Focusing on Jesus
by Kerry Duke
"Give us the Man, not the plan." This cry began to be heard a few decades ago. Some wanted to hear about Jesus, but not His commandments. Today the same rebellious sentiment has become popular. When obedience to the gospel and respect for Bible authority are stressed, liberally-minded members of the church complain that we should focus on Jesus and stop getting so weighted down with arguing about His law.
At the 2001 Tulsa Soul Winning Workshop, Don McLaughlin took this disrespect to an even lower level. His whole "sermon" on this topic was characterized by a playful, joking air that made light of biblical authority and was applauded by the audience. This is the same Don McLaughlin who was spoken at Freed-Hardeman University, Harding University, and other events around the country. At Tulsa he asked,
Can it be that also even church can get in the way? How many of you have noticed (and have been around long enough) that even focusing your eyes on the church can squeeze out Jesus? Have you noticed this? Have you noticed that sometimes even the study of the Scripture does not translate into a study of Jesus. Have you ever heard somebody say ‘Yeah, my uncle knows the Bible. He knows it forward and backward.’ Forward and backward? What in the world is backward? Forward and backward! . . . You know what I’ve found out about the forward and backward crowd? A whole bunch of them don’t know Jesus. They know this Book. But even they know something is missing!
Brother McLaughlin’s theme in this sermon was focusing on Jesus. After ridiculing – and judging the hearts of – the "forward and backward crowd," he asked the audience to focus on Jesus his way. A young man came to the stage and drew a large portrait of Jesus, and McLaughlin challenged everyone to focus on Jesus. Marvin Phillips, and organizer of the event, lifted his hand to the painting, and the audience gave a long round of applause. Thousands of members of churches of Christ, both young and old, attended this show. This irreverent, carnival-like atmosphere is appealing to a culture filled with entertainment.
Now listen as the Scriptures speak:
"He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judged him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." (John 12:48)
"If ye love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15)
"And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46)
". . . feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood." (Acts 20:28)
It is possible for a person to know the Scriptures and not obey them and thus not know Jesus. But to suggest that some of us are too focused on Scripture and need to stare at a drawing of Jesus instead is shallow nonsense that reveals the playground mentality of many in the church of the current age.