Matthew 28:18, Acts 2:36). We cannot possess God-- God is too mighty, too strong, too great for us to even imagine putting Him into a nice box (cf. Isaiah 55:8-9). Jesus is not something to obtain and use in times of trouble, or to provide "eternal life insurance"-- Jesus is to become your Master, the Ruler of your life, the One who dictates everything you do (Romans 6:17-23, Galatians 2:20, Colossians 3:17). We cannot "get" Jesus-- Jesus must "get" us! Let us be His servants today!

Ethan R. Longhenry
evangelist@norwalkchurch.org

What Does God Have to Say?

Many issues exist in our society today. We seek answers and solutions. Unfortunately, they are often hard to find.

Please join us as Mark Hatfield of Chillicothe, Ohio, presents God's wisdom from the Scriptures regarding many issues of our day.

We would also like to invite you to hear a special presentation of the big picture of the Bible on Sunday, April 20, from 5-7pm.

All of these lectures will be presented at the Norwalk church of Christ, 386 North Edgewood Drive, Norwalk, Ohio, 44857. We look forward to seeing you then!

The church of Christ in Norwalk, Ohio

Thank you for reading the electronic version of our bulletin, Good News for Norwalk. If you live in Norwalk or happen to be traveling in the Norwalk area, we would certainly love to have you visit one of our assemblies!

Our location:

386 North Edgewood Drive (just off US 250 just north of Norwalk's city limits)
Norwalk, Ohio 44857

Our assemblies:

Sunday morning assembly: 10:30am
Sunday evening assembly: 6:00pm

Our Bible studies:

Sunday morning Bible study: 9:30am
Wednesday evening Bible study: 7:00pm

For More Information

If you have any questions or comments about anything you have read here, or desire more information, please contact our evangelist, Ethan Longhenry, at evangelist@norwalkchurch.org.

Please click here to return to the 2008 archive of Good News for Norwalk, or click here to return to the main page of Good News for Norwalk. Thanks!