Jesus?

Have you ever wondered what Jesus is really like? i'd venture to say that many of us haven't asked ourselves that question in a while.

When we are first saved we ask that question a lot. "i wonder what Jesus would do in this situation?", "If Jesus were here how would He handle this?", "What would He say to that person?"

After a while we begin to think we have things figured out pretty well. We don't ask those questions like we should. We begin to assume that we just know how Jesus would react in certain situations.

But reading the word i find that He often acts in ways that don't fit with my view of who He should be. He turned water into wine.... He hung out with the wrong crowd... Mary Magdalene was one of his most faithful friends- Mary a woman who tradition paints as a reformed prostitute! Hardly the way that i think Jesus should act!

Another problem that i have with Jesus is this: Sinners loved Him! People with some real sin issues followed him around, climbed trees to see Him, washed His feet with their hair... Sinners WANTED to be near Jesus. i think that's great! The problem i have with it is this- if we are supposed to represent Jesus on earth... Then why don't sinners like to be around us? Why don't they like to come to church?

i know that you may say it's holiness. A holy lifestyle makes them uncomfortable, and i am sure that's true on so many levels, it was true for me. But Jesus lived a totally non-compromising lifestyle of holiness. Scripture says He was without sin! When He preached He preached a level of holiness that few dare preach today: To hate is murder, to lust in your mind is adultery, yet still people loved to be around Him.

my question to you is this: What are we doing wrong?, it's the same question that i ask myself almost every day- it's that question that haunts me, that keeps me up at night. Instead of turning the world upside-down for Jesus, why are we simply turning the world away?