Be honest. Think about a story or teaching that makes you squirm a little.

-Maybe it’s one of the ones about helping the poor and it makes you uncomfortable because you know you can be apathetic to the plight of those who are struggling.

-Maybe it’s about sexual purity and it makes you uncomfortable because you’d much rather live by the ‘anything goes’ attitude of our culture.

-Maybe it’s about money, or judgment and hell, or worry, or love, or sin… and it makes you uncomfortable because the status quo is so much easier.

But ignoring what Jesus teaches is ignoring Jesus. 

I realize that it sometimes takes prayer, study and counsel to really unearth what some passages are truly saying. But they ARE all saying something. That’s why we need to pay attention to the Jesus of the Gospels.

But do you know what? I think our feelings of discomfort can be a sign of God’s love for us. The way I see it, these feelings are God’s way of getting our attention and showing us something we need to learn or work on. They reveal a hardness in our own hearts that need a renewal.

Truth is, it’s easier to make Jesus look like us than let Jesus remake us.

In John 6 we learn about a bunch of disciples leaving Jesus because they find his teachings too difficult. But Peter stays and says this: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (verse 68).

May that be our response as well. Let’s learn about and follow closely the Jesus of the Gospels.

The teachings and stories that make us uncomfortable might just be God’s way of showing us something we need to learn or work on.

By Matthew Ruttan