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The Other Jesus, Week 3, Day 4

by David Joynt on June 20, 2018

The Other Jesus, Week 3, Day 4

LUKE 15:2

What do you get in trouble for? There are good and bad reasons for generating social opprobrium, for coming under criticism. A life that is never criticized may be a life that is lived too cautiously, dictated too much by the reactions of others.

Jesus was criticized because of his friendships and his work with the unreligious, the destitute, the possessed, the quarantined, and those who by race or background were considered outside the scope of God’s concern. His Messiah-ship, in fact, was discredited in the minds of many because of his company: “He eats with sinners!”

I usually get in trouble for the wrong reasons; breaking a legitimate rule, exaggeration, inattention, etc. How different my life would be if I got in trouble for reasons of love and compassion!

When did you last get in trouble?

When have you gotten in trouble for the “right reasons”?

FAMILY TIME

Tell a story from your life about getting in trouble for the right reasons.

 

Tags: acceptance, friendship

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

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