We are not as radical as Jesus intended. I am sure of that.
As Christians, we get caught up in the importance of our own systems and we fear losing any progress that we have made with the authorities. We want to maintain our reputation and be respected in the community. I understand that, but I think it stops us from really going for it and sharing the great news of Jesus and transforming lives in his name.
If Jesus had started his ministry on earth in 2012 and chosen to call students as his disciples, would the passage we know as Matthew 10 read something like this?
“Jesus called his twelve student followers to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. They were young and some of them didn’t even have proper stubble yet. These are the names of the twelve student followers, which were printed on the back of their Disciple Soc hoodies:
Angry Simon (who was rock hard)
Pretty Boy Andrew
Thunderbird James
Thundercat John
Dodgy Phil
Big Bart
Metalhead Thomas
Tight Fist Matthew
Jimbo James
Jack the Laddaeus Thaddaeus
Intense Simon
Bad-ass Judas
Jesus sent these boys out instructing them: “Do not go off campus. Go instead to the students who have lost their faith. As you go, say this message proudly: ‘The kingdom of heaven is close to you.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who are outcast and alienated, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.
“Don’t take any cash with you, don’t take a bag (not even your man-bag Dodgy Phil!) or an extra hoody, high-tops or iPhone, you’ll get what you need to keep going. Whatever hall of residence or college you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their student digs until you leave. As you enter a student corridor, give it your greeting. If the corridor is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that hall of residence or college and shake the library dust off your feet. Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that college.
“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as Alan Sugar and as innocent as Mother Theresa. Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the university authorities and be disciplined in the church buildings. On my account you will be brought before the police and judges as witnesses to them and to other non-students. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”
